It was almost the same time I got my first personal computer, an Apple II clone, that I started writing books. Since then, I have published nine. I am not currently using any of the books I’ve published, because I am still writing new materials at home. But not just me. Almost every other teacher I know writes materials at home. Occasionally, they attempt to publish these materials later, but usually, they just write them for their own use. In fact, with the advent of powerful word processors and printers, there are probably as just many pages of homemade materials being used in the classroom as published materials.

Unfortunately, most of the materials made at home, no matter how good in content, are atrocious in terms of layout. In my experiences with both publishers and students, I have come to the conclusion that layout is just as important as ... no, even more important than... content. Therefore, I would like to offer a few basic tips for good layout in desktop publishing.

1. Old typing habits to unlearn:

2) Typography:

There are two basic types of typefaces, fonts: serif fonts and sans serif fonts. Serif fonts are the fonts that have little feet on the edges, as in Roman, Palatino, Times, etc. These fonts are good to use for body text, the main part of the article because they are easier to read. The feet make a kind of line across the page that your eye can follow. Body text should be from 9 to 14 points in size with 10 or 12 the best.

Sans serif fonts are those without feet, like Helvetica, Geneva, or Ultima. They are best for display text, as in titles, captions or special text.

Basically, you should use only one or two typefaces on a page. Instead of using many fonts, as many beginners do, just use different sizes or styles of the same font. The more important the text, the "heavier" it should be. Also, be careful about how you use leading, line size and line length. Just because your word processor puts lines all the way across the page, this doesn’t mean you should. In fact, long lines is the most obvious sign of a beginner. They are just plain hard to read. Instead, research has shown that seven to ten words per line is easiest to read (as in newspapers), but readability also depends on the weight and spacing. A small size font with lots of text should have narrow columns while larger size font with less text should have wider columns. Generally, two or three columns is best.

A common misconception is that bigger letters makes text easier to read. Not true. More important is the space between the lines, so instead of using tightly spaced big letters (single line spacing at 12 points), use small letters with more space between lines (1.5 spacing at 9 or 10 points). And don’t forget that when you go to 10 points, you have to shorten the line.

3) White Space:

White space refers to all the empty space on a page. This includes the space in the margins, the leading between paragraphs, etc. Basically, the more white space you have the better the page looks. A lot of white space makes the page look light and easy, while little white space makes the page look thick and heavy (and is also the second most common giveaway of an amateur). At least one expert says that leaving 50% of the page empty is the minimum.

How do you get white space? You can get white space by using leading (the space between paragraphs), columns, wide margins, indents, and by making your font or pictures smaller.

After you get it, where do you put it?

• In the margins - big margins look better. Some designers use a bigger margin at the bottom than the top.

• Around pictures - a smaller picture with white space around it looks better than a big picture.

• Around important objects, such as the title.

• At the top - Generally white space at the top looks better. Try to avoid a large white space at the bottom of the page, even if the page is solely composed of text. It makes your work look unfinished. Instead, put a nice title at the top, leave a large space and lower the body text to the bottom half of the page.

4) Layout Concerns:

Break your page into elements and move them around. Basically, the optical center of the page (the place the eye goes to first) is about one third of the way down from the top and about one third of the way from the left. After focusing on the optical point, the eye tends to draw across the page to the right, then to the bottom left, and again to the right, making a big Zorro-like "Z." Place your elements accordingly, with the most important element right smack in the optical center.

Symmetry (a balanced arrangement of elements) looks formal or organized, while asymmetry is more casual and interesting. To show my bias, I dare say a symmetrical layout might be better in a book for professionals while asymmetrical layout might be better for college students. When deciding whether to use symmetry or asymmetry, think in terms of the "spread" (two facing pages) rather than a single page.

If you have a large image of a moving object on the page, such as a skier or airplane, try to have it coming onto the page (placed assymmetrically to the left) rather than going off the page (placed assymmetrically in the middle), or else your reader’s attention will be directed off the page as well. As for graphics, avoid color and photos, because they do not copy well. Line graphics work best with solid grays, but you might try scanning or photocopying them first to "halftone" them (turn them into miniature collections of dots that a printing or copying machine can pick up).

To conclude, these suggestions just scratch the surface, but believe me, what a difference they can make. The layout is first thing users or critics when you hand them your materials, and first impressions last far into the reviews. After all, if there is one key concept that industrial Japan has passed on to the rest of the world, it is that the value is in the package, not the product.