The document summarizes best practices for visual design in teaching materials. It discusses using familiar fonts in a larger size with good legibility. It recommends using white space and line spacing to organize the page visually. Graphics should only be included if they serve an instructional purpose to make the content more concrete or memorable for students. Layout, typography and images are as important, if not more important than content in engaging students and facilitating comprehension.

1. What teachers need to know
about visual design
Cameron Romney
Center for Foreign Language Education
Momoyama Gakuin University
(St. Andrew’s University)
November 4, 2012

2. Agenda
• Introduction
• Typography
• Page Layout
• Graphics

3. Connect
Theory and Practice
with
‘Best Practices’

4. Do you know anything about typography/
page layout/graphics?
Do you think it (they) are important?
Why or why not?

5. “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”
Curtis Kelly, 1998

6. Visual design effects
on readers
• Motivation
Smiley (2004); Misanchuk (1992); Bell & Sullivan (1981)
• Comprehension
Gasser, Boeke, Haffernan, & Tan (2005); Romney (2004); Smiley (2004); Walker (2001), Hoener, Salend & Kay (1997); Garofalo
(1988), Lewis & Walker (1989)
• Recall
Gasser, Boeke, Haffernan, & Tan (2005); Smiley (2004); Lewis & Walker (1989)
• Efficiency/Speed
Smiley (2004); Hoener, Salend & Kay (1997)

8. “...more easily perceiving ... text on a
page ... less attentional resources are
required for the process of reading. More
attentional resources can then be
devoted to attending to the message in
the text, which results in deeper
processing and an easier recall of the
information presented.” (p. 185)
Gasser, Boek, Haffernan & Tan (2005)

9. Does the visual appeal
of a classroom handout
matter?
YES!

10. Typeface
i.e. font

11. “The font is the cookie
cutter, and the typeface
is the cookie.” (p. 29)
Felici (2003)

12. What fonts do you know?
Which ones do you use? Why? How?
What’s your favorite font?
Why do you like?

13. Categories of Fonts
Style Purpose Historical
• Old-style • Text • Renaissance
• Modern • Display • Baroque
• Slab serif • Decorative • Neoclassical
• Sans serif • Romantic
• Script • Realist
• Decorative
Williams (2008) Felici (2003)
• Modernist
Bringhurst (2004)

14. Serif and Sans-serif
Bowley (2009), Bringhurst (2004), Craig (1990), Felici (2003), Kirsanov (1998),
Lupton (2004), Madison (2003), Miller (2002), Misanchuk (1992), Romney (2004),
Walker & Reynolds (2003),White (2002), Williams (2008), etc.

15. EM EM

16. Legibility vs. Readability

17. Common Problems
for
L2 Learners

19. LC l and UC I

20. LC d, b, q and p

21. Lowercase i and j

22. Lowercase c and o

23. Lowercase f and t

24. Double story minuscules
Images from Wikipedia

25. Best Practice #1
Use the font students
are FAMILIAR with

26. “people most easily read material
printed in the typefaces with
which they are most familiar.” (p. 32)
Hoener, Salend & Kay (1997)

27. Copyright page

28. Identifont & WhatTheFont
www.identifont.com http://new.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont
(includes an iPhone app)

29. Best Practice #2
set the typeface at a
LARGER size

30. • Less skilled readers benefit from larger text
Carter, Day & Meggs (2006); Petterson (1989)
• 9-12 pt is standard for adults
Carter, Day & Meggs (2006)
• 18 pt for 1st grade, 14 pt for 3rd grade, 11 pt
for 6th grade
Hoener, Salend & Kay (1997)

31. Best Practice #3
Use a font with good
LEGIBILITY

32. “...serifed typefaces are easier to
read than san serif”
Felici (2003)

33. Bonus Tip
Don’t forget the
PRINTING & COPYNG

35. Best Practice #4
Use typography to
signal sections of the
document

36. Example

37. Recommended
Typefaces
Serif Sans Serif
• Georgia • Verdana
• Lucida Bright • Tahoma
• (Bembo) Schoolbook • Helvetica Textbook

38. Georgia
Image from Identifont

39. Lucida Bright
Image from Identifont

40. Bembo Schoolbook
Image from Identifont

41. Verdana
Image from Identifont

42. Tahoma
Image from Identifont

43. Helvetica Textbook
Image from Identifont

44. Page Layout

45. Best Practice #5
Use INCREASED
line spacing
and
WHITE space

46. Theory
“...the reader has an effortless
return path to the left edge ... for
the next line.” (p. 115)
White (2002)

48. Theory
“Space attracts readers by
making the page look accessible,
unthreatening, and manageable”
White (2002)

51. Best Practice #6
Use lines & shapes to
ORGANIZE the page

52. Theory
“...directing the readers eye
around the page, drawing attention
to specific parts... breaking copy
into sections” (p.86)
Dabner (2004)

56. Best Practice #7
Use MULTIPLE
columns with
SHORTER lines

57. Theory
“When long lines are set...there
is a tendency of the reader to
read the same line twice” (p. 86)
Craig (1990)

58. Line Length Guides
• 50 - 60 characters (White 2002)
• 2 times the alphabet (Craig 1990)
• 27 characters minimum, 40 optimum, 70
maximum (Felici 2003)

61. Graphics

62. Do you use images in your materials?
Why or why not?
Do images help students? How?

63. Levin’s (1981) Typology of images
Decoration Increase attractiveness
Remuneration Increase sales
Motivation Increase interest
Reiteration Additional exposures
Representational Make more concrete
Organization Make more integrated
Interpretation Make more comprehensible
Transformation Make more memorable

64. Levin’s (1981) Typology of images
Decoration Increase attractiveness
Remuneration Increase sales
Motivation Increase interest
Reiteration Additional exposures
Representational Make more concrete
Organization Make more integrated
Interpretation Make more comprehensible
Transformation Make more memorable

65. Best Practice #8
Only use graphics with
INSTRUCTIONAL
purpose

66. “If instructional facilitation is not
highly probable, then ... graphics
should not be used in instructional
material.” (p. 239)
Misanchuk (1992)

67. Theory
Graphics can be a distraction
Evans, Watson and Willows (1987); Peeck (1987)
Clark & Lyons (2011); Romney & Bell (2011)

68. Putting it all together
A Before and After

71. Thank You
romney.cameron@gmail.com
LinkedIn
Twitter: @CameronRomney
CameronRomney.com