Home

Elements of style and design

Newspapers look different than magazines. Church web sites look different than commercial web sites. IBM's logo is different from the United Methodist Church's logo. Each, however, have elements in common and elements unique to a particular media format or purpose.

For example, news on television and news in print may conform to the "who, what, when, where and how" rule of news reporting, but each does it a different way. Television news tends to be quick, visual and instant. Print takes longer to produce but lends itself to in-depth coverage and placing events in context.

One thing all media have in common is that a great deal of thought goes into the design, the layout and the message being communicated. Here are some guidelines to help you create interesting, attractive and information newsletters, brochures, web sites and other media for your church:

Writing

Write to be understood.
Don't assume everyone knows what you're talking about
Avoid abstract words, jargon and big words when simple, clear language will do
Get a copy of William Strunk, Jr.'s Element of Style
Get a copy of a good stylebook and follow it's conventions on punctuation, grammar, capitalization and abbreviations. Some stylebooks to check out:
- Chicago Manual of Style
- AP Style Book
- The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage
- Yale Style Guide, an on-line guide to style for the web
- Writing Well for the Web

Design and Layout

While design styles and layout differ widely from publication or web site to publication or web site, there are a few simple things to keep in mind for all publications:

Type--Use of type face, style, font and size should be aesthetically pleasing.
- Chose one font style and size for the text of a publication, and a second font, usually san serif, for headlines. For example, the Troy Conference newspaper uses the san serif Agenda Medium Italic and Light Italic for it's headlines, and Goudy Old Style for its text.
- In print, Times New Roman or similar fonts are considered the easiest to read.
- On the web, it's common to use a san serif font such as Ariel or Verdana.
- Don't use unusal or specialized fonts for the web. Browsers will automatically convert a font your computer doesn't have into one that it does, and that can totally change the layout of a page. The Troy Conference web site does not use Agenda Medium or Light Italic because it is a somewhat rare font. Instead, it uses Verdana, a font most people have on their computer.
- The size of the font in a headline indicates how important you think the story is; usually, larger font size headlines are used at the top of the page, smaller at the bottom.
- Keep bold and italic useage to a minimum. Use bold and italics only for special emphasis, to highlight a word or two or to correctly format a title of a book, movie or record.
- Avoid using all caps
Color: Color can be the most powerful design tool you have, because people respond to different colors in different ways, depending upon cultural and geographic backgrouns. The response to color often takes place on a subconscious, emotional level
Entry points: Nothing can be more intimidating or overwhelming than a page filled with text. Break up gray text boxes by using entry points that invite a reader to "jump in." Use artwork, graphs, photographs, subheads and/or pull-out boxes to inject graphic interest into a page and break up blocks of type.
Consistency: In web design, consistency means that no matter what page a visitor is on, they know they are still on the same site: color schemes are consistent or a variation of the main theme; photos appear in apporximately the same place on every page; the look of the navigation remains the same on every page. In print publications, consistency means more than using the same fonts. It also means that reader's are going to find editorials in the Opinion section or sermons on page 2; advertising on the back page or in a classified section.
Make it easy to read