[rewboss]

If I was writing to the Pope, I would use an ordinary letter with an ordinary letterhead. Why do I need special religious stationary?

If you feel you need extra pointers to help the reader understand what you are trying to say, then your writing, quite simply, isn't clear enough. Besides, excessive use of such techniques can make reading your text very hard going, as a variety of colours and other devices can actually distract from, rather than enhance, your message.

This is the mistake many amateurs make when designing websites, brochures, adverts, posters etc. They feel the need to highlight everything with a different colour, a different font or a little picture to draw people's attention to it. The result is an unsettling mess, because the reader's attention is being drawn to lots of different things all at once: dozens of fonts. colours and effects all screaming, "Look at me! I'm important!"

In business correspondance you should be neutral in tone, clear, concise and brief; that's because business people are very busy and have lots of letters to read -- they don't have time to marvel at anyone's creativity.

Personal correspondance is a different matter, but be aware that what you think is cute and creative may make somebody else just roll their eyes. If you feel the need to be creative with words and typographical symbols, do it on canvas and exhibit them.

And as for a teacher grading your work -- believe me, "creativity" with smileys and colours is the best way to annoy a teacher. Consider: That teacher is trying to grade you on your knowledge of a subject or proficiency in use of language. That teacher has 20 other papers to grade and only half a day to grade them all -- plus 20 papers from another class and another 25 from a third class. Imagine yourself in that situation -- believe me, you will want the essays all to be easy to read without having to decypher 75 different systems of colour-coding.