Tools - Best Practices for Report Cover / Title pages
12:03
Posted by jason tratch
A strong cover page sets the stage! Often, we leave it plain, cold & too formal. In a multimedia rich world we can avoid boredom and get excited about the content (cover page introduces you to this).
Unfortunately, humans have a tendency to have a first opinion within 30 seconds of seeing things and this will lead to a judgement or opinion that they form within their mind. So do not underestimate the value of spending extra time on that cover page.
The next part is for you to either reverse that judgement (if it is a bad one) or to enhance, foster and cement it (if it is a good one).
Thus, ensure you spend some time on that cover page and do not have a "one template fits all" attitude.
At a minimum, create a theme for your cover page based on the:
A sample cover page could include:
Other key things or guidelines include:
The items below depend on the size of the document (for small files you may incorporate them directly on the cover page or if a large document these types of things should be on the second page):
A final note, do not be afraid to have your cover page in a different font then the rest of the body. This also shows a bit of flair and can gain more attention.
A few links below touch on this topic, but surprisingly not a lot out there...
Title page creation in MS Word (visual)
Do's and Don'ts
Sample cover pages
Unfortunately, humans have a tendency to have a first opinion within 30 seconds of seeing things and this will lead to a judgement or opinion that they form within their mind. So do not underestimate the value of spending extra time on that cover page.
The next part is for you to either reverse that judgement (if it is a bad one) or to enhance, foster and cement it (if it is a good one).
Thus, ensure you spend some time on that cover page and do not have a "one template fits all" attitude.
At a minimum, create a theme for your cover page based on the:
- receiver,
- sender,
- content,
- presenting technology (if applicable),
- and constraints (e.g. time, money and quality).
A sample cover page could include:
- Header/Footer: this is variable, examples of what to include are: Title, website, sending company name, receiving company name, * Confidential * wording,
- Content: be short, specific, this is your landing page for the people you are trying to present something to, align the body of the document to the type of cover page you need to have
- Confidential or Proprietary Notice: depending on how confidential or how much IP is involved, have a simple one liner or include a legal statement
- Logos (do not need to be drawing attention, subtle logo in the right space is key (header/footer or embedded somewhere on the page)
- Diagrams - this is low hanging fruit, people are visual and seldom do I see an image, yet it is very easy to do, it can be a descriptive image that related to the content, or it can simply be a background image (eg. drops of water if the content is water management).
Other key things or guidelines include:
- Title
- Subject
- For (company and if possible a name)
- From
- Date
- Slogan (if applicable)
The items below depend on the size of the document (for small files you may incorporate them directly on the cover page or if a large document these types of things should be on the second page):
- Version Control
- Contact Information (address, tel, email)
- Controlling Author
- TM or copy right statements
A final note, do not be afraid to have your cover page in a different font then the rest of the body. This also shows a bit of flair and can gain more attention.
A few links below touch on this topic, but surprisingly not a lot out there...
Title page creation in MS Word (visual)
Do's and Don'ts
Sample cover pages
This entry was posted on October 4, 2009 at 12:14 pm, and is filed under
Share,
Tools
. Follow any responses to this post through RSS. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
21 April 2019 at 20:30
The watch is designed and functionally sober and elegant. The quality is relatively perfect.Best Luxury Replica Watch Brands This is the first time I bought a copy watch. This watch is very surprising to me. The color is very low-key, Luxury replica vacheron-constantin watches looks very lady, gave the girlfriend one, the girlfriend has always praised this watch in front of me, she is very happy.
18 November 2019 at 19:27
Copiare l'orologio è molto bello,replica rolex Orologi questo è uno stile di fascia alta. Mi piace molto questo orologio replica. Il servizio del negozio è molto buono,replica sky dweller Orologi la qualità dell'orologio è molto buona e il prezzo è molto conveniente, penso che sia molto economico, di buona qualità e a basso prezzo.
6 December 2019 at 22:26
Butikken har løst problemer for mig, tjenesten er meget tålmodig,køb moncler boern det er en perfekt shopping oplevelse. Da jeg modtog Moncler tøj, troede jeg, det var en god kopi af Moncler dunjakke. Jeg kan lide denne online butik,køb moncler kvinder gilet denne Moncler kjole er enkel og generøs. Meget tilfreds med dette køb.
23 December 2019 at 19:54
Les répliques de chaussures Christian Louboutin sont très belles et très capricieuses.pas cher louboutin chaussures J'aime beaucoup cette réplique de chaussures Christian Louboutin. Le service en magasin est très bon,pas cher femme louboutin chaussures la qualité des chaussures est très bonne et le prix est très bon, je pense que je suis très bon marché, de bonne qualité et bon marché
6 January 2020 at 19:40
The quality of this replica jersey is perfect, cheap Soccer Jerseys and it is very comfortable to wear. It is comfortable to wear when traveling. The fabric is comfortable, soft, heavy, not thin, elastic, and anti-wrinkle. I recommend this site to my good friends,cheap inter Jerseys they are very happy to get such cheap clothes
12 January 2020 at 23:52
Au moment où j'ai ouvert la boîte, acheter des montres de luxe à bas prix j'ai été surpris qu'il ne s'agisse que d'une réplique, mais elle avait exactement le même aspect que l'original et la qualité était bonne. Je pense que cela devrait être la meilleure réplique de montre que j'ai jamais achetée.acheter pas cher omega constellation les montres Je partage ce site avec mes amis. Ils sont très heureux, le prix est bon marché, je peux acheter une telle montre.
11 September 2020 at 00:21
I bought it for my husband. This summer,discounted raybans sunglasses I only need a pair of sunglasses, which I bought when I saw this event. There are not many brands of men's sunglasses. Ray-Ban is my favorite. This is not fancy. The logo is also small. replica raybans round It looks very representative. These are the glasses of their family. The husband likes it super and is happy.