Text Design: Design Principles for Texts

Abstract

In his book “Visual Function,” the information designer Paul Mijksenaar quoted the famous Dutch writer, Multatuli, who wrote around 1873: “Endeavor – with the most diligent labor, O aspiring artist! – to master the content. The form will rise to meet you” (as cited in Mijksenaar 1997, p. 52). Multatuli compares the discussion about form and content with a “beggar who debates whether he would keep his gold in a purse or a pouch... if he had any gold!”(as cited in Mijksenaar 1997, p. 52). In other words: “Without content there is no form” (Mijksenaar 1997, p. 52). The content always affects the form – form follows content.

This article is about content: about text, design, and text design. As Multatuli knew: writing has something to do with design. Writing means to design texts: to start with an idea, to shape words, to form phrases, to build sentences and then paragraphs, to frame a headline, to lay out, to illustrate the text with pictures and graphics, etc. Since writing obviously has something to do with design, the following questions arise: are there design principles for the layout as well as for the writing style? Is it possible to apply the gestalt laws to texts? This article wants to give an answer: it defines the terms text and text design and outlines some ideas about content, form, and design principles for texts.