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

erich@pepper.co.za

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!