Designing Public Documents

A Review of Research

Elaine Kempson and Nick Moore

Information design is about using language and design techniques to produce documents that best meet the needs of their intended audience. A great deal has been written on the subject since the Plain English Campaign drew it to public attention in the 1980s - so much so that the information designers themselves are now facing information overload.

This book provides a unique synthesis of over 250 reports and articles published on the subject - particularly in its application to public documents intended to convey information (such as leaflets and manuals) or to collect it (such as forms and questionnaires). The book draws on a wide range of disciplines - linguistics, graphic design, information science, printing, ergonomics, psychology, marketing, education and social research - to provide an invaluable overview of all the key elements of this important discipline.

Designing Public Documents is essential reading for all those involved in the subject - and, as the only available reader of its kind, is ideal course material for academics and students alike.

Contents:

• The document design process
• The use and users of public documents
• Reading and comprehension
• Guielines for document designers
• Format of documents
• Structure of text
• Structure of forms
• The language of forms and leaflets
• Aspects of visual design
• Testing and evaluating documents
• Editing and revising documents

£24.95 paperback ISBN 0 85374 537 4
1994 320 pages 234 x 153mm
Report number 732