IntroductionDesktop Publishing

Desktop publishing is creating documents on a computer that are usually viewed as printed materials. They can also be viewed as a website.

What are some examples of this?

What is Desktop Publishing?

Contrast-items that are different from each other

Repetition-repeating themes or items; reader knows what to expect

Alignment-how items are arranged; how text fits together

Proximity-nearness or relationship; things that “go together”

Desktop PublishingBasic Design Elements

Contrast

Dark Background

Light type

Repetition

Your eyes are naturally drawn to the pattern

Centered Left Justified

Right Justified

Justified Text has lines of equal length; it has even right and left borders and should be used sparingly

Alignment

Advantages Easy to create uniformity Hyphenation is reduced

Disadvantages Tiring to read

Boring

Centered

Most typewritten copy is written this way

Advantages Easy to read Good for narrow columns Disadvantages Not “artistic”; can become boring if

lengthy

Left Aligned

Advantages Interesting Layout

Ideal for narrow columns

Disadvantages Should not hyphenate

Very tiring and difficult to read

Right aligned

Lines are even in length, most familiar for published works, especially books

Advantages Not distracting Best for lengthy works(sustained reading) Disadvantages Poor word spacing Poor hyphenation

Justified

Purpose is to organize Implies a relationship between the items Uses white space to group Avoid too many elements on one page Try to avoid putting things in the middle or

corners

Proximity

Serif fonts have “tails”—most common is Times New Roman

Sans Serif Fonts do not! Examples are Arial, Helvetica, and Verdana

Use simple fonts for most of text; use fancy fonts for headlines or focal points only.

Text should not be so hard to read or decipher that your

message is unclear.

Font Styles

Use analogous and complimentary colors and keep your reader and purpose in mind.

Use contrast to add interest.

Color should add interest, but not be distracting.

Color