G040 Lecture 05 Common Document Layouts

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G040 - Lecture 05Common Document Layouts

• Mr C Johnston
• ICT Teacher
• www.computechedu.co.uk

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Session Objectives

• Know standard layouts for formal business
  documents
• By able to apply standard layouts to common
  documents and other communications

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Publicity Flyers

• Used to promote your business,
• Left around, handed to people, put through letter
  boxes,
• Printed on single sheet of paper typically A5 /
  postcard size,
• Could be single or double sided
• Need to grab attention
• High use of colour
• Strange shapes of card
• Large writing
• Short sentences

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Questionnaires and Forms

• Used to gain feedback or collect information for
  a specification purpose,
• Often the purpose is stated at the top of the
  questionnaire,
• Should be easy to understand and easy to complete
  with clear instructions,
• Shading and borders add structure - often you
  find individual boxes for each character so its
  easy to process as written information is clear,
• Questions tend to be closed for ease of
  processing although sometimes open questions are
  asked,
• Scales from 1-5 are often used to gauge peoples
  opinions,
• Try and fit them on one piece of paper so parts
  dont get lost.

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Business Letters

• A formal written communication form from a sender
  to a recipient for a specific purpose,
• Layout follows a standard format

• Company address / logo
• Reference numbers
• Date
• Recipients name and address
• Greeting

• Reference Number / Subject of letter
• Content of letter
• Close (Yours.)
• Signature of person sending letter
• A note of copies or enclosures

• Typically the senders information will appear in
  the middle of the letter as a letter head,
  although sometime will be left aligned,
• The language used for a letter will vary
  depending on what the letter is for.

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Newsletter

• Internal or external document which informs
  people of what is going on within an
  organisation,
• Normally newsletters are laid out in columns like
  a newspaper and have a title at the top and date
  of issue,
• Pictures are used throughout the newsletter to
  illustrate articles,
• Typical newsletter features could include

• A main story,
• Interviews with stars
• Readers letters,
• Employee news,
• Jobs / whose got a job,

• Company news,
• Jokes / puzzles / entertainment,
• Readers offers,
• Classifieds / adverts,
• Births / Marriages / Deaths,

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Presentations

• Used to display information on screen as part of
  a display system, lecture, training session or
  trade fair for example,
• Each slide should have a clear title, and minimum
  text as people have to read them quickly or from
  a distance,
• The text included should summarise a point so
  needs to be chosen carefully,
• Consistent use of colour and text style is
  required often companies corporate colours are
  used,
• Graphics are used to illustrate the points,
• Presentations often use other media including
  sound, video and animation to bring them to life.

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Brochures / Catalogues

• Used by companies to advertise their products
  with the aim of selling them,
• It will clearly display the company name, contact
  details and date any prices are valid till,
• Products will be laid out clearly with a picture,
  price and textual description a grid system or
  tables may be used for clear presentation,
• Product descriptions will use a positive language
  style to sell benefits and make them desirable,
• Terms, conditions and legalities will be included
  somewhere,
• Pictures will be high quality to make you want
  the products on sale.

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Memo

• A memo is a brief document which is used to
  communicate with organisation members,
• Typical features on a memo include

• Heading memorandum normally centred,
• Recipient name, senders name, date and heading
  aligned using same tab stop,
• Main body of memo is usual written under a line
  to improve presentation,
• The body of the memo is short and less formal
  that a letter,
• To end a memo you should use your initials.

• Memos dont have a greeting or complimentary
  close as the senders and receivers will know each
  other well.

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Business Reports

• Formal multipage document which will report on
  something could be justification of the years
  accounts or findings of market research,
• Will typically have the following structure

• Title Page
• Abstract or summary of report
• Contents Page
• Introduction

• Main content
• Conclusion
• Appendices
• Index

• Language used will be formal with SPAG clearly
  checked
• Main content will be set out as numbered sections
  and paragraphs,
• Any graphics, tables or charts included will be
  labelled as figures so they can be reffered to
  within the text.

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Website

• Many companies have websites as a a means to
  advertise their products / services and
  communicate with customers.
• The site will use the house style of the
  organisation so customers can relate to it,
• The design of a homepage is vital as its often
  the first page on a site you will see,
• Typical homepage features include

• Name of the company
• What the company offers
• Contact details
• Navigation aids to rest or site
• Facilities to easily find products

• Special offers / sample products
• Ability to register / login
• Latest company developments
• Customisable
• Suitable page title in blue bar

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Session Task

• Download this topics exercise from my website and
  complete it.