Graphics
June 9, 2010 by Pearl
In a prior blog, you read about how Less is More when it comes to store-front displays through one of Professor Sheena Iyengarâs experiments, and how the same principle relates to presentations. Now letâs take a look at another one of Ms. Iyengarâs experiments to see how this concept also applies to toy selection. In her new book, The Art of Choosing, Ms. Iyengar explores the science of choice through experiments and personal stories. She recounts the story of her parentsâ prearranged marriage in India, noting the limited amount of choices available to the bride and groom in that
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April 5, 2010 by Pearl
At the beginning of this mini-blog series, you read about how the Less is More principle affects store-front product displays, and how it relates to presentations. Now letâs take a look at how this concept applies to the tech world. There are more than 150,000 applications and counting available to iPhone users today. How many of these apps are actually found and eventually utilized by an end-user? If you look at a teenagerâs iPhone, you are likely to see screen after screen studded with apps. But according to a recent New York Times article âWhen Phones Are Just
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March 24, 2010 by Pearl
In a prior blog, you read about how the Less is More approach applies to store-front product placement, and how it also relates to presentations. Now letâs take a look at how this concept applies to a popular chain of grocery stores. Established in 1958 as a small chain of convenience stores, Trader Joeâs has expanded to 339 stores in 25 states. Much of its success is based upon their low prices. A recent episode of Food Networkâs Unwrapped discussed how Trader Joeâs is able to offer high quality goods at such low prices. Marc Summer, the showâs host
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December 14, 2009 by Pearl
Itâs that time of the year again when dĂ©cor shops spring to life with all the glitters and sparkles for the rapidly-approaching holiday season. I donât know how you react, but as soon as I set foot in such a shop, I canât help but to perform a full 360 degree twirl on my feet; just as I did when I was a child walking into Disneyland for the very first time. As much as I enjoy taking in all the glory of the holiday season in these stores, the experience can also be a bit overwhelmingâŻespecially
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October 7, 2009 by Jerry
A delightful Corona beer video commercial, set in their now-trademark tropical seascape, makes a humorous, but telling point about peripheral vision. A man and a dark-haired woman are seated in beach chairs, their backs to the camera, their heads facing straight ahead toward the surf. The man is on the left, the woman on the right; between them is a low table with two bottles of Corona, each topped with a wedge of lime. Corona Squirt After a moment, a tall and tanned, willowy blond girl, wearing a tiny white bikini, enters into the scene from the right and slowly
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August 7, 2009 by Jerry
Last week, in an article in the Wall Street Journal titled, “Speaking Truth to PowerPoint,â the writer, David Feith spent 12 paragraphs criticizing the software by citing what he calls âSour Pointers,â one of them an academic and the other a retired military officer. Although Mr. Feith acknowledged that PowerPoint is a business tool (âAmerica runs on PowerPoint,â he wrote) neither of his sources is a business person. To bolster these critics, Mr. Feith also cited graphics guru Edward Tufte, a well-known PowerPoint critic, who has called the application a âprankish conspiracy against evidence and thought.â After all that and two brief paragraphs with references to tangential counter-arguments, Mr. Feith closed his article by concluding meekly, “perhaps all we can say is ânext slide.ââ Try this conclusion, Mr. Feith: âBlame the penmanship, not the pen.â (To read more about this conclusion, please see my prior post.)
July 24, 2009 by Jerry
Meet Rowan Manahan, the Founder of Fortify Services, a Dublin-based consulting and career management firm. Rowan, the author of Where’s My Oasis?: The Essential Handbook For Everyone Wanting That Perfect Job, writes a blog called âFortify Your Oasisâ on which he chooses to use a clip art image to represent himself rather his own handsome Gaelic mug. Extending his modesty, he describes himself as a âspeaker, trainer, husband, father, storyteller and dancing bear.â Earlier this year, Rowan wrote a post we thought you would appreciate as a closer to this series on presentation graphics. We reproduce his words here for
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July 23, 2009 by Jerry
Yesterdayâs post about serif and sans serif font concluded with the Latin phrase, âde gustibus non est disputandum,â or, there is no argument about taste. The phrase is even more applicable, if not indisputable, when it comes to color choice. Well, almost indisputable, for there is a single unavoidable consideration that transcends the taste of any presenter or presenterâs designer, and that is the audience and its ability to understand the graphic. A simple one-word rule, applicable to every element of every graphic, will make it easy for every audience to understand your every slide. And, at the risk
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July 22, 2009 by Jerry
Yesterdayâs post posed a trick question: whether to use initial caps or all caps in presentation text. The trick was to get you to focus on your audienceâs ability to perceive your text. The least common denominator in that post as well as this post, as it is in all my posts, and as it must be in all presentations, is to make it easy for your audience to follow you and your graphics. If you do, your audience will make it easy for you; the alternative is inconceivable. Letâs begin our consideration of serif and sans serif font
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July 21, 2009 by Jerry
nitial caps or all caps, which should you use? An article in the New York Times reported on a trend among major corporations to update their brand logos, and that several of the companies have done so with âstriking similaritiesâ in their redesign. Below youâll find the past and present versions of the Wal-Mart, Kraft, Stop & Shop, and Sysco logos. Please note that all of them have converted from all caps to initial caps. The Times article described this shift as âToned-down type. Bold, block capital letters are out. Their replacements are mostly or entirely lower case,
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