That Darned Content 2 pg 5: Production Graphics with Wendy Peck at webreference.com | WebReference

That Darned Content 2 pg 5: Production Graphics with Wendy Peck at webreference.com

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That Darned Content 2: Balancing with Color and Graphics

Large type is hard to read and "weighs" a lot. Even a small amount of very black text can overwhelm a page.

When you have investigated the ways to increase your content, and the amount of content still falls short of making your page look good, turn to color and graphics.

The one thing I would like to strongly warn against, is the common habit to increase the size of your font, or use bold type when you have too little content. You're not fooling anyone. If the rest of your site has text that is 11 pixels, and all of a sudden there is a page with only one paragraph in 18 pixel text ... well, it's not rocket science to figure out what the designer did.

Boosting font size is wrong in many ways. First, it will not be read as body text, which can cause a visitor to skim right over it. Large or bold type is easy to read for headlines, but not for a paragraph. Finally, almost always the text becomes too heavy for the page. One paragraph in heavy text visually weighs far more than several paragraphs in body text weight. See how the sample at the left seems to be "heavier" than all the words on this side of the page. Stand way back from the monitor, or squint your eyes to confirm. (See page 2 of this article for balance testing techniques.)

So, if I tell you what not to do, I best be prepared to offer other solutions. There are several ways you can expand the visual space for content without turbo boosting font weight.
 

 

 

If you add a small amount of text with a background color, you can often create a space with much more power and weight to balance the rest of the page.

 

If you add a small amount of text with a background color, you can often create a space with much more power and weight to balance the rest of the page.

Background color
Look for opportunities to place some of your content in a cell with background color. You will need to add margins, which takes up some space, especially if you make the margins generous. The sample at the left has a margin of 15 pixels, and increases the length of the text by a full line.

The second sample at the left features exactly the same setup, but with no margin between text and background. Not only does the first sample look much better, and present an easier to read paragraph, but it also takes up a lot more space than the second sample.

 

 

 

The samples at the right show the same information presented in two different forms. Note how the first sample only fills about half the length on the page that the sample with bullets, but the sample with bullets adds more weight. When you consider that the bullet form is easier to read, the benefits to using bullets to expand content really add up.

Use bullets
Wait a minute! Didn't I offer bullets as a way to handle too much text? Yes, I did, but bullets can also expand the space that is occupied on the page. Using bullets certainly creates more length to a passage, but it also adds weight with the bullets. Remember that this is all about weight and balance.

Using Bullets

Bullets can help to break up long text, but it can also be put to work disguising a small amount of text. By using bullets you:

  • expand the space a paragraph fills on a page
  • adds more length to the passage
  • add weight with the dark, graphic bullet shape
  • remember this is all about weight and balance.
 

 

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