Episode #93, Investing in Our Presentation Design Business is up!
Troy, Sandy and I kick the new year off with a discussion on just where we put our money to invest in our presentation businesses—everything from what’s physically in our offices to software and subscriptions.
Take a listen!
Subscribe on iTunes and check out the show notes for more info.
Episode #92, Our Presentation Year in Review 2019 is up!
Troy, Sandy and I run down the best and worst of 2019 in the world of presentation and talk about our favorite books, add-ins, projects and events.
Take a listen!
Subscribe on iTunes and check out the show notes for more info.
Episode #87, When Scientists Present (Conversation w/ Mike Morrison) is up.
Troy, Sandy and I welcome Mike Morrison, someone who has been making some waves in the world of scientific presentation with his proposals for better and differently designed science posters.
We have a wide ranging talk about how scientists present, how they can present better and why graphic design might be the key to curing cancer—well, kind of. But you’ll have to listen to hear more about that.
Take a listen!
Subscribe on iTunes and check out the show notes for more info.
The Interaction Design Foundation has a fantastic (and brief) primer on how to use hierarchy in design. Take a look!
Daniel Crouch Rare Books has a catalog of various data visualization offerings including a nice collection of Minard works for a hefty £400,000. Some of the works I was unfamiliar with and yes, a copy of the Napoleon map is one of them. You can purchase the catalog from their site and download a PDF here.
Redditor ShinyTile points out that poor graphic design may have contributed to Sunday night’s Oscar mixup.
I agree and took 5 minutes to redesign the card.
As ShinyTile points out, the Oscars logo catches the eye first, and in this context is entirely irrelevant to the purpose and usage of the card. I assume the cards are nice keepsakes (in addition to the statues), and so I’m okay with keeping the logo, but minimizing it and making it the last thing the eye might read. In its place at the top center, I would place the category in the same Oscar logo gold. That should be the first place the reader’s eye goes and it should serve to confirm the category winner about to be announced. But immediately after the category is processed by the reader, the next thing is the winner and the first thing announced—big, bold and in all caps.
I’m okay with the title being all caps, but I would make the additional information (in this case the producer names), sentence cap as I think this is easier for the eye to read, especially with longer and more complicated names. The only things read aloud are in black and the other two items are in the less prominent gold.
Just a suggestion…
Also, the LA Times points out that the mixup could also partially be due to poor envelope design.
There are many data visualization sins, but the one that makes my blood boil is manipulating the Y-axis. Fox News is the master at this, so often just deleting the Y-axis entirely to invent the data story that syncs with the network’s political narratives.
While Fox News generally is creating a story that isn’t there, usually when I see Y-axis shenanigans, it is to exaggerate a legitimate story. And generally, the story is a good one to begin with that doesn’t need exaggeration.
I was not been a big fan of the Consumer Reports redesign from a graphic design perspective, but it has slowly gotten a bit better. But the really need a stronger editor (and backbone) when it comes to data visualization. Your data tells a good story to begin with—there is no need to visually lie to your readers, as they did recently with these charts showing secondary market ticket prices. Because the length of the bars indicate value, distorting them is essentially telling an untruth to your audiences. (No, $22.58 is not one quarter as much as $36…)
Just being visually truthful doesn’t make your story less impactful. And if it does, then you need to get a better story! This would be a far more truthful design:
Or, since it is a trend, I would probably suggest a line chart:
Episode #6, The Presentation Podcast: Print-only Presentations is live.
Take a listen as we discuss using PowerPoint as a desktop publishing tool. And yes, you have permission to use PowerPoint as a desktop publishing too.
Subscribe on iTunes and check out the show notes for more info.
Corporate advertising on the back of a celebrity death? Check. But this Chevy tribute to Prince is undeniably beautiful from a graphic design perspective.
It is still true what they say: Nobody writes songs about Volvos.
