How to make the layout of the official account look more elegant?

How to make the layout of articles in public accounts more beautiful?

The pursuit of beauty is an innate human instinct. Everywhere.

In the new media reading scenario, beautiful typography and good content complement each other.

Imagine that you are in a fragmented reading scenario, looking at a screen full of densely packed and flowery text. Even if the content is high-quality, your interest in reading will be slim.

Good typography must add icing on the cake to the content and create a wonderful reading experience.

How to design high-quality public account article layout? This article will be explained in sections from multiple aspects, including typesetting purpose, typesetting style, VI, text, illustrations, and head and tail guidance.

1. Purpose of typesetting

1. Reduce the pressure on readers

In the fragmented reading scenario, the scenarios in which readers browse public accounts are complex and varied. They may be in bed, on the bus or subway, waiting in line for meals, slacking off at work, or even squatting in the toilet.

In this scenario where reading may be interrupted or terminated at any time, how to keep the reader's high attention becomes the key.

High-quality typesetting must be based on the reader's reading experience, reducing reading pressure and making readers feel comfortable and relaxed.

If you only focus on the diversity of typesetting styles and the complexity of content modules, you will be putting the cart before the horse.

2. Increase readers’ reading efficiency

The pace of life is getting faster and faster, and readers have less and less time to concentrate on reading. If the article is not logical and has a complicated structure, readers will not have enough patience to read it word by word.

Typesetting can straighten out the logic of the article, summarize the content and display key words and sentences, so that readers can understand the meaning of the article in the shortest time.

3. Deepen readers’ understanding of the official account

People often say that words reflect people. In fact, it is not just words, many things are extensions of images.

The text tone, illustration style, head and tail guidance and other layout modules in the article will affect the reader's perception of the official account or brand.

If the typesetting style of a public account is funny, readers will think that the author has an interesting soul; if the typesetting style is serious, they will think it is very reliable.

Style is a process that is formed gradually over a long period of time. Only by maintaining a style for a long time can the readers' understanding be deepened.

2. Typesetting style

Before designing the layout, you need to determine the layout style first, which will determine the direction of subsequent layout.

Otherwise, if you use literary style text layout sometimes, add funny pictures sometimes, and then think that business style guide pictures are good, it will give readers a messy and unprofessional feeling, like a schizophrenic who is entertaining himself.

After searching through many large-scale websites, I summarized the 10 most common typography styles on the market:

1) Fashion magazine style

Representative public account: Du Shaofei

2) Modern minimalist style

Representative public accounts: Socket Academy, People, Shiyi

3) Internet technology style

Representative public accounts: GeekPark, 36Kr

4) Funny style

Representative public account: Xiaoshengbibi

5) Practical science style

Representative public account: Haohaozhu

6) Literary and fresh style

Representative public account: HANS

7) High-end business style

Representative public account: LatePost

8) Shopping

Representative public account: one

9) Chinese style

Representative public account: Who is the most Chinese?

10) Strip Wind

Representative public account: GQ Lab

There is no good or bad style, only suitable or not. Starting from the positioning of the official account, make a comprehensive analysis and judgment based on the actual situation.

If the target readers are those born after 1995 and the content is of a more relaxed tone, you can choose a funny style or a literary and fresh style; if it is a company account and you want to convey a sense of professionalism and reliability to readers, you can choose a high-end business style or a modern and simple style; if it is a workplace or opinion account, you can choose a versatile modern and simple style...

3. Main color of the official account

Color tone is the soul of typography. Every excellent public account has its own main color.

It is best to determine one main color, and no more than three. Using a unified main color can increase reading continuity. If the article has a variety of colors, it will create a sense of fragmentation between paragraphs, making readers dizzy.

The main color of this account is plum red, so the avatar, emphasized parts of the article, beginning and end guide pictures, and style are all developed around this.

Long-term use of a main color can also increase brand recognition. For example, when we see red, we think of Coca-Cola, and when we see blue, we think of Pepsi...

The choice of color tone can be determined according to the brand and public account tone:

If you want to convey a positive energy to your readers, you can choose orange or yellow; if you want to present a business temperament, you can choose blue or red; of course, if the readers of the official account are young people, you can also choose the Morandi color system.

Here are some color matching websites for you to choose from:

LOLColors: https://www.webdesignrankings.com/resources/lolcolors/ Traditional Chinese colors: https://color.uisdc.com

ColorHunt: https://colorhunt.co

Chinese Color: http://zhongguose.com

4. Text layout

The text layout should cater to the public's reading habits and be simple and clear.

1) Font size

When you read the same article on different mobile phones, the font size will be slightly different. To be on the safe side, the main text size is usually 14px or 15px.

14px looks small and exquisite, while 15px is easier to read. If the reader is elderly, the font size can be appropriately enlarged.

For explanatory text and less important information, you can choose 13px.

The font size of a subheading is generally 3 sizes larger than the main text, that is, 17px or 18px, or the image style can be designed according to the typesetting style.

2) Font color

People are used to reading black and gray text. If other colors are used as text fonts, it will increase the reading burden on readers.

Therefore, it is generally recommended to choose black fonts, but do not choose the default pure black (#000000), which has a high saturation and is very dazzling when viewed on a mobile phone.

You can choose black with gray: #595959, #3f3f3f

3) Font style

There's not much to say about the font style. Different mobile phones have different adaptations, so just be on the safe side and use the default one.

4) Character spacing, line spacing, margins, and alignment

Fang Hongzhang, the creator of the G20 logo, said in "On the readability of text" that this is very meaningful:

There must be a reasonable space between each letter. If the distance between letters is too small, it will be like two eggs placed very close to each other and there is a risk of collision at any time. If the distance between letters is too large, the letters will lose their tension and tension, making the text boring to read.

Therefore, the character spacing is set at 1, which is neither too sparse nor too dense, just right. The same applies to line spacing. The distance between two lines should not be too wide or too crowded. The mainstream is 1.5 times or 1.75 times.

For the margins on both sides, proper indentation will make the eyes more focused and reading smoother. The mainstream indentation is 16. If the article is more relaxed, you can also choose 32.

Alignment. In order to make the article neater, it is generally recommended to align both ends. Otherwise, the two ends of the page will appear uneven, as if they had been chewed by a dog.

5) Leave blank space in paragraphs

If an article has very long paragraphs and the entire screen is filled with densely packed words, it will be very difficult to read and is destined to be abandoned by modern readers who generally lack attention, so we need to divide the article into modules.

Dividing a long article into 3 to 5 paragraphs according to its logical structure or narrative rhythm, and then refining the subheadings can reduce the pressure of reading.

Leave 2 lines of blank space between the subheading and the previous text, and 1 line of blank space between the subheading and the following text, so as to visually distinguish the paragraphs.

Leaving appropriate blank space between sentences can add a sense of breath to the article. Generally, there are 3 to 5 lines in a sentence, with 1 space between each line. This makes it clearer, neater and easier to read.

If the sentence is longer than 7 or even 10 lines, the entire screen of the phone will be filled with words, so dark that it is hard to breathe.

The best amount of space between the context and the illustration is one line. If there is no white space, the pictures and text will be mixed together in a mess. If there is too much white space, it will appear sparse.

6) Highlight the key points

In an article, if the font size and color are the same, it will be difficult to tell what the key points are. Increasing the font size, changing the color, and adding bold text can help readers grasp the key points.

Increasing the font size is generally used for subheadings, as a summary of the key points of the entire paragraph, and the font size is 3 sizes larger than the main text. It is also suitable for the end of emotional texts, as an emotion amplifier to help readers release their emotions. In this case, the font size only needs to be 1 size larger than the main text.

When changing the color number, it is generally bolded by default. The color number requires the unity of visual layout and should match the main color, or be the main color. In one article, it is best to have only one color number and no more than three, otherwise it will be too messy.

Bold can also be used alone. Underline and italics are products of the English environment and are generally not recommended.

What needs to be noted is that if the article is full of key points, there is actually no key point. There should not be too many emphasized parts in one screen; a sentence or a few words are enough.

The number of lines for commentary text can be more, but generally does not exceed 3 lines.

Font size can be selected: 12px, 13px

Choose gray tones: #a5a5a5, #7f7f7f

7) Mixed Chinese, English and numbers

Add a space between Chinese and English to make it easier to read:

I bought a HUAWEI phone.

Let's connect on Facebook!

The same is true between Chinese, English and numbers:

I bought an iPhone 12.

Now iPhone 12 has been updated to IOS 14.

5. Article pictures

Every picture in the article has its function. It does not mean that the author just uses whichever picture he thinks is good-looking. Generally speaking, pictures have three functions:

1) Auxiliary instructions

Some information is difficult to express intuitively or is too complicated with words alone. In order to make it easier for readers to understand, pictures can be used to explain and assist understanding.

Example:

2) Leave blank space to reduce reading pressure

Pictures can break the visual monotony. If an article is filled with densely packed words, it will give readers a strong sense of oppression and make them lose interest. Illustrations can adjust the reader's vision, give the reader some space to rest, and relieve fatigue.

It is generally recommended to have 3 screens of text and 1 picture. If the article is very rigorous, you can have more screens of text, or even leave no blank space for the picture.

3) Rendering emotions

At the emotional climax of the article, appropriate pictures can match the text and amplify the emotions.

The picture should be consistent with the layout style. It cannot be literary and artistic at one moment and spoof at another, which will create a sense of division in the article.

Keep it consistent with the writing style. Appropriately adding emoticons to a humorous article can liven up the atmosphere, but using emoticons in a serious article will give readers an unprofessional impression and be counterproductive.

Choose pictures that are copyright-free, otherwise there will be a risk of infringement. Pictures on Weibo, Zhihu, and Tieba may be copyrighted, so it is best not to use them.

There is a copyright-free gallery in the material center of the official account backend where you can find pictures, or you can go to the following two websites:

Pixabay: http://pixabay.comUnsplash: http://unsplash.com

GIF images can be found on this website:

SOOGIF: http://www.soogif.com/

6. Head guidance

The head guide is the area before the main body of the official account article begins. It serves to guide attention, convey the value of the official account, and separate from the main content.

It can be a slogan, a paragraph about the value of the public account, a picture that attracts readers to scroll down, or a content summary.

A complete header guide consists of 3 modules:

1) Guide attention + convey the value of the official account

The purpose of guiding attention is to give readers subconscious hints to follow the official account. In addition, it also guides readers to add stars.

Copywriting that conveys value is important. When an unfamiliar reader first sees a public account, he doesn’t know what the public account does, what value it can provide, or what its tone is, so this sentence should give readers a reason to pay attention, or a stylish slogan.

In terms of form, both animated images and static images are acceptable, but animated images are more likely to attract readers' attention in terms of visual presentation.

2) Header image + content overview

When readers click on the title to come in, it means they have certain expectations for the content. At this time, choosing a picture that complements the title and is highly relevant to the content can firmly whet the readers' appetite.

The same goes for the content summary. It is not really a summary of the content, but a paragraph of hooks to stimulate the reader's curiosity and make them read on.

3) About the author

I won’t go into details about the author and the source of the article. Original content does not need to include the source.

In actual situations, not all three modules are required. You can make any combination based on the tone of the article, the style of the public account, your own preferences, design ability and other comprehensive factors.

Here are some examples of great headlines:

7. Tail Guidance

The purpose of the tail guidance is to encourage readers to take further actions after reading the article. Otherwise, even if the reader thinks the article is of good quality and touching after reading it, it will be of no value to the official account if he does not pay attention, like or leave a message.

The common tail guide on the market consists of 4 parts:

1) Interactive messages

For interactive messages, simply ask a question related to the main text that readers are most willing to express themselves. If you have more budget, you can also give some small benefits to the readers whose messages have received the most likes.

Example 1:

Example 2:

2) Previous issues

The selections from previous issues can maximize the value of a reader’s single click on an article and allow readers to stay on the official account for a long time through mutual recommendation of high-quality content. Generally, the three articles with the best recent data are selected.

Example 1:

Example 2:

Example 3:

3) Guide attention

After reading the article, readers have scrolled to the bottom and are just a little bit away from getting attention. Guiding their attention is the final push.

To convey the value of a public account through a piece of copy, you should not only tell readers "who I am", but also tell readers "how I can be of use to you", and you can even directly lure them with practical information.

Example 1:

Example 2:

4) Guide users to like, share and watch

After reading an article, readers may forget to like, read, or share it. In this case, you can write a text to remind them.

Example 1:

Example 2:

Example 3:

Finally, I would like to recommend a few high-quality tail guidance examples:

Example 1:

Example 2:

You can also keep it simple with just a QR code:

8. Cover Image

The cover, like the title, is meant to attract readers to open the article. A good cover can play a finishing touch and, together with the title, amplify the reader's curiosity.

The cover should be as simple and clear as possible, with as few elements as possible, otherwise it will cause visual confusion to readers and they will not be able to see the title clearly.

Bad example:

The covers come in different sizes, the large cover is 2.35:1 and the small cover is 1:1.

There are two common types of large covers on the market:

1) Content-based finishing touch

The cover should be selected with a picture that is related to the content of the title and can provide a more concrete supplementary explanation of the title.

2) Keyword amplification

Type the article’s keywords or eye-catching words directly on the cover image. The cover base is usually simple elements and the number of words should not be too many, 2 to 6 words, otherwise it will cause visual confusion.

The small cover is similar to the large cover and is also divided into 2 types:

In the large cover image, you can add a logo to increase brand recognition, but don’t let it overshadow the main image.

Okay, we have basically finished explaining how to typeset articles for public accounts.

If you still don’t know where to start after reading this, here’s a suggestion: find a mature competitor’s official account, pick a style you like and directly imitate it. After the operation and design levels gradually improve in the future, we will gradually improve and perfect it.

Many of the above typesetting modules require design skills. What if you don’t have them? Don’t worry, I’ll recommend you a few websites below.

9. Layout Tools & Copyright-free Image Libraries

1) Website layout design

Chuangkit: https://www.chuangkit.com

Chuangketie has many public account article layout design templates. You only need to input the text to generate your exclusive layout design with one click, which is very convenient.

Design by: www.gaoding.com/introduction

Like Chuangketie, they are both fool-proof template generation tools and can be used together.

2) Typesetting editor

135 Editor and Xiumi Editor are both mainstream on the market. The functions and materials are similar, but there are differences in usage logic. You can use them according to your own habits.

135 Editor: http://www.135editor.com

Xiumi Editor: http://xiumi.us

Copyright-free image library, suitable for article illustrations, header images, etc.:

Pixabay: http://pixabay.com

Unsplash: http://unsplash.com

GIF images can be found on this website:

SOOGIF: http://www.soogif.com

Author: Tomato Operation

Source: Tomato Operation