Page Architecture for Proposals by Nancy Webb, Visual Communication Strategist, Nancy Webb Graphic Design In this APMP conference-session review we ll explore how to create documents that become the high standard others must meet in order to compete. Your documents will not only look better, but more importantly, they ll be clearer, more comfortable to engage with, and easier to navigate, cross reference, and refer back to. Because the characteristics of your documents are perceived as characteristics of your organization, they ll also make you look credible, well organized, easy to work with, and highly professional. Almost all of what is covered here impacts your reviewer or evaluator s experience subconsciously. People don t usually know exactly why they re comfortable or uncomfortable, they just know when they are. The task is to remove as many barriers to your information as possible, making your reader s experience a positive and productive one. We ll look at the concept of Page Architecture, four of the basic Building Blocks, and five Critical Details. Page Architecture...? Page Architecture is the underlying structure of the page itself. As an environment, a page is directly analogous to a room: it must be just as comfortable and intuitive for your eyes and brain, as a room is for your feet and body. All pages need doorways in, resting areas for your eyes and brain, and paths that allow you to get to what you need. You must know immediately which room you re in and whether it contains what you re looking for. The things your re looking for should be easy to find and comfortable to use. 1 of 6
The Building Blocks 1 Negative/White Space This is the most important aspect of good page architecture. Remember, your eyes and brain want doors into the page, pathways to the desired information, and resting areas where you can process information while keeping your eyes on the page. Entering easily and remaining comfortable minimizes fatigue and facilitates comprehension, integration, and retention. With adequate white space on a page it s also much easier to find and cross reference information. This ease and comfort is often more important than cramming every last detail onto a page. If your reader isn t comfortable enough to stay on the page, they re not reading all those details anyway. Resist the impulse to create a brick wall of type! 2 Visual vs. Verbal Communication The better your reviewer/evaluator s first impression, the happier they ll be to spend time in your document, and the higher they re likely to rate it. Visual first impressions are how we decide what to read. We instantly respond with our primitive brains to the page, and this first impression is difficult to change whether it s positive or negative. Visuals are not just the graphics and the framework of the page, but the also text and type itself. The printed word is a stand-in for the spoken word. Do you picture the people saying each of the three words below? What is their sex? Mood? Tone of voice? Possibly even the topic of conversation? The visual aspect of type and text communicates the personality, tone, and body language of the speaker/writer for better or worse. 2 of 6
When we read, we hear the words on the page as spoken words in our minds, and we have a visceral and emotional response to those spoken words. Which of these three people you visualized speaking would you prefer to dine with? Work with? Learn from? Whom would you most trust? 3 Visual Hierarchy The clearer the visuals are, the more clear and understandable the content becomes. Visual Hierarchy makes the hierarchy of the content visible. It minimizes confusion and creates instant clarity. This aspect of our documents is often overlooked, misunderstood, or dismissed. Go from large, bold type with color to small, light weight, black text. Recommendation: sans serif for heads, serif for text. Serifs knit letterforms into word shapes, which enhances readability, comprehension, and retention. Use serif fonts for body text if at all possible. Sans serif type will fatigue the eye and brain if read in bulk and is best used for headings and small chunks of text. Organize content on a grid, preview the Visual Hierarchy in the Table of Contents, and be consistent! (Developing a clear Visual Hierarchy also helps the editing process if you can t fit it into the visual hierarchy comfortably, it probably doesn t fit well into the organization of the content, either.) 4 Pacing 3 of 6
Minimize visual repetition on consecutive spreads of multi-page documents. You need visual changes as you progress through the pages of a document, to stay engaged with the content. Monotony = stupor Continuous Excitement = fatigue Approach it as you would music: with visual rhythm A Few Critical Details 1 Word Shapes Our eyes and brains read word shapes, not letterforms. Underlines subvert word shapes by spanning words and cutting off descenders. All-caps subvert word shapes by creating a line of pattern that our brains must work to decode. In both cases meaning and retention are severely compromised. Here s a case where trying to emphasize or make something memorable does the exact opposite. This is one of the easiest visual barriers to remove and one of the most appreciated. 2 Text Over Pattern To read text over a pattern your eyes and brain must work hard to separate the type from the background so meaning and retention are compromised. This is another instance where trying to make something memorable does the exact opposite. 4 of 6
3 Association Chunks of associated information should be presented as modules rather than stripes of seemingly disconnected information. This helps the brain better understand and retain information. Modules also make information easier to find and refer back to. More visual-barrier removal going on here. 4 Graphics Flow and meaning must be clear at a glance. Whether charts and graphs illuminate or substitute for details in the text, they must be clear at a glance! 5 of 6
5 Primary Shapes These are always visually compelling even when small. Make sure there is an informational or meaning payoff when they bring the reader s eye to a spot on the page. Also, keep these shapes from being excessively distracting have them do their job then get out of the way. Don t let a compelling visual short circuit being able to get important details from that page. Get those first (and lasting) impressions working for you! Put good Page Architecture to work in your bids and proposals to create a great first impression with your document one that holds up throughout the evaluation and decision-making process. Nancy Webb, owner of Nancy Webb Graphic Design, has been a visual communication strategist for over 25 years. Her unique blend of branding and book design expertise, together with her immersion in typography and text design, have proven ideal for proposal work. Her passion for helping businesses improve the quality of their own visual communication fuels her enthusiastically received seminars and trainings. Get in touch with Nancy at 510.531.3611 or nancy@nancywebb.com. 6 of 6