Download - Visual Literacy Basics
What is a PowerPoint good for?
If it's not adding value,
it's subtracting value.
Bold pictures
Pictures tell stories
Rules
1. Don't pixellate
Leadership
It just looks cheap.
2. Don't distort
It just looks silly.
3. Rule of thirds
Visual artists -- photographers and painters and graphic designers, will tell you that a focus point should fall where the lines cross. Try it, and you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Here I explain what the audience will see next:
This is the picture I had
An obvious way to use the picture is like this -- blow it up a bit and try to centre it.But the person's face is looking out of the picture. And the rule of thirds isn't being applied
Instead I took the slide background and made it black.I blew up the pic as much as I could without it pixellating.I then placed the man on the left hand side, looking into the slide.The message: sometimes you don't need powerpoint or any visual aids.This man obviously didn't see the need for them.
Voila -- rule of thirds.
Just for comparison.Another way to use the shot is like the next slide
A true artist doesn't need the props
Not as dramatic, perhaps, but it depends on the rest of the slide presentation.
A true artist doesn't need the props
Rule of thirds, again.
Or symmetrical
Sometimes the subject cries out to be in the centre, rather than on a "third"
This is a landscape I have.The sun is not in the centre.Why did the photographer choose this composition?He wanted the horizon to bisect the photo, giving equal prominence to water and sky.And s/he liked the sun's reflection on the water coming towards him/her.
Bad composition. Not in thirds or centred.
Better: the horizon is now about a third of the way up from the bottom. the sun is in the middle.
The original picture for comparison
Try with the rule of thirds. Doesnt' really work. The sun really should be dominating the centre of this picture.
The original, for comparison
Here, the sun is in the middle of the slide.The horizon bisects the slide.But the photo was badly composed to begin with. We will have to crop the photo
There's the rule of thirds for guidance
Here's the final photo. We've cropped a bit off the bottom and the side, and the photo is now centred. A much more dramatci photo than the original.
1. Don't pixellate2. Don't distort3. Rule of thirds
Read this excellent book, and apply its lessons.You will be amazed at how quicky and how radically your designs change for the better.
Fonts
Serif, sans serif, slab serif, humanist,
script, fancy
Serif
TimesBook AntiquaPalatinoGaramondBookmanSouvenir
SansThis is the French word for "without". In this case, without serifs.(pronounced SAIR riff.)
Gill SansHelvetica
Abadi CondensedFuturaImpact
RockwellAmerican TypewriterHVD Comic serif
Wellrock Slab
OptimaCandara
Lucida Grande
And avoid Lucida Grand as well.I like Optima -- its the default font used by Scrivener for the Mac, an unbelievably good application for writers. www.literatureandlatte.com . No, I don't get any royalties from them.
Lucida Handwriting, Bradley's hand,
SaginawSnell Roundhand
Ahnberg, Bgsjdbn-!
Braggadocio, Fakerfriends,Das reicht gut.
Font families
Gill Sans Regular, Gill Sans Light,
Gill Sans Bold,Gill Sans Italic,
Gill Sans Light Italic, Gill Sans Bold Italic
Gill Sans MT Condensed, Gill Sans Ultra
Bold
Gill Sans Ultra Bold Condensed
Please avoid Arial,
Calibri and Segoe
These are the standard fonts that everybody sees.They give your presentation the impression of Sameness.Mac users should avoid Gill Sans for the same reason.I often watch a TED talk and there's a slide with one word on it.I know immediately it's a Mac and the speaker is using Keynote because the word is instantly recognisable as being in the Gill Sans font.
Says it all, doesn't it.Except the 0% Arial looks a bit like 0% anal, doesn't it?
Contrast
Contrast Sans Serifand Serif fonts
Contrast Boldand regular (of the
same font)
This doesn't look too badbecause of the
contrastbetween types of font
But this looks like a dog's breakfast
How many fonts can you spot?
1. Don't pixellate2. Don't distort3. Rule of thirds4. Contrast
Sans for HeadlinesAnd use serif for text. And use serif for text. And use serif for text. And use serif for text. And use serif for text. And use serif for text. And use serif for text.
Give your slides boundaries
• A slide with edges makes it easier to align elements on the slide
Acme Widgets
Give your slides boundaries
• A slide with edges makes it easier to align elements on the slide
Acme Widgets
Leave space to breathe
Leave space to breathe
Slides that don't have space to breathe start to look crowded
Acme Widgets
There's practically no information on this slide, and it's still really crowded
Leave space to breathe
Slides that don't have space to breathe start to look crowded
Acme Widgets
I've moved the logo off the bottom and given everything else space to breathe.
The words should be a LOT bigger for a presentation, but you get the idea.
Repetition
Use the same elements
Use the same fonts
Use the same sizes
Use the same style of photos
Use the same palette of colours
Use colour well
Know the colour wheel.Blue and Yellow go well together.The best is Black on a kind of Post-It Note Yellow or on white.Avoid red for backgrounds or for type.Avoid orange and blue, or red and green -- they are opposites on the colour wheel.Use purple (move the blue reddinh towards purple) and yellow, or green and pink (move the red over towards pink and you can keep the green).You can't beat black and white for my money, though.
Use dark grey instead of black
This is because TVs in particular struggle with very very high contrasting colours like white white and black black. I've used the lightest of greys here for the background and the darkest of greys for the text and there's no discernible difference.The word "black" is actually in black here.
Another advantage of using very dark grey for a background is that the pictures stand out more, especially if they have white in them.See slide Three (3) where the person's shirt stands out from the background because the shirt is white and the background isn't.
Use off-white instead of white
Line elements up
Be unexpected!
This is the key to the content of a presentation.But it goes for the look / feel of a presentation as well.
Everything should communicate the same message.
What have we learned?
1. Don't pixellate2. Don't distort3. Rule of thirds4. Contrast5. Repeat6. Line things up
Be unexpected!
How can we improve the way this slide
looks?
Desktop Virtualisation
Introduction
Desktop Virtualisation
Introduction
Good use of colour
Desktop Virtualisation
Introduction
Good use of colour
Default background
Desktop Virtualisation
Introduction
Good use of colour
Segoe font
Default background
Desktop Virtualisation
Introduction
Desktop Virtualisation
Introduction
Fonts much bigger.Helvetica for the headlineGaramond for the text.
Desktop Virtualisation
Introduction
Different background
Desktop Virtualisation
Introduction
Different background
Desktop Virtualisation
Introduction
Different background
Desktop Virtualisation
Introduction
Different background.Can we use the rope as a metaphor -- you are currently "tied" to your desktop?
Desktop Virtualisation
Introduction
Desktop Virtualisation
Introduction
Don't be obvious. This is the first slide. of COURSE it's the introduction!
Sunny with a chance of cloudsIT in the next five years
Much better!Unexpected. Witty. Makes the audience want to give the speaker a chance.
Desktop Virtualisation
Introduction
By contrast, even this slide -- which looked so revolutionary a few slides ago -- looks tame.
1. Don't pixellate2. Don't distort3. Rule of thirds4. Contrast5. Repeat6. Line things up
Culture Change
Presentation skills training
Spokesperson training
TV training (with cameras)
Radio Readiness
Crisis management
Crisis communication plans
+27 74-1-VIEDGE+27 74-1-843343
On twitter @erichvSlideshare.net erich viedge or Pepper PressLinked In: Erich Viedge Notice how the photo "pops out" of the frame.Experiment with breaking the rules, now that you know some of them.And read Robin Williams' Book -- it's excellent!