design

3 Slides for a Template

PowerPoint by virtue of providing a Content Master and a Title Master has conditioned the world that presentations only need two looks. When I design a template it generally includes 3 to 4 master slides that go beyond the standard two slide system. Here is a recent example:

(1) Theme Graphic
This slide is used for pre/post-meeting (walk-in/walk-out) or during extended Q&A. Usually with a strong branding image.

(2) Title Slide
Used for introducing major topics, speakers, etc.

(3) Content Slide
Used for all of the content…

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T14:47:23-07:00November 9th, 2006|Portfolio|

The Two Looks of a PowerPoint Table

A recent project involved taking a good presentation and making it great. I had some very clean and easy to read PowerPoint tables. They conveyed the information and made good use of the tools in the application. Here is the original:

But the goal was to add visual dynamics to the presentation and this means making all elements coordinate with a common color scheme, font use and positioning. Here is the same table with some additional formatting:

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T14:11:38-07:00August 14th, 2006|Portfolio|

Visio is Nifty, But Not Pretty

MS Visio is a great tool for putting complex processes into a visual layout. But, like most business applications, it does not have a lot of visual aesthetics. Here is a slide from a recent project:

The best thing about this slide (to me), is the client was able to quickly create something that showed me exactly what they wanted.

My job was to inject some visual dynamics to the presentation. So a few hours of working in PhotoShop and PowerPoint the same information now looks like this:

Same information – just a slightly enhanced presentation of it!

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T14:10:25-07:00August 8th, 2006|Portfolio|

Use Line Spacing to Increase Legibility

Here is a sample from a recent project (logos, names and telling content have been removed to protect the design challenged). Here is the original slide:

Here is the revised slide:

I was somewhat limited in what could be done. Things like the template could not be altered, content could not be edited, etc. But here are some details of what was adjusted:

(1) I adjusted the template so the content text box was separated a bit more from the header text.
(2) I changed the font to a more legible Arial, which does not have the serifs (small ‘hooks’ on the end of the letters)
(3) I adjusted the overall line spacing from 0 to .35, this gives a bit of room between each bullet and allows the brain to “clump” the content into sections – which makes it more legible.
(4) Used a soft return (SHIFT RETURN) and made sub-content on its own line and reduced its font size. Did the same with the sub-content at the end of the last bullet.

There is a lot of small things that can be done to text heavy slides to make them more legible. The problem is that this usually involves modifying the content on a slide-by-slide basis, which can be time consuming. But the results are an audience the is able to understand your message clearer!

Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T14:06:38-07:00July 18th, 2006|Portfolio, Tutorial|

From Word –to- Bullets –to- Visuals

Here is a good example of the process of developing an audience-friendly presentation. One that visually shows the concept, does not overwhelm the audience with words/statistics and supports the speakers message.

(1) Client provides an outline of the presentation content written in paragraph form. I added the red slide markers.
MS Word Outline

(2) First draft is distilling the paragraphs into bulleted information, which the client reviews and verifies the needed message is intact.
Bulleted PPT

(3) The bullets are then distilled into visual elements. The goal is to minimize the number of words, while adding visual elements that support the remaining text and help convey the message.
Visual PPT
In addition, slides have animations that allow the speaker to lead the audience through the message of the slide.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T14:00:39-07:00June 19th, 2006|Portfolio|

Visual Appeal to “Standard” Elements

If you look at these two examples, there is only one difference between the “before and after” elements; the addition of a shadow box to add depth.

The wonderful thing about both of these is the shadow box element was created using native PowerPoint autoshapes. So in just a few clicks elements in your presentation can get a little extra pizzaz!

(Up next, how to create shadow boxes)

Troy @ TLC

By |2016-09-16T11:44:18-07:00April 18th, 2006|Portfolio, Tutorial|
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