Document Design, Working-Class Rhetoric, and Education in the Hearl Maxwell Collection

Document Design Principles - Alignment

     The placement of texts and objects on a page should have a purpose; these items should not be placed randomly or else the validity of the page is compromised. “When items are aligned on the page, the result is a stronger cohesive unit,” (Williams 33). In the Western world people read text from left to right. While a text doesn’t necessarily have to be placed with the hard line to the left, the justification of the text to the left or the right makes a text much easier to follow for the eyes. “A centered alignment often appears a bit weak,” (Williams 35). The centered alignment takes on a more formal approach (Williams 36). With a contract or a formal letter, it is okay to take that formal approach even though a justification to the right or left of center can have the same refined feeling. Typically, it is best to stick to one alignment, left or right, often times there is an opportunity to break the rules. Just remember, “unity is an important concept in design,” (Williams 54) and unity is a form of repetition.
           
     The alignment of a document helps with the visual appeal and allowing a person to quickly and easily engage in the text. One way to achieve this goal is to work on the layout of the design. If a design creates “gridlines [to] indicate proportional outline of the format and include margin lines, column guides, and other gridlines as necessary or desired,” (Hagen 70) then an individual reading the document has an easier time focusing on the text at hand. The ultimate goal in a document is to inform someone of something of importance.
           
      The letters follow form, with the header at the top. The attention getter of the header is centered, but the information around the main focus is aligned right and left. This is one instance where it is okay to break the rules and have all three alignments. This broken rule shows a sign of repetition. There is also contrast as the main focal point is centered and large while the information to the left and right is smaller font size. A clear case where the items all work together to form a whole picture. The body of the text drops down and there is an indent to each new paragraph. Each paragraph is aligned to the left with the jagged edge on the right. A way for the eyes to move through the text quickly and gather the information that is being presented. “[Flush left, jagged right] accommodates natural word spacing and provides easy eye tracking,” (Hagen 101).
           
     In the more formal documents such as the contract, the text is known as fully justified “(right and left edges perfectly squared),” (Hagen 101). Full justification allows for words to be spread fully throughout the line to avoid the jagged right, but jagged right helps the reader move from line to line. Williams’ design book suggests avoiding fully justified text unless your line is long enough to avoid awkward gap spacing between words (Williams 42). In these more formal documents, the full justified text works with the line length. Finally alignment of a document brings us to the fourth element of proximity.

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