Captivate …
design that impacts an audience!
Create visual impact
Create a center of visual impact for your audience by running a lead image on your page. Readers climb into a page via an image and the dominant graphic indicates to the reader which story carries more weight. Your main story is like the centerpiece of a table, it anchors all surrounding elements on the page.
Create contrast
Strive for contrast and texture by introducing vertical and horizontal elements. Create texture by using dominant and secondary elements like a main heading and subhead or secondary head, or use bold and italics to achieve this effect.
Colorful impact
A good sub-editor or designer uses color with restraint. Color is not used to dress up a page, it is an element that is used to either inform or direct a reader around a packaged article.
Write use of type
In general, an article should never carry more than two fonts, there would have to be a very good reason to go over this number. Too many fonts makes the layout disorganized for readers. The emphasis should be on right wording and less on the type style - keep it plain and simple. Although san serif faces are in vogue, serif faces are a better choice for a body of text, as the curl on the edge of the type tends to lead the eye from character to character making it easier to read.
Organize content
Good layout ensures your audience can find the information they seek without frustration. Organized content avoids confusion for the eye and ensures a pleasant experience for the reader.
Element of surprise
Utilize headings, graphics, images or design to give readers something special. An element of shock or surprise will entice a reader back to your page.
Be consistent
Maintaining consistency on a site means that readers can find things easily, allowing them to spend more time reading and less time hunting for articles.
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