Image via BigStockPhoto. The good thing about a medical picture is that the most of the faces of the models in the image are covered, hiding that this is not a "real" image.Update, here a version of the remote control image:
Chart concept - the audience as the patient
Some images can literally make the audience feel that they are the patient. Suffering, helpless. Other variations on the theme: a dentist with a buzzing drill, or less medical, someone "zapping" you away to another channel with a television remote control.
Image via BigStockPhoto. The good thing about a medical picture is that the most of the faces of the models in the image are covered, hiding that this is not a "real" image.
Image via BigStockPhoto. The good thing about a medical picture is that the most of the faces of the models in the image are covered, hiding that this is not a "real" image.
Experiment with typography - slice up those paragraphs
Typography is a major under-utilized tool in PowerPoint. On the right a standard PowerPoint display of a large 100pt text. Wide distances between lines, not very interesting. On the left, I cut it up in 3 pieces and started to re-align characters vertically. I am only starting to learn.
Remote presentation tool: Dimdim - the best one around?
I need to host an international web-based PowerPoint presentation and I searched around to find Dimdim. - It's free for meetings up to 20 people.
- Neither the host, nor the participant needs to install any software on his/her computer.
- And it's open source.
Infographic example - poor info / great graphic
Infographics can look great, but can do a poor job in getting data across. This data could have been brought out better with simple bar charts. I am still struggling to get the point (15+ years of chart-decoding-experience as a strategy consultant is not enough in this case).
Original on Good Magazine. Click the image for a bigger picture.
Original on Good Magazine. Click the image for a bigger picture.
Rant: iStockPhoto stealth price increases
The site iStockPhoto is a great source for stock photography (got the image below there). They have increased prices significantly. I remember being able to buy images at $1. Then 1 credit did not equal to $1 anymore. Then, higher DPI images cost a bit more. Since a few days ago, a regular "medium" image cost 6 credits (a lot more than $6).
- I don't like the "stealth" price increases, every few months, a bit up. Why not set your prices, and stick to it? Pretty much what Apple did when it set up the iTunes store.
- At these prices, I am stopping to use a creative process of buying lots and lots of images, and in the end picking the best possible slide. It has to be rigth the first time. I would be willing to pay a lot for a crucial image for a huge advertising billboard, the day-to-day PowerPoint is a different story
- Small isolated objects I buy in lower resolutions
- I increasingly look for other "real" image sources (such as Flickr), there are more and more cliche images and illustrations available on iStockPhoto
- There is a sense that people are getting a bit tired of the "stunning image with 1 word" anywway in slide compositions
- More and more I am discovering other ways to make interesting slides: typography for example
- There used to be a sense that iStockPhoto was the answer to expensive stock image sites such as Getty Images. Getty bought iStockPhoto, and with stealth price increases is it still "cool"?
- iStockPhoto migh be missing a lot of people on the verge of signing up. Professional presentation designers know about iStockPhoto, and have the budget for it. But as the "Presentation Zen" approach spreads among "amateur" designers, there could be a great opportunity for iStockPhoto to increase its customer base beyond these professionals.
OK, rant over. Reading back, I am actually most upset by point 1: stealth increases. iStockPhoto is a great site but it should pursue a more straightforward and transparent pricing policy towards its customers. It is a shame that the price increases might kill some creativity in the process.
Humor: "someone just had to do it"
This act of vandalism added to the communicative power of the billboard:
Found on PhotoBasement, via a Tweet of Ouriel Ohayon.
The problem with design and computers
I just watched this entertaining TED presentation by John Maeda, president of the Rhode Island School of Design, reflecting on his career as a designer (more information about him in the linked TED post).
The most interesting bit comes mid-way in the presentation. John shows a video how he orchestrates an excercise where people need to get other people to draw things on white board using their "voice commands". After some miscommunications the groups starts designing a coordinate or grid system (similar to a PowerPoint canvas). The maximum output of the excercise was a completely boring, 2-dimensional drawing of a house.
I often feel the same. How to make this 3D composition? How to add quality hand-drawing or artwork? How blend different images? Computer constraints determine the majority of my slide designs. Something is still missing in the human-computer interface.
Make big things look huge by adding something small
The 2 tiny people, and their 2 tiny shadows make the whole dam look huge. You probably remember your highschool physics teacher explain: "if the nucleus of an atom is a strawberry, its electrons would be flying around the football field".
Something to think about when making your next slide composition. Image purchased from iStockPhoto.
Something to think about when making your next slide composition. Image purchased from iStockPhoto.
How to recreate a realistic looking chalk board in PowerPoint
After graffiti, now the less permanent graphics of the chalk board. I scribbled some suggestions on a black board below (click image for a larger picture):
Now that we are on the subject, check out my favorite Bart Simpson chalkboard generator as well.
Now that we are on the subject, check out my favorite Bart Simpson chalkboard generator as well.
So hard to do - "real" art in PowerPoint
PowerPoint effects, PhotoShop, and a bit of typography/fonts enable an amateur to create PowerPoint slides that start approaching the capabilities of a graphics professional. Not so fast.
- Taking someone like Dali as the inspiriation for a slide
- Creating the characters and the elaborate backgrounds
- Insert the detail and small "jokes"
Squeezing more text inside a PowerPoint shape
Circles are beautiful shapes to work with. Unfortunately, PowerPoint's standard settings make it hard to fit in text. To get a bit more space, got to "format shape"->"text box":
- Set the internal margin to zero
- Switch off automatic word wrap
Symmetrical shapes - hold shift while drawing
Symmetry should be avoided in slide layout.
Symmetry in shapes on the other hand is beautiful. Hold-down shift while drawing to create a shape with equal hight and width, and in the "size ribbon" click the box to lock the aspect ratio.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)