design-best-practices

# Design Best Practices Library Actionable design guidelines sourced from top companies and research. Use these as the default standard for all generated documents. ## 1. Proposal Design (McKinsey / Deloitte Style) ### Structure - Cover page: title pushed to upper-center area (not dead center), accent line above title, meta block (prepared by/for, date) - Executive summary on page 2 — single page max - Clear section breaks with generous whitespace between major sections - About/team page near the end, not the beginning ### Layout Principles - Left-aligned body text always (never centered body copy) - Action titles on every section — articulate the key takeaway, not just the topic - One idea per page/section — do not stack unrelated content - Use line-based separators (1px rules) over box-based containers - Generous whitespace signals sophistication; cluttered layouts signal amateur work --- ## 2. Invoice Design (Stripe / FreshBooks Model) ### Layout 1. Subtle top bar (4-5px solid color) — visual anchor without heaviness 2. Header: company name + details left; "INVOICE" label + number + dates right 3. Bill-to section: plain text, uppercase muted labels (9px) above client info (14px bold) 4. Amount Due: right-aligned, large bold (18px) 5. Line items table: dark header row with white text, alternating white/#F8FAFC rows, no vertical inner borders 6. Totals: right-aligned, line-based — subtotal/tax in muted, 1.5px divider, total in bold 7. Payment details: separated by thin rule, 2-column label+value grid 8. Subtle bottom bar (4px) ### Principles - Minimalism outperforms cluttered designs - White space is "breathing room" — cramped invoices feel chaotic, spacious invoices feel trustworthy - Sans-serif fonts work best for invoice data - No colored background cards for info sections — use plain text with thin separators - No navy fill boxes on totals — bold text + border-top rule instead --- ## 3. Report Design (McKinsey / BCG Style) ### Brand Colors (Reference) - **McKinsey**: Primary blue #2251FF, dark #051C2C, white #FFFFFF - **Deloitte**: Green #86BC24, Black #000000 - **BCG**: Off-white #F5F5F5, dark #222222, blue #005EB8, gray #A2AAAD ### Layout Principles - Every slide/page needs an "action title" — the key takeaway, not a topic label - White and dark backgrounds alternated for contrast and hierarchy - Color used sparsely — vivid colors highlight key data only - Well-organized layouts with bold headings, bullet points, numbered lists - Simple, minimalist, monochromatic icons from a consistent set ### Report Structure - Cover page with clear title hierarchy - Table of contents for 10+ page documents - Executive summary (1 page) - Key findings with action titles - Data tables with dark header rows, light zebra striping - Appendices separated clearly --- ## 4. Presentation Design (Apple Keynote / TED Style) ### Core Principles - One core message per slide — prevent information overload - Build slides last — first develop message, structure, supporting points - Bold typography can serve as the visual element itself - Use simple, punchy images that amplify spoken words ### Text Rules - 4-5 words per bullet point maximum - 4-5 bullet points per slide maximum - Sans-serif fonts for clean screen readability ### Sizes - Title slide heading: 40pt Bold, white on dark background - Slide header: 16pt Bold, white on navy bar (0.75" height) - Subtitle: 20-22pt Regular, muted color - Body/bullets: 16-18pt Regular - Agenda numbers: 24pt Bold, accent color ### Patterns - Title slide: full navy background + accent stripe + left-aligned text - Content slides: navy header bar + accent line + white body area - Agenda slides: numbered items with accent-colored numbers + dividers - Summary slides: two card boxes with top accent stripe --- ## 5. Contract / Legal Document Formatting ### Typography - Serif fonts preferred for printed legal documents (traditional, authoritative) - Recommended: Georgia, Garamond, Source Serif 4 - Font size: 12pt standard (courts recommend 12pt) - Bold for section titles, italics for references/citations, avoid underlining ### Spacing - Line spacing: 1.5-1.7 for legal documents - Line length: 60-75 characters per line, never more than 90 - 12pt of space between paragraphs - Hanging indent for numbered sub-clauses: padding-left 2.2em, text-indent -2.2em ### Margins - Standard: 1" on all sides - Left margin slightly wider (1.25") if bound ### Layout - Centered title block: title in Bold uppercase with letter-spacing 0.08em - Contract number + date in muted text below title - Article/section dividers: full-width primary background bars with white uppercase text - Two-column signature blocks at end - Page numbering starting on page 2, upper right --- ## 6. Typography Best Practices ### Font Pairings by Context **System-safe (DOCX/PPTX):** | Use Case | Headings | Body | |----------|----------|------| | Proposals, Reports | Georgia (serif) | Arial (sans-serif) | | Presentations | Georgia (serif) | Arial (sans-serif) | | Contracts, Legal | Georgia (serif) | Georgia (serif) | **Embedded/PDF:** | Use Case | Headings | Body | |----------|----------|------| | Invoices, Reports | Source Serif 4 | Inter | | Contracts, Acts | Source Serif 4 | Source Serif 4 | **Premium pairings (reference):** - Helvetica + Garamond: authority + elegance (academic, government, law) - Inter + Garamond: modern screen clarity + warm body text - Montserrat + EB Garamond: geometric modern + classic (free Google Fonts) ### Font Size Scale | Element | Print (pt) | Screen (px) | |---------|-----------|-------------| | Document title | 28-32 | 26-32 | | H1 | 18-20 | 20-24 | | H2 | 14-16 | 16-18 | | H3 | 12-13 | 14-15 | | Body text | 11-12 | 12-16 | | Captions/meta | 8-9 | 10-11 | | Table body | 10-11 | 12-13 | | Table header | 10-11 | 10.5 | ### Spacing - Line height: 1.3 for business docs, 1.5-1.7 for legal, 1.0 for presentations - Paragraph spacing: 8-12pt after paragraphs - Letter spacing: 0.08-0.12em for uppercase labels; 0 for body text --- ## 7. Color Palette Best Practices ### The 60-30-10 Rule - **60%** — Dominant (white/off-white page background) - **30%** — Structure (navy headers, table headers, headings) - **10%** — Accent (blue highlights, underlines, key values) ### Corporate Palette | Role | Hex | Usage | |------|-----|-------| | Primary (Deep Navy) | `#1E3A5F` | Table headers, title bars, key amounts | | Accent (Corporate Blue) | `#2563EB` | Underlines, bullet markers, highlights | | Text (Dark Slate) | `#1E293B` | Body text, names, amounts | | Muted (Slate Gray) | `#64748B` | Labels, captions, secondary info | | Border (Light) | `#E2E8F0` | Table borders, dividers | | Background (Off-white) | `#F8FAFC` | Alternating table rows only | ### Guidelines - 5-8 colors total: 1-2 dark anchors, 1-2 light surfaces, 1 accent, supporting tints - Use off-white (#F8FAFC) instead of pure white for premium feel - Keep saturation low for multi-color palettes - Reserve bright/vivid colors for key data highlights only - Never use colored fill boxes as section backgrounds in PDFs ### Document-Type Variations - **Formal/Legal**: darker palette — primary #1E293B, accent #1E3A5F - **Business/Corporate**: standard — primary #1E3A5F, accent #2563EB - **Creative/Tech**: warmer accent (teal #0D9488, terracotta #C2410C) --- ## 8. Multi-Language Document Design ### RTL (Arabic, Hebrew, Persian) - Entire layout flips: navigation, columns, margins all mirror - Use CSS logical properties (margin-inline-start not margin-left) - Numerals, punctuation, brand names, and URLs remain LTR - Arabic text needs 20-30% more vertical space than Latin - Arabic fonts: Noto Sans Arabic, Noto Naskh Arabic, Amiri ### CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) - No word spaces in Chinese/Japanese — text is continuous - CJK text needs larger line-height (1.5-1.8 recommended) - Recommended: Noto Sans CJK / Noto Serif CJK (covers all three scripts, 7 weights, free) ### Cyrillic (Ukrainian, Russian) - Source Serif 4: designed specifically for Cyrillic+Latin — ideal - Inter: excellent Cyrillic support for sans-serif body text - Both embedded as WOFF2 in this plugin's font system ### General Guidelines - Always verify font coverage for target scripts before selecting - Use font-family stacks with fallbacks - Allow 20-40% text expansion for translations (German, Finnish expand significantly from English) - The `language` field in document data controls localized labels (act headers, table columns, signature blocks) --- ## 9. Logo Placement Best Practices ### Primary Placement: Top-Left - Users are 89% more likely to remember logos placed top-left vs top-right - Left-aligned matches natural F-pattern eye scanning ### Size Guidelines - Minimum resolution: 300 DPI for print - Typical size: 120-180px wide for PDFs, 1.5-2.5" for print - Always maintain clear space around logo equal to at least the height of the logo mark ### Placement by Document Type | Document | Logo Position | Notes | |----------|--------------|-------| | Invoice | Top-left of header row | Paired with company info | | Proposal/Report | Top-left or on cover page | Can be larger on cover | | Contract | Top-center or top-left | Formal centered placement acceptable | | Presentation | Title slide + small in header bar | Subtle on content slides | ### Technical Requirements - Use SVG or high-res PNG (transparent background) for digital - Embed as base64 for self-contained PDFs - Logo is auto-constrained to max-height 56px, max-width 160px in this plugin --- ## 10. White Space and Margins ### Margin Standards | Document Type | Top | Bottom | Left | Right | |--------------|-----|--------|------|-------| | Proposals/Reports (DOCX) | 1" | 1" | 0.75" | 0.75" | | Contracts (DOCX) | 1" | 1" | 1" | 1" | | PDFs (via Playwright) | 28mm | 22mm | 18mm | 18mm | ### Spacing Grid (8px base) Use multiples of 8px for all spacing: 8, 16, 24, 32, 48, 64px. ### Section Spacing (DOCX twips) | Element | Before | After | |---------|--------|-------| | H1 | 480 (24pt) | 60 + accent line | | H2 | 320 (16pt) | 120 (6pt) | | Body paragraph | 0 | 160 (8pt) | | Bullet item | 0 | 80 (4pt) | | Cover page title | 3000 (150pt) push-down | 0 | ### Principles - White space improves reading comprehension by up to 40% - Proper spacing improves reading accuracy by 20% and reduces eye strain by 30% - Optimal line length: 60-75 characters (45-80 acceptable range) - For two-column layouts: 40-50 characters per line --- ## Anti-Patterns to Avoid | Anti-pattern | Professional approach | |---|---| | Colored fill boxes for info sections | Plain text + thin separator line | | Navy fill on total amounts | Bold text + 1.5px border-top rule | | More than 3 colors per document | Primary + muted + accent is sufficient | | Centered body text | Left-aligned always (except titles/legal headers) | | Dense text, no paragraph breaks | Min 1.3-1.5 line-height; clear paragraph spacing | | Mismatched font pairing | Serif headings + sans-serif body, or all-serif for legal | | Web UI patterns in PDFs (cards, badges) | Line-based layouts, typographic hierarchy | | Decorative fills and gradients | White space + type scale + weight contrast | | Logo too large or too small | Proportional to header, 300 DPI, clear space | | Pure white backgrounds everywhere | Use #F8FAFC off-white for alternating rows and surfaces |