Typically I would not give much thought to the page, it presents ideas, depicts stories and art, and is sometimes a blank canvas for expression. A blank page can be marked on any number ways, drawn on, written on, painted on. However, anything that is put to the page is hence affected by the page, borders are imposed, not decided, making anything put on the form influenced by it’s shape. The form and singularity of an unbounded page suggest to any reader that “there is noting more to read than what is on the page” even if the author of the work had not intended for it to be the end. (How the page Matters, p.14) The page, when not presented or bound by the person who place their work on it, defines the meaning and end point of what is on it on it’s own.

When a work is displayed on a page the sheet enhances the ideas presented and in part informs the reader or viewer about the work, if a story is written on one lined piece of paper, one might assume it was a draft written by a student from a notebook, however if that same story is typed and spaced with 1” margins on a sheet of paper, a reader might believe it is a final copy. Because of the pages materiality and specific form, viewers and readers will regard a work differently. As explained by Mak, the page, “significantly influences meaning by its distinctive embodiment of those ideas.” (How the Page Matters p.5). The page which has an expected form, allows for the transmission of ideas from one person to another, it works both within physical and digital spaces, presenting information to various audiences. But before any information is read or viewed, the form that it takes on the page already speaks for it. Even when a page is simply differently formatted by APA or MLA standards, the reader may already change their expectations or opinions on what they are going to read and take away from a text.

The page matters because it is one of the principal conveyors of information in our world, it presents ideas and the work of anyone. It’s shape and form that follow a variety of standards affect how readers and viewers of that page will understand the information featured on it.