Design planning

Design is more than a pretty face. It provides a familiar environment for content. Text length, the use of images, headings, tables, lists, and other writing choices all play a role in the quality of your readers’ content experience. Writing with design in mind builds predictability into content, helping readers to navigate it and find what they need.

The time to think about design is before you start writing.

Consult with your design partners early

Collaborate with your designer and marketing manager or PM to develop the content strategy.

If you’re working with a designer, meet early and often. Share your outline, your preliminary drafts, and this style guide. Provide preliminary content early in the process so you can identify and solve issues in the design or content approach.

Start with a template

Templates provide a well thought out framework for clear and simple communication. The brand and visual consistency templates bring to content provides predictability to your readers, so they can focus on what you have to say. Taking advantage of all your template has to offer will both enhance the customer experience and streamline modifications you need to make down the road.

• Use manual formatting sparingly. Templates take care of most formatting for you. You may need a bold or italic phrase now and then, but always use the built-in styles for headings, subheadings, bulleted lists, tables, and whatever else your template provides.

• Use a limited number of styles. Most content needs just a couple of heading levels, bulleted and numbered lists, tables, and of course body text. Using three or fewer styles leads to more streamlined, polished-looking results.

• Don’t create new styles or modify existing ones. New styles complicate design. You’ll almost always find enough styles in a template to meet the needs of your communication.

• Use styles consistently for headings, tables, lists, notes, tips, and other text, throughout your communication.

• Don’t fear white space. Your template probably includes spacing for various text elements. Use it. Empty space helps the reader focus on what’s important and makes text seem less daunting. Wide margins, space around graphics, and space between lines of text all improve readability and can draw attention to particular text elements—especially if you use white space consistently.

Make layout decisions before you begin

If you’re writing for a platform that limits your design choices, such as a blog platform or website, research proven layout choices and find out where the design is flexible.

If you have options for positioning content elements, place them in the same area on every page. Tips, procedures, blog rolls, references, definitions, and other distinct content types are easier to find when they’re located consistently.