Many books, designers, and design educators talk about visual design principles such as balance, contrast, and alignment, but with little consistency. This study uses empirical methods to explore the lore surrounding design principles. The study took the form of two stages: a quantitative literature review to determine what design principles are…

Texts are a group of letters which are printed or displayed in a particular style and size. In the course of the fast speed of technological development everywhere and expanding use of computer based instruction such as online courses, students spend more time on a computer screen than printed media. Texts have been the main element to convey…

Website quality measurement tools have been largely static and have struggled to determine relevant attributes of user satisfaction. This study compares and contrasts attributes of user satisfaction based on usability guidelines seeking to identify practical easy-to-administer measurement tools. The website users assessed business school homepages…

Subjects who were shown slides of four newspaper front pages--traditional, contemporary, well-designed traditional, and well-designed contemporary--preferred contemporary to traditional designs and well-designed pages to those of average design. (Reproductions of the four front pages are included.) (GT)

A survey of 194 graduate students compared the old and new formats of "Esquire" magazine, combining two issues of each format in a sequence of four viewing pairs (to negate possible bias effects of content). The subjects indicated their preferences and reasons for preferences for old and new logos, typefaces, tables of content formats,…

Four experiments tested reader reaction to selected newspaper design techniques, including jumps, wraps, type style, and picture size. The results implied that a newspaper striving for the highest overall readership of its stories will get the best results by keeping jumps to a minimum and running larger pictures. (RL)

Focusing on the various problems involved in designing and producing a picturebook, this document consists of opening remarks by Kenneth Morantz; a discussion of design in the context of publishing, by editor Stephen Roxburgh; a discussion of what separates children's book publishing from the rest of the trade as well as what contributes to the…

Using data from a previous study, this study investigated the adoption of modern graphic design techniques by daily newspapers. A scale of modern design was constructed from available literature and tested for internal validity by determining what design practices were included in sample papers. The scale was then used to test assumptions about…

Offers reasons and guidelines for classroom exercises in creating black and white posters for introductory courses in graphics, design, production, or layout. (RL)

A lesson from a physics textbook for secondary students was redesigned in three versions and given to 600 students. Results of achievement measures suggested that one of the experimental versions (which stressed the visual aspects of the printed page) was superior to the standard and the other experimental versions. (GT)

The elements of design (line, shape, color, value, and texture) are the artist's lexicon rather than words, and the meaning of these elements is carried in their expressive properties in picture books as well as in paintings. Line can convey repose when horizontal, stability if vertical, and action when diagonal or curving. The element of shape…

Discusses informational books for children, how they have improved, and how to teach children to select the book best suited to their purpose and gather pertinent information from it. Notes that well-designed books have an attractive format, adequate white space and margins, and thoughtful placement of illustrations and text. (SRT)