7 Basic Design Presentation Principles.
By Heather Dart Heefner, Dart Studios, LLC.
Many, many presentations are given every day. Scientists, business managers, executives and teachers all present. These people are presenting good and important ideas. The research shows the importance of visual communication. People remember 10% of what they hear and 65% of what they see. (1) Yet few people who speak and create slides for themselves are trained in design. Even fewer know basic design principles. Design is the one discipline that “combines creative thinking, analytics, data assimilation and the inherent ability to express oneself visually.” (2). I might also add that design also teaches the idea of clear communication using visual tools.
In today’s business world, design tools are a must have if you are creating your own presentations. PowerPoint is the tool of choice to make slides. It comes with a lot of whistles and stops, and no visual training.
It is important to know and understand simple design concepts in order to create an effective slide deck. “Making bad slides is easy, and it will negatively impact your career.” Nancy Duarte, of Duarte design, advises, and she is right. (3)
So, how do you implement good design if you do not know what it is?
Here are a few key strategies that I use when I am designing for clients.
Design elements:
Repetition In design, repetition is used to tie a slide and a presentation together. A pre-designed template gives you repetition with colors and background. Take it a step further and incorporate a consistent design element and use of typography. In this example done for Professor Caldeira at Stanford, the elements of typography, color, and use of the title in the box create unity through repetition.
Alignment. Nothing is accidental or random. Every alignment has a purpose. This creates visual harmony. In this example, the type is intentionally placed to tell the story.
Proximity: People group elements that are alike together. We do this naturally. In this example done for one of my corporate clients, highlighted copy was placed in similar shapes. They eye naturally moves from one text box to the next because they are alike in proximity. This is also far more interesting than a list of bullet points.
Negative space. Negative space is good. Negative space allows the viewer to focus on the important information. The negative space in this piece done for one of my retail clients allows the viewer to focus in the bar graph.
Less is more. Less is more is a Design 101 primary lesson. As communicators, we want to get our message across, and visual noise creates a distraction. Many footers, logos, extra colors, bullet points are not needed. This presentation was created for Dr. Dunkel's TED talk on malaria. Both slides tell the same story. One has a full collage of photos, one has select information. The reason that slide B is more effective is because less is more. As a person is talking, we can only process small amounts of visual information. Choose your photos selectivity to make an impact.
Rule of thirds. This comes from the Golden mean. It is the idea that we see in thirds. If you divide your canvas into thirds, place elements that align with a third. This will create visual harmony. You can see in the example title slide done for a corporate client, that the bars, colors, and typography align with the grid. The grid Is drawn in here for your edification, it is not in the actual slide. You can see the rule of thirds everywhere in graphic design. I encourage you to look for it in billboards, signage, and publications.
Contrast. Contrast is an excellent design tool used to create beauty and highlight an idea. This can be done through color, shape, and size. In this example, the white grid against the black background makes the information stand out. The orange is a contrasting color to the black, and therefore the bar pops.
Repetition, Alignment, Proximity, Less is More, Negative Space and the Rule of Thirds are all great places to start to work on your designs. Designers spend years learning and practicing these concepts in their work. I suggest that you take one of these ideas and apply it to your next presentation. See how it improves the visual clarity of your message.
Thanks,
Heather
Note: all samples were created for clients at Dart Studios. See our website for more client samples. www.dartdesignstudio.com
Sources:
1. Gallo, Carmine Talk Like Ted, Carmine Gallo, New York, St. Martin’s Griffin, 2014
2. Duarte, Nancy Resonate: present visual stories that transform audiences. New Jersey, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2010
3. Duarte, Nancy Resonate: present visual stories that transform audiences. New Jersey, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2010
