Set in Style

Done properly, client alerts are a law firm’s most effective publications, not least because they give people what they want — good information about something of interest.

There’s some event, like a court ruling or new legislation. Law firm clients — some or most or all of them — are affected. They want to know what happened and what they should do, and this is a great opportunity for any firm that likes to sieze opportunities.

That takes work. You’ve got to examine the event: collect the information and analyze it. You’ve got to decide what to say, and then say it; you’ve got to write it up and lay it out and do it in good style if you want it to become popular.

That’s your goal, right? You want your client alert to be the most popular client alert of all. Isn’t that what it means to be most effective?

So let’s talk about client alerts. Let’s talk about their design.

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Here’s a snapshot of an alert that has many good qualities, including an excellent design:

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Note: to follow this discussion, download the alert (it’s a PDF file) and print it.

Compare the above design to its predecessor:

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Note: download the alert (it’s a PDF file) and print it.

How is the new design better than the old design? In quite a number of ways, including the way the body copy is set.

In the old design, readability is impaired 1) by setting the body copy in a sans-serif type and 2) putting too much space between the lines:

Those two mistakes are corrected in the new and improved design, where the copy is set much more like the copy in a newspaper or magazine:

With the new design, readability is much improved (giving the alert a more professional appearance AND better prospects for greater readership) PLUS each page can hold more copy — 30% more copy than the old design!

Now . . . compare the appearance of your firm’s most recent client alert to the two alerts mentioned above. How does it compare?