Chapter . Design below the line: Simple technique creates a report that looks open and inviting.

Reports arrive on the designer’s desk piecemeal from multiple sources, often with too many words and too few photos. It’s your job to convert that stack of random clutter into a cohesive, smoothly flowing publication that feels open and inviting. How do you do it?

Take a visual tip from museum displays. Start with one long, horizontal line—a hangline—and suspend everything below it. This will give the page its flow. The open space above the line gives the page its airy, inviting feel. Have a look.

Design below the line: Simple technique creates a report that looks open and inviting.

What is a hangline? Think clothesline; it’s a way to suspend ...

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