Design principles...

For blogs it is important to design for onscreen reading.

Parker (2003, p.270) states that “onscreen reading is far more difficult than reading a printed document because of the different way your readers’ eyes encounter the message”. To lessen eye fatigue (as a result of reflected light from the screens projected light) contrast and color are important choices to make.

Space is important as it “opens up” an onscreen page, making the “message easier to read” (Parker 2003, p.275).

Subheads and sidebars are likewise important.

Other things Parker (2003) advises to keep in mind are:

• put white space to work
• add text hyperlinks
• avoid thin, ornate typefaces
• put color to work
• keep readers informed
• use lists to make information visual
• keep design simple (background and visuals)
• be mindful of display size

Kress (1997) discusses the shift from text to resource, a shift from the inward to the outward. The hypertext is an example that “signals the shift from inwardly focused, contemplative activity of ‘reading’, to outwardly focused, physical and cognitive action” (Kress 1997, p. 66).

So, hypertext and links are important to include when designing blogs.

Visual display and arrangement are also important as “writing is a visual mode” (Kress 1997, p. 71). After all, design shapes the future and is a textual principle for change.

Layout is a vital and fundamental aspect in design as “layout places the various meaningful elements into a whole with order and coherence” (Kress & van Leeuwen 1998, p.200).

Salience and balance are complex processes but are also important factors. Salience can create a hierarchy of importance amongst the elements of a blog page (where the greater the weight of an element, the greater its salience) (Kress & van Leeuwen 1998, p.200).

Elements create “a balancing centre” and “without balance coordination in space is not possible. Salience, therefore, does not simply serve aesthetic purposes, rather, it “plays a vital role in structuring the message” (Kress & van Leeuwen 1998, p.201).

Reep (2006) provides further insight into document design. Reep says that readers ‘read’ both the printed words and the visual presentation of a text. It is the writers goal “to provide readers with the information they need in a form they can use” (Reep 2006, p.134).

Reep bases design principles on the following:

1) BALANCE: weight of a page
2) PROPORTION: size and placement of text, graphic aids and format elements on a page
3) SEQUENCE: arrangement and ‘best order’ of a document
4) COSISTENCY: present similar features in similar styles
(Reep 2006, pp.135-136)

Reep also offers four types of format elements:

1) WRITTEN CUES: headings, placement, style, headers and footers, jump lines, logs and icons
2) WHITE SPACE: areas without text or graphics such as margins, heading areas, columns and indentations
3) COLOR: color, style and usability
4) TYPOGRAPHIC DEVICES: to highlight specific details or sections through the use of typefaces, boldface, lists, bullets, squares and boxes
(Reep 2006, pp.154-163)

White space is perhaps the most important format element. Without white space text would be daunting, bulky and readers would easily give up. Reep says that “many web pages are overloaded” in this way. So, an “uncluttered web page can have great appeal to readers”. After all, “white space creates a path” for readers to easily follow (Reep 2006, p.158).