The Bedford Researcher Chapter 18 Summary

"Understanding Design Principles" is the title for chapter 18 of "The Bedford Researcher".  It examines the concepts of using design effectively and the uses of design elements.  The selections of design principles and elements have a significant effect on the response you generate from your audience.  Technology offers an abundance of methods to improve the appearance of your work to illicit positive reactions.

Effective design aids in communicating your ideas and arguments.  The understanding of the utilization of balance, emphasis, placement, repetition, and consistency will give you the ability to capture the eye of your readers.  A well-designed document allows your audience to easily understand the organization of your work allowing for ease in locating information and efficiently recognize the different components of the document.

The design should support the style of your writing.  The choice of fonts, line spacing, and alignment are important choices that will assist your audience to easily read your material.  Page layout using color, shading, borders, and rules plus the use of illustrations improves visual attractiveness of your project.  Images should be used cautiously.  It should serve a purpose, be placed near the corresponding information it is describing, or include an explanation, caption, or title that indicates how the image benefits what you have included in the body of your work.