Chapter 34: Designing Instructional and Informational Text
Summary:
This chapter discusses the design aspect of instructional and informational text. I concentrated on the section that discussed typographical considerations in the design of text, specifically type face and size. There is a lot to consider when designing a section of text. How big is the page? Who is the audience? Will there be headings and paragraphs? What is the subject of the text?
The authors focus on readability and layout. There are certain text types that are much more readable than others. Additionally, the text size should be determined according to the size of the page. There are other considerations such as using serif or san serif. Even having a subtle difference such as that portrays a specific meaning and is debated on where it should be used. There is also a place for all capital letters. This should not be used for whole text. Capital letters lack shape characteristics that people use to distinguish words.
Reflection:
This was a perfect chapter for me at this point in time. I am in the process of redesigning our animal IDs at the zoo and have been looking into aspects of design to increase readability. It is surprising that creating an informational text object with 50 words or less would result in so much to think about. During the course of my research and reflecting on this chapter, there is a lot more to this type of design than one could imagine.
This chapter opened my eyes to the type of guidelines I need to produce for this new design. When creating a new product, it must be reproducible. With guidelines I will be able to work with the originators of the sign content to create something not only legible but understandable.
I have found new respect for our graphic designers. There is so much I never knew about when it comes to design. Especially, if there is text involved. I will definitely consider what I read in this chapter and make sure I research extensively when it comes to the design guidelines created for our animal IDs.