Well-designed documents are not only attractive, but also engaging, easy to read and understand, and more likely to achieve their goals. Modern readers are inundated with a constant stream of information. To get your audience to read and use your content, you need to make it easy for them. While using the right words is a good start, structure and design are as important.
This course is for people who are not trained as designers but who want to learn how to apply simple design techniques to create better documents at work and beyond. These techniques apply to graphic documents (like posters and brochures), formal documents (like annual reports and presentations), and a wide range of documents people use every day (like proposals, status reports, schedules, memos, newsletters, and even routine emails).
Each week you will complete readings and practice exercises and apply your learning to documents in the real world. In the real-time virtual classes, get personalized feedback from your instructor and classmates, work dynamically with the weekly content, and build a community with your peers.
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- consider the needs of your intended audience
- organize content so that it’s easy to navigate
- apply design principles to improve readability
- employ typographic principles
- choose appropriate visuals
- understand how it all works together to make a document easier to read, understand, and use
Course outline
Week 1: Laying the foundation: audience, purpose, and format
Week 2: General document design considerations: structure, hierarchy, and typography
Week 3: Incorporating visuals: tables, charts, and illustrations
How am I assessed?
This course is marked complete/incomplete and is based on your attendance and participation.?Your instructor will provide feedback during real-time online classes.
Expected effort
Expect to spend 1 to 2 hours per week completing readings and exercises, as well as another 2 hours participating in the real-time online classes.
Technology requirements
To take this course, you’ll need access to:
- an email account
- a computer, laptop, or tablet under five years old using Windows or macOS
- the latest version of a web browser (or previous major version release)
- a reliable internet connection
- a video camera and microphone
Participants should have a general understanding of how to use some form software in which to design documents (such as Microsoft Word or Google docs) and have access to that software to complete the assignments for this course.
One day before the start of your course, we will email you step-by-step instructions for accessing your course.
Course format
This course is 100% online. Course work is done independently, and instructor supported during real-time virtual classes. Log in to your class at scheduled times and participate by video conferencing.