Page Composition

Carl Shank • September 2, 2022

Guidelines for Good Layout*

If you ever read any of these disclosure and privacy agreements that you agree to, although written in plain English, they are dense and difficult to fathom.Even if they are on the internet and if given to you in paper form, they give a visual impression that can render a subscriber or applicant frustrated, suspicious and defensive. Take a look at the sample on the top below. To be honest, most of the time we simply don't bother to read the agreements. The problems come when we have an issue with the service or product that requires us to search through these massive and poorly composed pieces.


In real life, we use gestures, body language, tonal changes, and emotive elements that allow the message to get across accurately yet kindly to those who agree to the terms stated. This is done with composition and changes in type style, spacing, weight and size. It might be argued that such agreements and notices are written the way they are to save space or paper or internet usage. However, if we REALLY want the customer or subscriber to read these agreements, there is another and better way to go. This is the composition seen on the bottom below.


Type makes the message visible. The sample text is divided into conversation size pieces. Several techniques are used: (1) an obvious and strong header and beginning; (2) clear topic markers; (3) bold section markers that are easily identified; (4) visual shifts in direction using italicized type. What's changed? Text size and leading are the same (10/12) but everything else is new:


Wide margins. White space is often unused and underrated in such publications. Wide margins, according to John McWade (from which I borrowed and adapted this piece of page composition) are like "fresh linen; they set an open, inviting table." Margins are set at 1 inch all around with 1.5 inches on the left, in case the customer wants to do a three-holed punch and put them in a permanent binder (remember those?).


Medium length lines. They are the easiest to read and usually go about 5o characters or so per line.


Typographic contrasts.  Two type families are used here. Select a bold sans-serif (without feet) font for the vivid flags that point to each section. Here I am using a font called Formata, but any strong bold font will do. This conveys the authority of prominence without shouting (all CAPS type) or closing with the subheads. Notice that the numbers are also gone in these headers. The text is still Times New Roman. Italics are used to change your emphasis or tone of voice. Set each section apart from the rest using eye-pleasing space between the headers and textual elements.


*Adapted from "Guidelines for Good Layout," John McWade, Before & After, Vol. 4, No. 3, 1994, p. 7

Successful Layout & Design

Dutch Typography: Modern History

By Carl Shank • August 28, 2026
The early twentieth century produced an important Dutch visual culture. One of the most distinctive movements was the Amsterdam School, an expressionist architectural and decorative movement. Typography associated with the period often emphasized geometric forms, expressive lettering, unusual compositions. decorative initials, hand lettering, and architectural integration. Typography became increasingly understood as part of a larger graphic and architectural composition. Perhaps the most internationally famous Dutch contribution to modern graphic design was De Stijl. ( REFERENCE ) De Stijl was not just an art style, but a comprehensive aesthetic philosophy. It sought universal beauty, as abstracted from individual beauty, and a visual language and typography based on simplicity, geometry and primary colors, namely red, blue and yellow. Its core characteristics were the use of straight horizonal and vertical lines, the use of rectangles and squares, an emphasis on asymmetry, and the favoring of pure abstraction.

Dutch Typography: Historical Beginnings

By Carl Shank • August 28, 2026
Dutch Typography: Historical Beginnings Dutch typography has had an influence far beyond the relatively small geographic size of the Netherlands. From the early printing centers of the Low Countries to the international reputation of Dutch type designers in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Dutch typography is characterized by craftsmanship, readability, experimentation, and a strong relationship between type and graphic design. The larger historical pattern Early Printing in the Low Countries (c. 1470–1500) . The Netherlands and Belgium were important centers of European printing almost immediately after Gutenberg. Major early centers included Utrecht, Haarlem, Leuven, Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, and Amsterdam. Dutch and Flemish printers initially used forms derived from Gothic textura, but Roman types increasingly appeared in humanist books. A particularly important early figure was Gerard Leeu, who printed in Gouda and later Antwerp. His books demonstrate the transition from manuscript traditions toward increasingly sophisticated typographic production. Gerard or Gheraert Leeu, Leew, (between 1445 and 1450 to1492) printed what is called “incunable.” An incunable or incunabulum (pl.: incunables or incunabula, respectively) is a book or pamphlet printed in the earliest stages of European printing up to about 1500. They are distinct from manuscripts, which are documents written by hand. Some authorities on the history of printing include block books from the same time period as incunabula, whereas others limit the term to works printed using movable type. Famous incunabula include two from Mainz, the Gutenberg Bible of 1455 and the Peregrinatio in terram sanctam of 1486, printed and illustrated by Erhard Reuwich, the Nuremberg Chronicle written by Hartmann Schedel and printed by Anton Koberger in 1493, and the Hypnerotomachia Poliphiliprinted by Aldus Manutius with important illustrations by an unknown artist. Leeu printed his first (liturgical) book in May 1477 in his shop in Gouda, where between 1477 and 1484 he produced a total of about 69 books. Besides printing works in Latin and Dutch, he reprinted some of William Caxton’s editions for the English market. ( REFERENCE ) The Low Countries also developed a strong tradition of illustrated books, woodcut initials, borders, and ornamental typography.
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