Pleasures of Design

Headings and subheadings in a document serve not only to break up the text but also to act as signposts to help readers to find their way about a document. For this reason headings must have a clearly defined hierarchy.

When constructing a heading system, first decide how many levels of heading you really need. A main heading with two sub-levels are usually enough for most documents. There will be those that need more but if you are planning a document aimed at a wide market keep the levels to the minimum. Too many subtle changes in subheadings will be lost on the average reader.

more ... Headings – Part 2