Graphic Design Tips for PowerPoints and Online Courses

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Graphic Design Tipsfor PowerPoints and Online
Courses

• South Carolina State Firefighters Association

Developed by Margi Stone Cooper Oklahoma State
University Revised May 1, 2012
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Presentation Topics

• This presentation discusses
• Titles for opening screens
• Text and typography
• Colors and fonts
• Charts, graphics, and special effects
• Overall format

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Title Slides and Opening Screens

• Reveal the main idea of the presentation.
• Be brief, but accurate.
• Include the name of the presenter and/or the
  organization.

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Fire Hydrants

• This title is vague and does not tell what the
  presentation is about.
• What is going to be said about fire hydrants?

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How to Flow Test a Fire Hydrant

• This title is more specific.
• The audience knows exactly what the presentation
  is about.

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Text and Typography

• Think about the
• Amount of text on each slide
• Placement of text
• Font size
• Font style
• Letter and word arrangement
• Wording and spelling

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In a PowerPoint Presentation

• Each screen should
• Not distract from the message
• Be easy to read
• Be limited to about 6 lines of 6 to 8 words
• Compare this PowerPoint screen with the
  multimedia course screen on the next page.

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In an Online Course

• Screens for online multimedia courses can, of
  course, be much more text-heavy than PowerPoint
  slides. When developing content for a multimedia
  course, limit the number of words to 150 per
  screen. Whether for multimedia courses or
  PowerPoints, each screen should focus on your
  message and be easy to read. Your audience should
  not have to use a dictionary to understand your
  messageuse simple language. Also, list your main
  ideas with bullets or numbers.
• In most cases, text should be set flush left
  with a ragged right margin. Forced
  justification (where both outer margins of the
  text are straight) causes irregular word spacing,
  which makes text difficult to read. Adding more
  than one space after the punctuation at the end
  of a sentence also can cause spacing
  irregularities. In any media (including a printed
  document), limit line length to no more than
  about 125 characters, and keep headlines,
  subheads, and body fonts consistent throughout
  the course or presentation.

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Placement of Bulleted Statements

• Align bulleted statements on the left margin,
  like this.
• Never center bullets it makes them hard to read.
• Avoid setting text flush right, because this
  forces the reader to have to hunt for the
  beginning of the next line.

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Avoid Awkward Line Breaks

• Prepositional phrases should remain on one line.
• Avoid breaking hyphenated words.
• Avoid dangling words (or widows).
• Keep thoughts and subjects together on one line.

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Good Examples of Bad Line Breaks

• Proofread your message before sending it.
• Wait until late in the day to check e- mail.
• Never forward rumors or old wives tales these
  cause harm and waste time.

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Wording and Spelling

• Avoid unintentional meaning
• Spiders hide under leaves and bark.
• Watch out for typos, especially those that are
  proper words
• The Precedent spoke before Congress.
• Use simple language
• Try the word use instead of utilize.

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Avoid Huge Fonts

• Fonts that are too large make the line length too
  short and hurt legibility
• A pitot tube measures flow pressure.

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Choosing Font Styles

• Limit the use of italics to individual words or
  short phrases.
• Statements in all italics can be difficult to
  read.
• Likewise, it is often hard to read artistic
  fonts use them sparingly.

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Typeface Selection

• Avoid mixing typefaces within a word, phrase,
  sentence, or paragraph.
• Thin-stroke, serif letters often dont show up as
  well as thick-stroke gothic letters.
• Use typefaces consistently.

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Letter Case

• SENTENCES IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS LACK SHAPE AND
  CAN SLOW A READER.
• DONT use capital letters for emphasis.
• Use both upper- and lowercase letters.

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Avoid Stacking Letters and Words
Rotating text on-end is preferred.

• Fire
• Hydrants
• Must
• Be
• Opened
• Slowly

• O H S
• P Y L
• E D O
• N R W
• A L
• N Y
• T
• S

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General Guidelines for Using Color

• Use no more than 5 colors per slide.
• Too many colors makes reading difficult and
  distracts the from your message.
• Keep the color scheme consistent.
• Do not vary colors within a word.
• Background and foreground colors should contrast
  well.

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Poor Color Choices
The audience will have a difficult time trying to
read the screen of your course or presentation.
This slide shows a very bad use of color.
Only use different colors to highlight key points
when necessary.
Alternating color combinations will make your
audience search for your main points.
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Color in Sentences and Phrases

• Some colors stand out against a background some
  dont.
• Dont alternate colors within a word.
• Avoid alternating text colors within a phrase.
• But, subtly changing the color of a keyword or
  phrase can help draw attention.

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Background vs. Text Colors

• Value is the relative lightness or darkness of
  a color.
• Colors may be different, but they can have
  similar values.
• Choose background and text colors that contrast
  in value.

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Examples of Poor Contrast
Red and royal blue do not contrast well because
they are similar in value.

• Red and green do not contrast well these colors
  tend to reverberate.

Dark colors such as black against dark blue also
do not produce good contrast.
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Good Color Contrast
Red and White
Black and White
White and Blue
Yellow and Blue
Black and Yellow
Green and White
Periodically step back from the computer to
ensure you can read your screens without
straining. Remember, if youre creating slides
that will be projected, overhead lights are
usually dimmed, but meeting rooms are seldom very
dark, which makes good contrast especially
important.
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Dark on Light? Or Vice Versa?

• There are no hard and fast rules for designing
  the overall look and feel of an online module or
  course. A couple of decades ago when multimedia
  courses were first developed, designers
  overwhelmingly chose light-colored fonts on dark
  backgrounds. Back then, it was thought was that
  light backgrounds and dark type would cause eye
  strain, much like trying to read the printing on
  a lit light bulb for hours on end. But years of
  experience has told us that is not the case.
• Nowadays, many designers choose dark backgrounds
  to increase the energy efficiency of the computer
  display, since in requires more power to project
  a white screen and it produces more heat. While
  energy-conscious designers may advocate that
  black is the new green, the fact is that it
  depends on the device your using. For example,
  with new liquid-crystal displays, white screens
  tend to consume less energy than black screens.
• The Bottom line? Make sure theres plenty of
  contrast between your background and text and
  youll be fine.

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Avoid Busy Backgrounds

• Heavily textured and geometric backgrounds can
  obscure the text.
• Use minimal textures and background designs.
• Photos may be used with care.
• Use plain backgrounds when careful reading is
  required.

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Some photo backgroundscan obscure text.
Consider placing text in a color box if you must
use a photograph as a background.
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Using Charts and Graphics

• Include enough information so your audience
  understands the chart.
• Avoid overloading a chart with information.
• Use graphics that are relevant to the topic being
  presented.
• Avoid using poor quality graphics or filler art.

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Adequately Label Graphics
This graph is clean and simple. But is it
adequately labeled to convey the meaning? (No,
of course.)
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Avoid Information Overload

• The bars on this graph are impossible to
  distinguish.
• Again, this graph is not clearly labeled.

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Use Relevant Graphics
Annual Report to the Executive Board January 2013
The above graphic does not tie in with the
subject.
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Overall Format

• Limit the use of special effects.
• Format the presentation with the audience and the
  subject in mind.
• Be consistent with the design.
• Learn how to take advantage of the powerful
  graphic design capabilities of PowerPoint!

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Limit the Use of Special Effects

• Use special effects only when appropriate.
• Special effects can be distracting.

Do not use a special effect that serves no
purpose.
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Keep the Design Consistent

• Use a template with...
• The same color palette.
• The same typefaces.
• Similar slide layouts.
• Think of white space as a design element and
  use it to your advantage.

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Check Your Text!

• Type symbols correctly. Use a degree symbol
  instead of a superscript lowercase o.
  Double-check symbols after the multimedia
  developer finishes your project, because symbols
  have a habit of reverting when text is copied
  from one software program to another. Also, be
  sure check weblinks because URLs sometimes change.

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Quick Summary

• Use meaningful titles.
• Make sure your text is legible.
• Text color should contrast with the background.
• Use appropriate images and label charts and
  graphics.
• Limit the use of special effects.
• Be consistent with the overall format.
• Proofread!