Page Design Basics

Formatting is one way to help readers process information. The sections below outline two important design concepts. We'll explain the technical aspects of each concept in later pages. 


White Space

The block of text in our example is dense enough to make even a dedicated student sigh! Design experts argue that white space--all of the area that is not covered in text or images, including the spaces between lines of text--helps readers navigate and process the information. There are three design elements, in particular, in this block of text that violate guidelines for using white space.

The Wrong Way

  1. The paragraph is too long.
  2. The text is "justified" on both the left and right margins.
  3. The space between the lines is too small.

By default, the text editor in Canvas will prevent you from making two of these mistakes: justification and line spacing.

In Canvas, the default text justification is left-justified--the left margin is a nice tidy line straight down, and all new lines of text snap to the left margin. This is perfect for most content, as US readers are trained to read left to right, so our eyes naturally gravitate to the left margin. The ragged right margin, though it does not look as tidy as the crisp margins you may see in a newspaper, actually helps the reader keep their place--the bumps and bulges serve as visual markers that differentiate one line of text from another.

In addition, the default setting for the space between lines in paragraph text in Canvas is optimized for reading, leaving plenty of white space between lines so the text is not crowded, further enhancing readability.

The Effective Way

  1. Keep paragraph short and concise. (Don't worry about always following Miss Miller's advice from 3rd grade that a paragraph must have at least three sentences. Not true on the web!)
  2. Left-justify most text.
  3. Use the default spacing in Canvas to ensure text spacing is at least 1.5.

Since Canvas takes care of some white space design by default, the element you most need to address is the length of the paragraph. 

 

 

Before you select "Next" please be sure you have reviewed all of the sections above.