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Thanks for posting your list of considerations for graphic design & layout
elements! I've been using all of these informally, but seeing them all collected
in one place makes it clear how important they are.
Other items for the list:
Keeping screen colors consistent when making screen shots. This can become an
issue when more than one person works on documentation projects, and each person
has chosen different Windows color schemes for title bars, scroll bars, and
other screen elements. (A color scheme that provides optimal legibility can be
created and saved).
Similarly, keeping screen shots consistent throughout a project, even though
tech writers' computer systems are subject to change in a way that affects the
look of screen shots, e.g., from Windows 3.1 to Win95.
Regards--Joy
Joy Zigo
Curriculum Developer
HarperCollins Publishers
..........................
joy -dot- zigo -at- harpercollins -dot- com
Disclaimer: My opinions are my own, and not my employer's.
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: Graphics style?
Author: Kris Olberg <kjolberg -at- IX -dot- NETCOM -dot- COM> at Internet-Server
Date: 9/25/96 7:43 AM
At 10:55 AM 9/24/96 -0600, you wrote:
>We like including this stuff, but find
>it lots harder to state the rules that will keep things
>consistent-looking.
Here are some of the graphic design and layout elements you should control
to achieve "consistency":
-The amount of space from the preceding heading or text to the graphic.
(White space is good; be generous with it.)
-The space from the graphic to the subsequent text/heading.
-Whether the graphic is centered or flush left/right under the preceding
text. (If you're using an inverted "L" layout with an indented column,
consider going flush left with the column unless the graphic is wider than
the column, in which case you would go flush right with the text and let the
graphic hang on the left.)
-The type of graphic. Are they photos? screens? line art?
-If line art, the line weight scheme--be consistent. For example, you could
use thick lines for the outside of objects and thin lines for the inside.
-The symbolism--be consistent. For example, if you use boxes in one graphic,
don't use circles in another.
-If screens, the screen. Don't use 75% for some and 85% for others.
-The sense of scale across all graphics (if possible). This is hard to do.
-The humor, if any.
Consistency is good. But remember this: to achieve a good balance of
creativity and consistency:
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little
statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has
simply nothing to do."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson, _Essays: First Series_ (1841), Self-Reliance
Regards...Kris
--------------------------------
kjolberg -at- ix -dot- netcom -dot- com (preferred)
kjolberg -at- aol -dot- com
kolberg -at- actamed -dot- com
102031 -dot- 3556 -at- compuserve -dot- com
s -dot- othoudt -at- worldnet -dot- att -dot- net
