My insurance company recently sent me a letter. It looked exactly like junk mail (but it wasn’t).

Times New Roman. Dense text with bold words, italics words, bold italics words, each variation underlined in a different way.

On top of that, the print quality was poor and the paper was cheap.

The whole thing looked like an unsolicited bulk mailer. It was a legitimate correspondence, but I almost shredded it without taking a closer look.

The lesson: formatting matters.

Aside from formal training, there’s a good question that can help guide design choices: What does this remind you of?

The answer to that question can tell you a lot about whether you’re on the right track or if some adjustments are needed.