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Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Now Entering the Post-Template PowerPoint Design Era...
If you are still using PowerPoint templates as a presentation design aid, it's time to stop. Why?
Because we've officially entered the Post-Template PowerPoint Design Era.
Why the Post-Template PowerPoint Design Era? With so many options available for great images, you don't need to rely on a PowerPoint template anymore. As fellow presentation blogger Ellen Finkelstein puts it in her excellent post at Slideshare, "White is definitely the new blue in presentation backgrounds..."
Why did PowerPoint background fashion change? Back in the early 1990's, very few people had easy access to compelling digital photography to insert in their PowerPoint presentations. Today, just about everybody who gives presentations has a digital camera. Use it to capture unique and fresh images for your next PowerPoint presentation. Don't have the talent for taking a great photo? You might be surprised at just how good you are! Don't be intimidated -- if you have a digital camera, at least give it a shot! At the very least, it's sure to be an original.
Can't get the shot you want? Again, you have access to a plethora of great photography online -- something you probably didn't have 10 years ago. Consider Flickr, the social photo sharing site. Many photos are available for use in your presentations through the Creative Commons attribution. If you can't find a unique photo at Flickr, try Morguefile or StockExchange. Both of these sites offer totally free photos. Just be sure to check the licensing requirements on each image before you use it in your next presentation.
Pay a little. If you still can't find the photograph you want, you may have to pay for a stock image -- but just a little. I like iStockphoto -- the prices are usually a buck or three -- and the selection is decent and updates regularly. But be careful! With stock photography, you run the risk of picking a photo that many people have seen before -- so it's not unique. Many times, you risk boring your audience with stock photography. Fortunately, iStockphoto shows you which photos are the most frequently downloaded, so you can avoid photos that everyone has already seen. With a little diligence, you can find something newer, fresher, and hipper.
The days of slapping clip art on a blue background are definitely over. That's just so 1990's! And when the audience has seen a background or image before -- the presenter becomes part of a landscape of visual cliches. The eyes of the audience glaze over. The presentation seem hackneyed. The presenter seems trite. The message gets hazy. Lost.
Use unique imagery. Use your creativity. Your audience with appreciate your effort!
PS -- Need help learning to manipulate photos and other graphics? Ellen Finkelstein also writes to remind me that her ebook, 7 Steps to Great Images, is on sale at her site. The book is easy-to-read, and filled with practical instructions for manipulating images in PowerPoint. Perfect for the Post-Template PowerPoint design era! You can also sign up for Ellen's free tips newsletter. Enjoy!
If you are still using PowerPoint templates as a presentation design aid, it's time to stop. Why?
Because we've officially entered the Post-Template PowerPoint Design Era.Why the Post-Template PowerPoint Design Era? With so many options available for great images, you don't need to rely on a PowerPoint template anymore. As fellow presentation blogger Ellen Finkelstein puts it in her excellent post at Slideshare, "White is definitely the new blue in presentation backgrounds..."
Why did PowerPoint background fashion change? Back in the early 1990's, very few people had easy access to compelling digital photography to insert in their PowerPoint presentations. Today, just about everybody who gives presentations has a digital camera. Use it to capture unique and fresh images for your next PowerPoint presentation. Don't have the talent for taking a great photo? You might be surprised at just how good you are! Don't be intimidated -- if you have a digital camera, at least give it a shot! At the very least, it's sure to be an original.
Can't get the shot you want? Again, you have access to a plethora of great photography online -- something you probably didn't have 10 years ago. Consider Flickr, the social photo sharing site. Many photos are available for use in your presentations through the Creative Commons attribution. If you can't find a unique photo at Flickr, try Morguefile or StockExchange. Both of these sites offer totally free photos. Just be sure to check the licensing requirements on each image before you use it in your next presentation.
Pay a little. If you still can't find the photograph you want, you may have to pay for a stock image -- but just a little. I like iStockphoto -- the prices are usually a buck or three -- and the selection is decent and updates regularly. But be careful! With stock photography, you run the risk of picking a photo that many people have seen before -- so it's not unique. Many times, you risk boring your audience with stock photography. Fortunately, iStockphoto shows you which photos are the most frequently downloaded, so you can avoid photos that everyone has already seen. With a little diligence, you can find something newer, fresher, and hipper.
The days of slapping clip art on a blue background are definitely over. That's just so 1990's! And when the audience has seen a background or image before -- the presenter becomes part of a landscape of visual cliches. The eyes of the audience glaze over. The presentation seem hackneyed. The presenter seems trite. The message gets hazy. Lost.
Use unique imagery. Use your creativity. Your audience with appreciate your effort!
PS -- Need help learning to manipulate photos and other graphics? Ellen Finkelstein also writes to remind me that her ebook, 7 Steps to Great Images, is on sale at her site. The book is easy-to-read, and filled with practical instructions for manipulating images in PowerPoint. Perfect for the Post-Template PowerPoint design era! You can also sign up for Ellen's free tips newsletter. Enjoy!
Labels: design, images, photography, PowerPoint Templates
¶ 6/25/2008 04:14:00 PM 2 Comments Links to this post
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
How to Break it to Your Boss: "You Need a Makeover!"
How do you tell your boss or colleagues that they need a makeover?
I'm not talking about their clothes, hair, or makeup. Instead, I'm talking about their PowerPoint presentations!
Just in time for the holidays, PowerPoint MVPs Geetesh Bajaj and Echo Swinford provide a fun new way to transform dated PowerPoint designs. Last week, the two authors released an exciting, full-color book called Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kit. Actually, this action-packed new release is more "kit" than a "book", as it contains a CD chock full of music, pictures, templates, themes, and more. In a free online excerpt, you'll see how to transform a dated, bullet-list presentation into a fashionable, bullet-free look.
Transform your design approach. If your organization professes to be progressive and forward-thinking, your PowerPoint design needs to reflect these qualities. A dated, out-of-touch design simply won't do. Your company needs to stay current and investigate fresh approaches to crafting presentations. If your organization has upgraded to PowerPoint 2007, make sure your presentation design approach keeps pace with a 2008 look and feel.
A new look for the new year. The holidays present a terrific opportunity to upgrade your corporate image without wounding egos. After all, it's downright diplomatic and thoughtful to buy a fun holiday gift -- instead of burning with embarrassment over yet another design disaster.
Go check out the new PowerPoint 2007 Makeover Kit -- it can make a terrific, timely, and tasteful business gift.
How do you tell your boss or colleagues that they need a makeover?I'm not talking about their clothes, hair, or makeup. Instead, I'm talking about their PowerPoint presentations!
Just in time for the holidays, PowerPoint MVPs Geetesh Bajaj and Echo Swinford provide a fun new way to transform dated PowerPoint designs. Last week, the two authors released an exciting, full-color book called Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kit. Actually, this action-packed new release is more "kit" than a "book", as it contains a CD chock full of music, pictures, templates, themes, and more. In a free online excerpt, you'll see how to transform a dated, bullet-list presentation into a fashionable, bullet-free look.
Transform your design approach. If your organization professes to be progressive and forward-thinking, your PowerPoint design needs to reflect these qualities. A dated, out-of-touch design simply won't do. Your company needs to stay current and investigate fresh approaches to crafting presentations. If your organization has upgraded to PowerPoint 2007, make sure your presentation design approach keeps pace with a 2008 look and feel.
A new look for the new year. The holidays present a terrific opportunity to upgrade your corporate image without wounding egos. After all, it's downright diplomatic and thoughtful to buy a fun holiday gift -- instead of burning with embarrassment over yet another design disaster.
Go check out the new PowerPoint 2007 Makeover Kit -- it can make a terrific, timely, and tasteful business gift.
Labels: design, fun, PowerPoint Tricks
¶ 11/27/2007 04:10:00 PM 1 Comments Links to this post
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Kitsch and Camp: The PowerPoint Twins
What's Kitsch? Kitsch is a black velvet painting. Garden gnomes, lava lamps, troll dolls, flamingo lawn ornaments, dogs playing poker -- all are classic kitsch. Often of poor quality, kitsch is an object that appeals to lowbrow, popular, or tacky tastes.
What's Kitsch? Kitsch is a black velvet painting. Garden gnomes, lava lamps, troll dolls, flamingo lawn ornaments, dogs playing poker -- all are classic kitsch. Often of poor quality, kitsch is an object that appeals to lowbrow, popular, or tacky tastes.What's Camp? Camp is the presentation of kitsch. Jon Waters, Cyndi Lauper, and Kiss are deliberately campy. Tom Cruise, Judy Garland, and Betty Davis are (probably) unintentionally campy. A campy presentation is so outrageously dramatic, inappropriate, gaudy, affected, or out-of-date it's ironic and funny.
What's contemporary kitsch & camp? When you watch VH1 "I Love the [insert decade here]" - you are watching a top 100 kitsch & camp report. In 3 years, what will be considered kitsch and camp for the '00 decade?
Will PowerPoint presentations make the kitschy cut? After all, there's a certain black velvet quality to many PowerPoint presentations......as well as to most Keynote presentations.
Oh, let's face it. Everything Apple is deliciously kitschy-campy. The Apple "Zen Aesthetic" is contemporary kitsch. By combining this spare design style with:
Kitsch and camp are iconic, ironic fun. When you're deliberately kitschy or campy, you can come across as witty and self-deprecating. However, if you're unintentionally Tom Cruise-y or Apple-campy, you risk appearing self-important or buffoonish.
Try jumping on a couch these days without appearing ironic.
Commit to your camp. If you have a kitschy style, make sure you affect a campy mannerism. This can help you more fully engage your audience. There's no sense having a clipart-y, cluttered, bullet point-y, totally 1990's Microsoft-kitsch PowerPoint presentation if you don't drive it home by, say, swaggering like Johnny Depp in Pirate of the Caribbean. Cringing like the evil Mr. Burns from the Simpsons while presenting with a very 90's slide design is also an excellent kitsch-camp combo.
What's on your kitsch list? What is contemporary kitsch that is currently not commonly recognized as such? What contemporary '00 kitsch & camp will become classic kitsch and camp in the '10 decade?
- the Jobs priestly-black dress code
- the gratuitous and cliched body language of Buddha-pose-faux-humility,
- PlaySkool-ish, Web 2.0-y graphics,
- the promotion of i-Everything,
- dancing iPod silhouettes --
Kitsch and camp are iconic, ironic fun. When you're deliberately kitschy or campy, you can come across as witty and self-deprecating. However, if you're unintentionally Tom Cruise-y or Apple-campy, you risk appearing self-important or buffoonish.
Try jumping on a couch these days without appearing ironic.
Commit to your camp. If you have a kitschy style, make sure you affect a campy mannerism. This can help you more fully engage your audience. There's no sense having a clipart-y, cluttered, bullet point-y, totally 1990's Microsoft-kitsch PowerPoint presentation if you don't drive it home by, say, swaggering like Johnny Depp in Pirate of the Caribbean. Cringing like the evil Mr. Burns from the Simpsons while presenting with a very 90's slide design is also an excellent kitsch-camp combo.If you're going to be design-kitschy, you'll want to commit to being presentation-campy.
What's on your kitsch list? What is contemporary kitsch that is currently not commonly recognized as such? What contemporary '00 kitsch & camp will become classic kitsch and camp in the '10 decade?
Labels: design, fun, images, photography, PowerPoint
¶ 11/13/2007 01:51:00 PM 6 Comments Links to this post
Monday, July 09, 2007
Picking PowerPoint Palettes: Have Fun with 3 Great Color Sites
What color is your PowerPoint presentation? Naturally, you can choose any background, font, and accent colors you wish for your slides. Your color choices are important because they help communicate the emotional content of your presentation.
Have fun with color. Here are three exceptional sites that offer inspirational ideas and useful free tools that can help inspire you as you pick your palette for your next presentation.
What color is your PowerPoint presentation? Naturally, you can choose any background, font, and accent colors you wish for your slides. Your color choices are important because they help communicate the emotional content of your presentation.
Have fun with color. Here are three exceptional sites that offer inspirational ideas and useful free tools that can help inspire you as you pick your palette for your next presentation.
1. Colour Lovers Blog. Not only will you will gain knowledge by reviewing color trends -- you will feel more motivated about by viewing, creating, and sharing inspirational palettes. For example, this recent post shows how great artists inspire with color choices. Fabulous!
2. Color Schemer. Color Schemer lets you explore a wild variety of fresh, free color schemes. Bonus: you can download ColorPix, a nifty and free little app that "grabs the pixel under your mouse and transforms it into a number of different color formats." Cool.
3. Color Blender. You can quickly create a 6-color matching palette by using this free online tool. Further, you can easily send your blend to a friend ... or download your newly created blend as either an .act or .eps file. Excellent!
Now, will you use these three sites for PowerPoint presentations...or for choosing colors when you paint your living room? ;) ¶ 7/09/2007 10:10:00 AM 1 Comments Links to this post
