Graphics & Images
Visualizing Change
November 17, 2008
One of the amazing things about the Internet is how
people can spread ideas in unique, powerful, and
meaningful ways. Take a look at these examples below.
(Some of these are from YouTube, so you may not be able
to view them at work. I’ve used alternate
sources where available.)
Generation We
Generation WE: The Movement Begins... from Generation We on Vimeo.
This video starts dangerously like a pharmaceutical commercial. I keep waiting for the young adults in this video to admit they have genital herpes. After, the initial awkwardness, however, this video gains momentum and power. It’s a great example of how a single message can be threaded through multiple voices.
The Girl Effect
This video makes great use of text and music to present a simple idea in a powerful manner. Even a touch of humor is thrown in at one point.
D-Pan
More powerful stuff. The Deaf Performing Arts Network takes music videos and creates deaf-centric interpretations of the music and lyrics, adding ASL among other visuals. (via Garr Reynolds)
Still Alive
You can even turn something whimsical and niche into an amazing visual presentation through some care and a good sense of humor.
Portal - Still Alive typography from Trickster on Vimeo.
Check out and play the game Portal if you want to know more about what’s going on in this song!
Simply put, the way we incorporate visuals into presentations, multimedia or otherwise, can add power and depth to the presentation. With inspirations like these, why settle for less?
Generation We
Generation WE: The Movement Begins... from Generation We on Vimeo.
This video starts dangerously like a pharmaceutical commercial. I keep waiting for the young adults in this video to admit they have genital herpes. After, the initial awkwardness, however, this video gains momentum and power. It’s a great example of how a single message can be threaded through multiple voices.
The Girl Effect
This video makes great use of text and music to present a simple idea in a powerful manner. Even a touch of humor is thrown in at one point.
D-Pan
More powerful stuff. The Deaf Performing Arts Network takes music videos and creates deaf-centric interpretations of the music and lyrics, adding ASL among other visuals. (via Garr Reynolds)
Still Alive
You can even turn something whimsical and niche into an amazing visual presentation through some care and a good sense of humor.
Portal - Still Alive typography from Trickster on Vimeo.
Check out and play the game Portal if you want to know more about what’s going on in this song!
Simply put, the way we incorporate visuals into presentations, multimedia or otherwise, can add power and depth to the presentation. With inspirations like these, why settle for less?
The Road To Victory Is Paved With…Graves?
September 13, 2008
I've heard more than a few comments that the images
projected on the screens behind speakers at the
Republican National Convention were less than
helpful. Garr Reynolds already wrote up a great piece about the imagery
used during John McCain's acceptance speech, but
I think one of the worst cases of disjointedness
came during Senator Lindsey Graham's speech:
We Are Winning.
"We are on the road to victory!"
As usual, I'm trying my best to check all political opinions at the door. That's not within the scope of these posts, but why this image? Doesn't the image of a cemetary – particularly a military cemetary – contradict his theme of impending victory in Iraq? I can't find any logic behind the choice of imagery outside what a Campaign staffer said about McCain's visuals: "The changing image-screen was linked to the American thematics of the speech..."
Images in presentations need meaning. They need context and purpose. Usie imagery wisely, and your message is the stronger for it. Think about what your audience is seeing while they are hearing your words. Are your images purposeful or distracting?
Graham's Graves
Jon Stewart of The Daily Show was the first person I saw mention this, and I had to rush to the Republican Convention YouTube page to see if it was real. Sure enough, as Senator Graham was proclaiming, "We are on the road to victory," Arlington National Cemetary loomed over him as if taunting Republican critics not to take advantage of this moment.
"We are on the road to victory!"
As usual, I'm trying my best to check all political opinions at the door. That's not within the scope of these posts, but why this image? Doesn't the image of a cemetary – particularly a military cemetary – contradict his theme of impending victory in Iraq? I can't find any logic behind the choice of imagery outside what a Campaign staffer said about McCain's visuals: "The changing image-screen was linked to the American thematics of the speech..."
Purposeful Visuals
Background images do not exist merely for the sake of themselves. They are there to reinforce you. Better to use no images or graphics at all than use those that distract from (or worse yet, contradict) the message you are delivering. In the case of John McCain's speech, the images behind him simply distracted from his talk. They didn't help support his delivery, but they didn't hurt him either. In contrast, this image of Arlington National Cemetary undermines Sen. Graham's words.Images in presentations need meaning. They need context and purpose. Usie imagery wisely, and your message is the stronger for it. Think about what your audience is seeing while they are hearing your words. Are your images purposeful or distracting?
The Culture To Our Clutter
July 16, 2008
While revising my Simply Presentation material for a
week-long workshop, I began investigating PowerPoint culture a little
deeper to discover the psychology behind
typical, cluttered slide design. In doing so, it
was hard to avoid the sheer amount of media and
marketing that involves clutter, as if white
space is wasted space. It's more than just
templates and poor examples that lead to
cluttered slides. An entire culture of clutter
informs our design decisions.
We are bombarded with visual information wherever we look. Billboards, television programs (especially news programs), product packaging, websites, newspapers – all of these cram every available inch with information and distractions. The shot of New York City above shows numerous advertisements screaming for attention, but these do not so much gain that attention as they strengthen our mental filters. We tune this kind of clutter out.
Instead of approaching things from a different angle, however, marketing designers have instead upped the ante. The signs get brighter, more colorful, more animated, flashier. Likewise, product packaging gets more bullet points, more bright colors, and more stickers to help it stand out. On his Presentation Zen blog, Garr Reynolds has a few examples of how this practice has gotten out of control where he lives in Japan. (This post on Cabel's blog has some great pictures from Japan as well, and other posts of his show off some truly loud packaging for the States.)
When it comes to packaging, which of these two boxes do you find most striking? Which one would grab your attention as you walked past it in CompUSA of BestBuy?
photos by goodrob13 and hyku respectively
Based on my experience, the MacBook Air's box is an attention-grabber. It's incredibly small, and it stands in contrast to more visually cluttered boxes sitting nearby. Its packaging is visibly different from the brightly colored boxes in other parts of the store. System specifications fill one spine, and the rest of the package draws attention solely to the product inside. The box is minimal, simple, and elegant. That simplicity more easily breaks past the noise filters in your mind.
Who can forget this classic parody video about Microsoft repackaging the Apple iPod? As it turns out, the video was commissioned by Microsoft's packaging team, demonstrating their own awareness of the clutter culture that had invaded their package design.
Here's your challenge: Watch a segment on MSNBC, Fox News, or CNN and read the news ticker for the entire duration of the segment. Read every word. Then, at the end of the segment, explain in detail what the anchor was talking about to someone else.
alas, I did not make these up
We leave our audience squinting, trying to read our slides while we are talking, diverting their attention from our material so they can comprehend the clutter on our slides. On the other hand, the audience's noise filters might kick in, instructing them to ignore the slides. Instead, we might want to try a simpler approach.
simplifying, while staying true to the originals
A less cluttered approach allows your slides to act as a reinforcement rather than a distraction. It gives them purpose. Instead of the slides focusing on every little detail, they highlight the most important snippets to impress these points on the audience. If your audience has to divert concentration to understand your slides, you are losing out as the speaker.
Quoting Leonardo da Vinci (once again), "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." Avoid the pitfalls of our clutter culture when preparing your slides. Leave the fine details for your handout. Keep the slides simple and clear, and they will help you stand out as a speaker.
The Clutter Culture
We are bombarded with visual information wherever we look. Billboards, television programs (especially news programs), product packaging, websites, newspapers – all of these cram every available inch with information and distractions. The shot of New York City above shows numerous advertisements screaming for attention, but these do not so much gain that attention as they strengthen our mental filters. We tune this kind of clutter out.
Instead of approaching things from a different angle, however, marketing designers have instead upped the ante. The signs get brighter, more colorful, more animated, flashier. Likewise, product packaging gets more bullet points, more bright colors, and more stickers to help it stand out. On his Presentation Zen blog, Garr Reynolds has a few examples of how this practice has gotten out of control where he lives in Japan. (This post on Cabel's blog has some great pictures from Japan as well, and other posts of his show off some truly loud packaging for the States.)
When it comes to packaging, which of these two boxes do you find most striking? Which one would grab your attention as you walked past it in CompUSA of BestBuy?
photos by goodrob13 and hyku respectively
Based on my experience, the MacBook Air's box is an attention-grabber. It's incredibly small, and it stands in contrast to more visually cluttered boxes sitting nearby. Its packaging is visibly different from the brightly colored boxes in other parts of the store. System specifications fill one spine, and the rest of the package draws attention solely to the product inside. The box is minimal, simple, and elegant. That simplicity more easily breaks past the noise filters in your mind.
Who can forget this classic parody video about Microsoft repackaging the Apple iPod? As it turns out, the video was commissioned by Microsoft's packaging team, demonstrating their own awareness of the clutter culture that had invaded their package design.
Try Some Cable News
On the subject of YouTube, you should also check out this interview with Lewis Black where he criticizes the ever-present news ticker that crawls along the bottom of the screen while people are talking.Here's your challenge: Watch a segment on MSNBC, Fox News, or CNN and read the news ticker for the entire duration of the segment. Read every word. Then, at the end of the segment, explain in detail what the anchor was talking about to someone else.
The Ticker and Slides
What has happened is that we have begun to equate clutter with the concept of professionalism. We see sources like CNN, CNET, USA Today, Sony, and others using visual clutter to communicate, and we try to emulate the professionals. Unfortunately, the results end up looking something like this.
alas, I did not make these up
We leave our audience squinting, trying to read our slides while we are talking, diverting their attention from our material so they can comprehend the clutter on our slides. On the other hand, the audience's noise filters might kick in, instructing them to ignore the slides. Instead, we might want to try a simpler approach.
simplifying, while staying true to the originals
A less cluttered approach allows your slides to act as a reinforcement rather than a distraction. It gives them purpose. Instead of the slides focusing on every little detail, they highlight the most important snippets to impress these points on the audience. If your audience has to divert concentration to understand your slides, you are losing out as the speaker.
Quoting Leonardo da Vinci (once again), "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." Avoid the pitfalls of our clutter culture when preparing your slides. Leave the fine details for your handout. Keep the slides simple and clear, and they will help you stand out as a speaker.
Negative (Space) Is Good
June 06, 2008
Keeping with the idea of
space, not only should we be aware of the
amount of space in which we are working, but we
should also understand the importance of white
space (also referred to as negative space).
Simply, negative space is any portion of your
slide that is empty of content or graphics. It's
blank.
There's a trend in the media, it seems, to pack as much information into every square inch of visible medium as possible. Whether you are talking about print, packaging, or television, the result is the same – a deluge of information and graphics for the viewer to receive and process.
This philosophy also seems to influence slide design, hence results like these:
slides from the Hillary Clinton campaign and Intel respectively
In all honesty, the Clinton campaign's slide is tame compared to its neighbor, but both of these slides suffer from cramming too much information to digest all at once. I don't even understand the Intel slide enough to make a crack at it, but here's my attempt at cleaning up the Clinton slide.
This slide is talking about districts that Bush won in the last general election and who have traditionally supported Republican seats in congress. It's a big deal, but it's also easy to lose sight of on a cluttered slide – especially since someone felt the need to list each specified district. This alternative slide pulls out much of the visual distraction and focuses on the single most important fact: the victories.
Give your information room to breath, and make sure the most important element is the focus of your slide. Don't let the urge to fill every inch of available space crowd out the real message. Oh, and there's one more small reason to avoid this kind of clutter: the more time your audience is deciphering your slides, the less they are paying attention to what you are saying!
There's a trend in the media, it seems, to pack as much information into every square inch of visible medium as possible. Whether you are talking about print, packaging, or television, the result is the same – a deluge of information and graphics for the viewer to receive and process.
This philosophy also seems to influence slide design, hence results like these:
slides from the Hillary Clinton campaign and Intel respectively
In all honesty, the Clinton campaign's slide is tame compared to its neighbor, but both of these slides suffer from cramming too much information to digest all at once. I don't even understand the Intel slide enough to make a crack at it, but here's my attempt at cleaning up the Clinton slide.
This slide is talking about districts that Bush won in the last general election and who have traditionally supported Republican seats in congress. It's a big deal, but it's also easy to lose sight of on a cluttered slide – especially since someone felt the need to list each specified district. This alternative slide pulls out much of the visual distraction and focuses on the single most important fact: the victories.
Give your information room to breath, and make sure the most important element is the focus of your slide. Don't let the urge to fill every inch of available space crowd out the real message. Oh, and there's one more small reason to avoid this kind of clutter: the more time your audience is deciphering your slides, the less they are paying attention to what you are saying!
Respecting Space
April 13, 2008
One of the neat things about the XBox 360 is
something called achievements. Every game has them.
Some are easy to get, and some are hard. Some are
obvious while others are secret. Being awarded an
achievement results in an increase in your
Gamerscore, and little icons in your profile detail
the achievements you've amassed.
These little icons fascinate me. The images in this post are from XBox360achievements.org, and they are all 64x64 pixels – an incredibly small amount of space in which to work. Still some game developers succeed in creating excellent icons to represent their achievements. However, many more fail to do so. Here are some examples of achievement icons.
In order, these icons are from Bioshock, GUN, Call of Duty 3, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Need for Spped: Carbon, FlatOut, Quake II, Ghost Recon: AR 2, and Skate.
In order, these icons are from Ninety-Nine Nights, Kameo, Blacksite: Area 51, Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal, Championship Manager 2007, NBA Live '06, Final Fantasy XI, Overloard, Jericho, and Tomb Raider Anniversary
A good set of achievement icons will do several things. They fit well together. Images are crisp. They provide some kind of visual clue as to what the achievement criteria is. Most of all, though, they make good use of space. Contrast the top set of icons with the bottom. Can you see how much more cluttered the bottom set is – the designers trying to fit too much information into too small a space. (The Ninety-Nine Nights icon not actually crowded at all. It's a poor resolution image, which it shouldn't be at that small of a size.)
If you are working in PowerPoint, you are working on a canvas that is 720x540 pixels. This is a few more pixels than a standard-definition TV (640x480), and Mac OS X Leopard has icons nearly as large (512x512). Regardless of your computer's monitor size and resolution, these are the constrictions of a PowerPoint slide. More important, though, is that your audience will be viewing these slides on a screen at some distance from where they are sitting.
image by Vicky S on stock.xchng
Even a moderately large screen appears smaller than one's hand from ten to twenty feet away. Your slides, while they appear large on your computer screen – are actually a small canvas, and they should be treated accordingly. Like the XBox 360 achievement icons, cramming too much into the space will make slides that are incomprehensible – resulting in the slides attracting more concentration than the speaker.
Sometimes less in indeed more. And a clear image with minimal text serves better to illustrate your point than a slide crammed with distractions. If your audience can't instantly recognize what's on your slide, I'd wager it's too cluttered.
clutter versus clarity
Respect the space you have, and consider what your slides will look like from twenty feet away – more in many situations. Don't make your audience have to think harder about what's on your slides than what you are saying. Work with the space you have, and avoid over-packing. Your audience's eyes will thank you.
All achievement icons are © their respective holders.
These little icons fascinate me. The images in this post are from XBox360achievements.org, and they are all 64x64 pixels – an incredibly small amount of space in which to work. Still some game developers succeed in creating excellent icons to represent their achievements. However, many more fail to do so. Here are some examples of achievement icons.
The Good!
In order, these icons are from Bioshock, GUN, Call of Duty 3, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Need for Spped: Carbon, FlatOut, Quake II, Ghost Recon: AR 2, and Skate.
The Bad...
In order, these icons are from Ninety-Nine Nights, Kameo, Blacksite: Area 51, Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal, Championship Manager 2007, NBA Live '06, Final Fantasy XI, Overloard, Jericho, and Tomb Raider Anniversary
A good set of achievement icons will do several things. They fit well together. Images are crisp. They provide some kind of visual clue as to what the achievement criteria is. Most of all, though, they make good use of space. Contrast the top set of icons with the bottom. Can you see how much more cluttered the bottom set is – the designers trying to fit too much information into too small a space. (The Ninety-Nine Nights icon not actually crowded at all. It's a poor resolution image, which it shouldn't be at that small of a size.)
If you are working in PowerPoint, you are working on a canvas that is 720x540 pixels. This is a few more pixels than a standard-definition TV (640x480), and Mac OS X Leopard has icons nearly as large (512x512). Regardless of your computer's monitor size and resolution, these are the constrictions of a PowerPoint slide. More important, though, is that your audience will be viewing these slides on a screen at some distance from where they are sitting.
image by Vicky S on stock.xchng
Even a moderately large screen appears smaller than one's hand from ten to twenty feet away. Your slides, while they appear large on your computer screen – are actually a small canvas, and they should be treated accordingly. Like the XBox 360 achievement icons, cramming too much into the space will make slides that are incomprehensible – resulting in the slides attracting more concentration than the speaker.
Sometimes less in indeed more. And a clear image with minimal text serves better to illustrate your point than a slide crammed with distractions. If your audience can't instantly recognize what's on your slide, I'd wager it's too cluttered.
clutter versus clarity
Respect the space you have, and consider what your slides will look like from twenty feet away – more in many situations. Don't make your audience have to think harder about what's on your slides than what you are saying. Work with the space you have, and avoid over-packing. Your audience's eyes will thank you.
All achievement icons are © their respective holders.
Creating a Metaphor
April 10, 2008
I'm hesitant to post this video because I know it's
inflammatory, but I think it does a great job of
creating and maintaining a visual metaphor throughout
the presentation.
The video details numerous pledges by U.S. politicians and military leaders that the "next several months" and specifically "the next six months" should see significant improvement and progress in Iraq – from Donald Rumsfeld's famous quote that he didn't expect the operation to even last six months in February 2003 to John McCain saying we will either win or lose this was in "the next several months" in November of 2006.
The metaphor is that of a desk calendar flipping through months as promised by the individuals quoted but being roadblocked by quotes asking for more months. The whole time, a pair of folder tabs are keeping track of cost in money and U.S. lives at each milestone.
Whether you agree with the point of the video or not, the visual consistency throughout makes the presentation all the more powerful. Quotes are short and the videos help reinforce those quotes. Nothing distracts from the composition of this production. Nothing looks out of place. Every element – from the background to transitions – works together as a whole.
I don't theme my presentations around a visual metaphor often. They often become visually repetitive, and it's too easy to insert elements that will seem out-of-place. However, I'll definitely use this video as a template of how such a presentation can be done right.
The video details numerous pledges by U.S. politicians and military leaders that the "next several months" and specifically "the next six months" should see significant improvement and progress in Iraq – from Donald Rumsfeld's famous quote that he didn't expect the operation to even last six months in February 2003 to John McCain saying we will either win or lose this was in "the next several months" in November of 2006.
The metaphor is that of a desk calendar flipping through months as promised by the individuals quoted but being roadblocked by quotes asking for more months. The whole time, a pair of folder tabs are keeping track of cost in money and U.S. lives at each milestone.
Whether you agree with the point of the video or not, the visual consistency throughout makes the presentation all the more powerful. Quotes are short and the videos help reinforce those quotes. Nothing distracts from the composition of this production. Nothing looks out of place. Every element – from the background to transitions – works together as a whole.
I don't theme my presentations around a visual metaphor often. They often become visually repetitive, and it's too easy to insert elements that will seem out-of-place. However, I'll definitely use this video as a template of how such a presentation can be done right.
Slides from GDC 2008
March 16, 2008
Back in February, Joystiq offered some great
coverage of the 2008 Game Developers Conference,
and some of that coverage included overviews of
some of the presentations given at the
conference – including photos of slides! Here
are some slides from the conference that caught
my attention and some lessons we can take from
them. (All images in this post come from Joystiq.)
The slides are infused with the requisite corporate branding – from the PS3 background of the slides to the Playstaion Network logo in the top left corner. Bullet points poulate the slides, and what is up with that image of the PSP? It looks like some pulled it off of Google Image Search and copied it onto the slide with no editing. Have they no one at Sony who can use Photoshop? Could no one remove that white background?
For such a huge corporation, they had cheap-looking slides. By contrast, Microsoft's slides were virtually bullet-free and featured beautful screenshots of the games they were discussing.
In the first slide, Bioshock's lead developer Ken Levine pays tribute to an internet cult icon named Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw (who is famous for his extremely fast-paced, witty, and usually vulgur game reviews). The second slide is from a Blizzard presentation, and they reference Douglas Adams' The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy through the graphic, the slogan "Don't Panic," and even the font used for the slogan.
Let us not forget that the audience at this conference was probably 95% male, and Valve Software knew how to attract attention to their main point in such a setting!
If you've ever played Katamari Damacy (or any of its sequels), you've probably had that very same thought: WTF? (If you have not played Katamari Damacy, stop reading this article, and go get it right now. I'll wait right here.) The game exudes bizareness, and this simple slide communicates that fact very directly.
Visuals in a presentation can amuse, offend, engage, inspire, or just bore your audience. Look at how most of the slides in this post stand out from Sony's back at the top. Sony took a tried-and-true approach to PowerPoint, but others break from that mold and create more engaging experiences (just like the games some of these presenters create). Instead of being lost in a sea of sameness, take the time to be different so you too can stand apart from the crowd.
But I don't recommend any of you use topless women in your presentations. Trust me on this...
Corporate Is Not Better
Naturally, Sony hosted multiple sessions at GDC, and the slides below are from two different presentations, but you might not know that from looking at them.
The slides are infused with the requisite corporate branding – from the PS3 background of the slides to the Playstaion Network logo in the top left corner. Bullet points poulate the slides, and what is up with that image of the PSP? It looks like some pulled it off of Google Image Search and copied it onto the slide with no editing. Have they no one at Sony who can use Photoshop? Could no one remove that white background?
For such a huge corporation, they had cheap-looking slides. By contrast, Microsoft's slides were virtually bullet-free and featured beautful screenshots of the games they were discussing.
Play to Your Audience
A game developers conference is going to be filled with geeks, so what better place to throw some truly geeky references into the material?
In the first slide, Bioshock's lead developer Ken Levine pays tribute to an internet cult icon named Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw (who is famous for his extremely fast-paced, witty, and usually vulgur game reviews). The second slide is from a Blizzard presentation, and they reference Douglas Adams' The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy through the graphic, the slogan "Don't Panic," and even the font used for the slogan.
Let us not forget that the audience at this conference was probably 95% male, and Valve Software knew how to attract attention to their main point in such a setting!
Simpler Is Often Better
In a talk about independent gaming, the developers of Everyday Shooter put up what is probably my favorite slide from this conference.
If you've ever played Katamari Damacy (or any of its sequels), you've probably had that very same thought: WTF? (If you have not played Katamari Damacy, stop reading this article, and go get it right now. I'll wait right here.) The game exudes bizareness, and this simple slide communicates that fact very directly.
Visuals in a presentation can amuse, offend, engage, inspire, or just bore your audience. Look at how most of the slides in this post stand out from Sony's back at the top. Sony took a tried-and-true approach to PowerPoint, but others break from that mold and create more engaging experiences (just like the games some of these presenters create). Instead of being lost in a sea of sameness, take the time to be different so you too can stand apart from the crowd.
But I don't recommend any of you use topless women in your presentations. Trust me on this...
Visual Clutter and the Loss of Intent
October 29, 2007
Over at Presentation Zen, Garr Reynolds writes about Lewis Black going
off at TV executives during the Emmys regarding
the sheer amount of clutter on the screen these
days. Here's a quote from the rant:
(Head over to Presentation Zen for a video of the whole thing.) This reminds of when the wife and I went out to see The Simpsons Movie. At one point during the movie, a mock ad for FOX programming appeared along the bottom of the screen. It recieved knowing laughter from the audience, but I remember hearing some other audience members expressing moments of bafflement – wondering if the studio had in fact resorted to plugging itself during its movies.
Mr. Reynolds goes on to speculate that this visual bombardment reinforces much of the bad PowerPoint design we see in presentations today.
The same is true of several websites. The main content seems to take a back seat to the self-referencing links and advertisements splattered across the page. I took these screenshots of a couple popular websites and blacked out everything that wasn't article content.
x
The noise ratio on these pages is very high. Contrast this to a couple of (in my opinion) good blogs: Daring Fireball and Cabel's Blog.
x
On both of these pages, there is much more signal than noise. Daring Fireball has two ads and a simple menu while Cabel's Blog has no ads. Both sites feature very clean layouts and priority is given to content – a practice that I think respects the reader more than those corporate sites.
As Mr. Reynolds points out, these same principles apply to our slides. We can follow a traditional corporate approach to our visuals that contains a lot of clutter that overwhelms our audience with graphics and information, or we can take a simpler, more basic approach. Here are a couple of mockups based off Apple's recent fourth-quarter quarter financial results.
The first slide indeed has more information on it, but is that information presented effectively? It is conventional, but does it respect your audience? It took me a lot longer to create that first mockup, but I think the second is actually the better slide. It presents the most important fact clearly and succinctly. The touch of humor adds a human element without detracting from the overall package or insulting the audience's intelligence. It allows your audience to focus on you after the snapshot of information rather than forcing them to concentrate on deciphering small text among competing visuals.
Whatever your medium of communication, simpler is almost always better. Reduce the clutter. Eliminate visual noise, and allow the main focus of your content to shine through.
"Your job is to tell stories, it's not to tell us in the middle of the story what show is coming on next or which one is premiering two weeks from now! What do you want me to do, stop and get a pencil and write it down? Do you want me to stop watching and prepare myself for the next show?"
(Head over to Presentation Zen for a video of the whole thing.) This reminds of when the wife and I went out to see The Simpsons Movie. At one point during the movie, a mock ad for FOX programming appeared along the bottom of the screen. It recieved knowing laughter from the audience, but I remember hearing some other audience members expressing moments of bafflement – wondering if the studio had in fact resorted to plugging itself during its movies.
Mr. Reynolds goes on to speculate that this visual bombardment reinforces much of the bad PowerPoint design we see in presentations today.
When possible, put more "stuff" in there--more glitter, more boxes of info, more colors, more, more, more. Is this where "bad PowerPoint" comes from? Do we say to ourselves "Well, if CNN (FOX, MSNBC, etc.) does it I guess more text and lines and boxes, more logos and 3-D graphics in assorted colors must be how it's done. That's how serious presenters with serious tools do it," we say.
The same is true of several websites. The main content seems to take a back seat to the self-referencing links and advertisements splattered across the page. I took these screenshots of a couple popular websites and blacked out everything that wasn't article content.
x
The noise ratio on these pages is very high. Contrast this to a couple of (in my opinion) good blogs: Daring Fireball and Cabel's Blog.
x
On both of these pages, there is much more signal than noise. Daring Fireball has two ads and a simple menu while Cabel's Blog has no ads. Both sites feature very clean layouts and priority is given to content – a practice that I think respects the reader more than those corporate sites.
As Mr. Reynolds points out, these same principles apply to our slides. We can follow a traditional corporate approach to our visuals that contains a lot of clutter that overwhelms our audience with graphics and information, or we can take a simpler, more basic approach. Here are a couple of mockups based off Apple's recent fourth-quarter quarter financial results.
The first slide indeed has more information on it, but is that information presented effectively? It is conventional, but does it respect your audience? It took me a lot longer to create that first mockup, but I think the second is actually the better slide. It presents the most important fact clearly and succinctly. The touch of humor adds a human element without detracting from the overall package or insulting the audience's intelligence. It allows your audience to focus on you after the snapshot of information rather than forcing them to concentrate on deciphering small text among competing visuals.
Whatever your medium of communication, simpler is almost always better. Reduce the clutter. Eliminate visual noise, and allow the main focus of your content to shine through.
Feeling Animated
June 12, 2007
When it comes to animation in a presentation, I've
seen an quite a few examples of two extreme
approaches. On the one hand, there are the people who
use fancy animations for every slide transition,
object build, and bullet point while, in contrast, I
see a lot of more professional presenters avoid
animation entirely.
a sleek Keynote transition
While overusing animations can distract from the presentation as a whole, it doesn't seem necessary to eliminate their use entirely. Judiciously added builds and transitions can add a level of polish that helps keep the audience engaged in the talk. Good looking slides help maintain a certain perception of professionalism around you the speaker. While we want to avoid overkill (which does not look professional), animation can be beneficial when used in moderation.
I usually use simple transitions between slides. Most of the time, these transitions will consist of dissolves and wipes, but I might use a push transition if the selected background allows for it to be executed transparently enough. However, some of the flashier transitions are reserved for section breaks or shifts in the talk. These type of transitions signal to the audience that we are moving from one section of the talk to another. (Usually, I will use the same transition for every shift in the talk.)
The same is true for text. Big text builds are reserved for big points. The animation says, "This is important!" Again, not every bullet point or every fact will be animated outside of simple wipes and fades. The eye-cathing effects are reserved for big ideas.
an eye-catching text build
Your visuals should be built entirely around reinforcing the message you are delivering, and that principle holds true for animations as well. Do use animations in your slides, but animate responsibly. Eye candy can be a good thing, especially in front of a bunch of ADHD-prone American adults! However, exercise moderation so your animations don't become the show – distracting from anything you might have to say.
a sleek Keynote transition
While overusing animations can distract from the presentation as a whole, it doesn't seem necessary to eliminate their use entirely. Judiciously added builds and transitions can add a level of polish that helps keep the audience engaged in the talk. Good looking slides help maintain a certain perception of professionalism around you the speaker. While we want to avoid overkill (which does not look professional), animation can be beneficial when used in moderation.
I usually use simple transitions between slides. Most of the time, these transitions will consist of dissolves and wipes, but I might use a push transition if the selected background allows for it to be executed transparently enough. However, some of the flashier transitions are reserved for section breaks or shifts in the talk. These type of transitions signal to the audience that we are moving from one section of the talk to another. (Usually, I will use the same transition for every shift in the talk.)
The same is true for text. Big text builds are reserved for big points. The animation says, "This is important!" Again, not every bullet point or every fact will be animated outside of simple wipes and fades. The eye-cathing effects are reserved for big ideas.
an eye-catching text build
Your visuals should be built entirely around reinforcing the message you are delivering, and that principle holds true for animations as well. Do use animations in your slides, but animate responsibly. Eye candy can be a good thing, especially in front of a bunch of ADHD-prone American adults! However, exercise moderation so your animations don't become the show – distracting from anything you might have to say.
Cutouts Aren't Just For Images
October 02, 2006
File this entry under "handy tips" in your brain.
Keynote uses layered backgrounds
in all of its themes, and these are very handy
for quickly adding images to your presentation
without having to create masks or custom frames.
This is how it works:
x
Nifty, huh? All I have to do is drag the photo into the designated area, and I have a framed or inset image. It's not terribly flexible, but it is a good way to get nice results quickly. However, in many themes, the cutouts could be suitable for any content you might want to draw attention to – not just pictures. Here are some examples:
x
In the first image, a cutout is being used to give a graph a more organic feel. (The "droplet" is an image cutout in that slide.) In the second image, the photo cutout is being used to frame a quote. In the third, I am using the cutouts to mask an image, but I am using two separate cutouts for one image.
Many third party themes have very creative cutouts in their slides allowing for some unique uses. Don't let the label "photo cutout" limit you. If the presentation you are giving warrants it, get creative with your use of cutouts. This is just one more way you can let built-in features of applications like Keynote enhance your presentation slides.
As an aside, all of these screenshots (except the Clemenceau quote) use third party themes from Jumsoft. Visit my Presentations page for more theme resource links.
x
Nifty, huh? All I have to do is drag the photo into the designated area, and I have a framed or inset image. It's not terribly flexible, but it is a good way to get nice results quickly. However, in many themes, the cutouts could be suitable for any content you might want to draw attention to – not just pictures. Here are some examples:
x
In the first image, a cutout is being used to give a graph a more organic feel. (The "droplet" is an image cutout in that slide.) In the second image, the photo cutout is being used to frame a quote. In the third, I am using the cutouts to mask an image, but I am using two separate cutouts for one image.
Many third party themes have very creative cutouts in their slides allowing for some unique uses. Don't let the label "photo cutout" limit you. If the presentation you are giving warrants it, get creative with your use of cutouts. This is just one more way you can let built-in features of applications like Keynote enhance your presentation slides.
As an aside, all of these screenshots (except the Clemenceau quote) use third party themes from Jumsoft. Visit my Presentations page for more theme resource links.
Can Our Images Become Mere Filler?
August 24, 2006
Seriously, though, this is a perfect example of just plugging in an image to have an image – which we can be guilty of in our slide presentation all too often. In this ad, would it have not made sense to have chosen an image of a twenty-something man or woman, perhaps looking somewhat self-conscious? Our self-assured woman in late midlife simply fails to reinforce the statement made in the advertisement. Forget about impressing your in-laws with taxes! How about you go and visit them more than three times a year? That will impress them even more!
As we design our slides, it is common to want to use images to reinforce what we are saying. (In some cases, we may feel the need to reduce negative space, but we should really resist that particular urge.) Unfortunately, if we don't respect the time it might take to select the right images, we may end up with pictures that merely feel tacked on – pictures that fail to really reinforce our message.
Let's return to some slides on conservation. In the two slides below, which seems to create the greater impact?
x
Both slides emphasize the visual nature of the medium, and both use high quality images. However, the first slide, while very nice, fails to make a connection with the subject. The second actually illustrates the topic. The second slide forges a stronger connection between the subject matter and the audience.
When choosing images for our presentations, we shouldn't just plug something in to fill space or because it creates a certain effect. We need to make sure the images are meaningful to the topic we are presenting on.
PS: Now that I think of it, the woman in the ad may be the in-law in question. Unfortunately, the way the ad is laid out, it still looks life she is the one making the quote.
A Colorful Idea
August 04, 2006
Sometimes we want our presentations to be more
colorful than the standard subdued grays, whites, and
blacks. Often, unfortunately, the use of more bold
colors in a presentation often leads to something
that can make your audience's eyes cry out in pain.
Too often, I've seen (and I bet you have too) slides
that are just plain difficult to look at because of
the way color is abused.
Try staring at this for 60 seconds without blinking.
Unfortunately good color resources can cost a lot of money, but here is a way to gather some good color ideas without spending anything (provided you already own a scanner).Go to Lowe's paint department, and look for the American Tradition display. All along the display of color samples are tiny little booklets called "Color Ideas." The first neat thing about these booklets is the explanation of monochromatic, complimentary, and analogous color schemes.
The other aspect of these booklets I like is that they have sample color schemes that show an example of complimentary, monochromatic, and analogous (as well as pictures of rooms decorated in the selected colors). Below is one of the sample color selections from a booklet.
So how do I use these? First, I scan them and crop them down to what you see above – just the bars of colors. These color bars are stored in iPhoto, and I can use Apple's system color picker to choose one of the colors in the image. (To invoke Apple's color picker in any application, use the keyboard command "Cmd-Shift-C.") This allows me to use these color schemes as templates for any document or presentation I am working on.
The color picker in action.
In addition to these schemes, you have a color wheel built right into the color picker, and this allows you to look for your own analogous, monochromatic, or complimentary colors for your slides.
After tweaking the layout of the slide and adjusting my selected colors just a hair, the final result is hopefully much more pleasing than the slide that opened this entry:
Color is a powerful tool – it is emotional and impacting. However, color can also be distracting if used incorrectly. Here is just one way to use some free resources to make batter use of colors in your documents and presentations, hopefully helping you make a better impact when you use slides or handouts to facilitate visual communication.
Try staring at this for 60 seconds without blinking.
Unfortunately good color resources can cost a lot of money, but here is a way to gather some good color ideas without spending anything (provided you already own a scanner).Go to Lowe's paint department, and look for the American Tradition display. All along the display of color samples are tiny little booklets called "Color Ideas." The first neat thing about these booklets is the explanation of monochromatic, complimentary, and analogous color schemes.
The other aspect of these booklets I like is that they have sample color schemes that show an example of complimentary, monochromatic, and analogous (as well as pictures of rooms decorated in the selected colors). Below is one of the sample color selections from a booklet.
So how do I use these? First, I scan them and crop them down to what you see above – just the bars of colors. These color bars are stored in iPhoto, and I can use Apple's system color picker to choose one of the colors in the image. (To invoke Apple's color picker in any application, use the keyboard command "Cmd-Shift-C.") This allows me to use these color schemes as templates for any document or presentation I am working on.
The color picker in action.
In addition to these schemes, you have a color wheel built right into the color picker, and this allows you to look for your own analogous, monochromatic, or complimentary colors for your slides.
After tweaking the layout of the slide and adjusting my selected colors just a hair, the final result is hopefully much more pleasing than the slide that opened this entry:
Color is a powerful tool – it is emotional and impacting. However, color can also be distracting if used incorrectly. Here is just one way to use some free resources to make batter use of colors in your documents and presentations, hopefully helping you make a better impact when you use slides or handouts to facilitate visual communication.