Why good document design matters: Is your content getting the attention it deserves?

Your content is good. But is your document doing it justice?

You’ve spent weeks, maybe even months, pulling together the content for your latest brochure, presentation or report. The research has been done, the facts have been checked, the stats have been gathered and everyone who needs to approve the wording has finally approved the wording.

Then all of that valuable information gets dropped into a Word document, PowerPoint presentation or an existing template and somehow, it just doesn’t quite do all that hard work justice.

This is something I come across a lot as a graphic designer. The content itself isn’t the problem. In fact, there’s often a huge amount of knowledge, expertise and genuinely useful information sitting there. The problem is that the document isn’t necessarily helping the reader to find it, understand it or take away the things you really want them to remember.

That’s where good publication design can make a huge difference.

Good report design is about communication, not decoration

Obviously I want anything I design to look good. I’m a graphic designer after all! But making a document look attractive is only one small part of the job.

When I’m working on report design, I’m thinking about the person who will eventually be reading it. I want to know what they need to understand, which messages matter most and what we can do visually to make all of that information easier to digest.

There might be an important statistic hidden within a paragraph that deserves to be pulled out and given more prominence. A long section of copy might benefit from being broken up visually, or some of the information might be much easier to understand as a graphic. Sometimes it’s simply about creating a clear hierarchy so the reader instinctively knows where to look first and can easily find their way around the document.

Ideally, the person reading it shouldn’t have to think about any of that. It should just feel clear and easy to follow.

Professional document design makes information easier to understand

I hate to break it to you, but your reader probably isn’t going to read every single word you’ve lovingly written!

Most of us scan documents. We look at the headings, notice images, pick out statistics and jump to the sections that are relevant to us. If we’re faced with page after page of dense text with very little to help us find our way through it, it can be difficult to work out what really matters.

This becomes even more important when you’re communicating something complicated. You might know the subject inside out, but your reader probably doesn’t, so the document needs to help them through it.

Thoughtful page layouts, clear typography, imagery, colour, graphics and a bit of breathing space all help to create that journey. They allow the content to lead rather than leaving the reader to work everything out for themselves.

Good design shouldn't compete with your content. It should help people understand it.

Annual and impact report design helps your important messages stand out

Imagine you’re a charity that has spent a year doing brilliant work in your community. You’ve got the figures to demonstrate your impact, stories from the people you’ve helped and important information that your funders, trustees and stakeholders need to see.

You’ve already done the difficult bit, but if your most impressive statistic is sitting halfway down page 32 within a big block of text, you’re asking an awful lot of the reader!

Annual and impact report design is about giving that information the structure it deserves. The important numbers should feel important. The stories should have room to breathe. Someone who only has five minutes to look through the report should still be able to understand what you’ve achieved and why it matters.

The same principle applies to reports in the public sector or professional services. A long document doesn’t have to feel like a long document if there’s a clear structure helping the reader through it.

Good presentation and brochure design helps your content achieve its goal

The same thinking applies beyond reports.

A brochure might need to help a prospective client understand your services and feel confident enough to get in touch. A presentation could be supporting a pitch, helping to secure funding or giving a board the information they need to make a decision.

In each case, the document has a job to do.

If there’s one important point on a presentation slide that could help win the client or get an idea approved, it shouldn’t be fighting for attention with six other messages. If someone picks up your brochure, they shouldn’t have to hunt around to work out what you actually offer or what they should do next.

This is why I always want to understand the purpose of a document before I start designing it. The design decisions come from what we need the document to achieve and who we need it to communicate with.

When is it worth investing in professional publication design?

Does every document need a professional graphic designer? Absolutely not.

There are plenty of everyday documents where professional design would be complete overkill. An internal update that’s going to six colleagues probably doesn’t need to come anywhere near someone like me!

But there are other documents that are representing a huge amount of work, expertise or investment from your organisation.

An annual report might need to demonstrate your impact to funders. A brochure could be helping you win your next client. A presentation might support an important pitch. A workbook could contain specialist information that people need to understand and actually use.

If the document represents your organisation, communicates something important or needs its reader to take action afterwards, it’s worth considering whether the way it looks and works matches the quality of what you’ve put into it.

Why I specialise in brochure, presentation and report design

I’ve been a graphic designer for over 15 years and, as I talked about in my previous blog, I’ve gradually found myself drawn towards brochures, presentations and reports, alongside other publication work such as workbooks and guides.

I think this is exactly why I enjoy these projects so much. Give me lots of information to organise and I’m very happy! I love spending time thinking about the best page layouts, how everything should flow, which information needs to stand out and how someone is going to move through the finished document.

There’s something incredibly satisfying about taking a document that initially feels complicated or overwhelming and turning it into something clear, engaging and easy to use.

Ultimately, your organisation has already done the hard work. You’ve got the knowledge and expertise, you’ve gathered the information and you’ve got something worth saying.

Good design makes sure your document does it justice.

If you have a brochure, presentation or report coming up and would like to talk about how professional publication design could help you make more of your content, please get in touch.