Best Practices for document templates

Hi,

I am trying to design some new document templates for our company.

I seen to recall listening to a radio program some months ago which
talked about the best practices to follow when designing documents.
For example, I recall they said not to mix serif and sans serif fonts
for different styles.

I was wondering if anyone has come across any industry standards or
best practices? Any advice would be most welcome.

Thanks,
Mike

Best practice is to look at the documents that you find attractive and use
them as inspiration (but don't just copy). Industry standards are probably
going to depend on the industry that you are in. Design will also be
different for web and print documents.

Here are some basic tips, though not the most up to date.
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/TypographyTips.htm

You might get some more comments here, but I would expect a websearch to be
more fruitful, say, maybe sites that are aimed at professionals in your
industry might offer something.


On 6/11/05 8:04 AM, "Mike Seddon" wrote:

Hi,

I am trying to design some new document templates for our company.

I seen to recall listening to a radio program some months ago which
talked about the best practices to follow when designing documents.
For example, I recall they said not to mix serif and sans serif fonts
for different styles.

I was wondering if anyone has come across any industry standards or
best practices? Any advice would be most welcome.

Thanks,
Mike

--
Daiya Mitchell, MVP Mac/Word
Word FAQ: http://www.word.mvps.org/
MacWord Tips: http://www.word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/
What's an MVP? A volunteer! Read the FAQ: http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/

Here are a few more references on typography:

http://www.will-harris.com/typepairs.htm
http://www.fontsite.com/Pages/Archives.html (Rules of Typography
articles)
http://www.redsun.com/type/

Also, things to be aware of -- other than typography -- in designing
Word templates:
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customizat...platePart2.htm

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org


On Sat, 11 Jun 2005 10:31:16 -0700, Daiya Mitchell
wrote:

Best practice is to look at the documents that you find attractive and use
them as inspiration (but don't just copy). Industry standards are probably
going to depend on the industry that you are in. Design will also be
different for web and print documents.

Here are some basic tips, though not the most up to date.
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/TypographyTips.htm

You might get some more comments here, but I would expect a websearch to be
more fruitful, say, maybe sites that are aimed at professionals in your
industry might offer something.


On 6/11/05 8:04 AM, "Mike Seddon" wrote:

Hi,

I am trying to design some new document templates for our company.

I seen to recall listening to a radio program some months ago which
talked about the best practices to follow when designing documents.
For example, I recall they said not to mix serif and sans serif fonts
for different styles.

I was wondering if anyone has come across any industry standards or
best practices? Any advice would be most welcome.

Thanks,
Mike


--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org

And I forgot to mention--there are surely newsgroups dedicated to questions
of appearance and design, which isn't a big focus here. A Google groups
search might lead you to good groups to check. Or newsgroups for your
industry.

http://groups.google.com/advanced_group_search


On 6/11/05 1:40 PM, "Jay Freedman" wrote:

Here are a few more references on typography:

http://www.will-harris.com/typepairs.htm
http://www.fontsite.com/Pages/Archives.html (Rules of Typography
articles)
http://www.redsun.com/type/

Also, things to be aware of -- other than typography -- in designing
Word templates:
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customizat...platePart2.htm

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org


On Sat, 11 Jun 2005 10:31:16 -0700, Daiya Mitchell
wrote:

Best practice is to look at the documents that you find attractive and use
them as inspiration (but don't just copy). Industry standards are probably
going to depend on the industry that you are in. Design will also be
different for web and print documents.

Here are some basic tips, though not the most up to date.
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/TypographyTips.htm

You might get some more comments here, but I would expect a websearch to be
more fruitful, say, maybe sites that are aimed at professionals in your
industry might offer something.


On 6/11/05 8:04 AM, "Mike Seddon" wrote:

Hi,

I am trying to design some new document templates for our company.

I seen to recall listening to a radio program some months ago which
talked about the best practices to follow when designing documents.
For example, I recall they said not to mix serif and sans serif fonts
for different styles.

I was wondering if anyone has come across any industry standards or
best practices? Any advice would be most welcome.

Thanks,
Mike

Mike

I can also recommend the 'Non-Designer's Design Book.' This is aimed at
users such as you and me who want to create company templates and handouts
without falling into horrible amateur traps - such as mixing inappropriate
fonts!

--
Terry Farrell - Word MVP
http://word.mvps.org/

"Mike Seddon" wrote in message
...
: Hi,
:
: I am trying to design some new document templates for our company.
:
: I seen to recall listening to a radio program some months ago which
: talked about the best practices to follow when designing documents.
: For example, I recall they said not to mix serif and sans serif fonts
: for different styles.
:
: I was wondering if anyone has come across any industry standards or
: best practices? Any advice would be most welcome.
:
: Thanks,
: Mike

All,

Thanks for the help and input. Advice has already proved very helpful

Thanks

Mike