A lot of people (including clients of mine) took note of presentation designer Emiland De Cubber’s slide makeover of Mary Meeker’s deck profiled in Business Week.
It’s good. Take a look.
And a hat tip to IdeaTransplant’s great post on the makeover.
Gizmodo has a great look back at the original Macintosh guide and tutorial that teaches users how to use a mouse. We all had to learn at one point…
Check out the entire guidebook here, and see parts of it in action below.
Here’s a nice cross-section of of advice from 9 presentation experts—and not just the usual suspects. (Okay, I’m one of them.)
Courtesy of CustomShow, a PowerPoint alternative that puts emphasis video integration.
Remember those print annual reports companies used to do? Warby Parker doesn’t.
Here’s their interactive 365 days of Warby Parker 2013 Annual Report.
I’d have to say that it’s a bit hard to get an overview of the story or to really qiuckly pick out some prime facts. But bravo to them for trying something different. And visual.
Gizmodo’s post makes clear that “even Bill Gates hates PowerPoint.” Well, let’s not forget that PowerPoint’s profits are in part helping Bill give out such amazingly ridiculous amounts of money now. But what I love about this quick video is its absolute simplicity and, because there’s no PowerPoint in sight, the way it can so easily grab our attention by being just a little bit different.
And is it just me, or is Bill starting to look a lot like Woody Allen?
Kottke.org has a small roundup of some historical examples of pictures standing in for text much the way emoji does today (for some.)
Rebus was a type of puzzle writing, and my favorite example is one Kottke cites from Lewis Carrol:
And let’s not forget Edward Tufte’s consistent pleasure in pointing out Galileo’s use of pictures within his published writing.
The New York Times, still at the forefont of visual storytelling, has compiled some of their best interactive pieces from 2013.
What is visual storytelling in a corporate environment?
Product photos on a consumer brand Facebook page? An annual report rendered as an infographic? The holy grail viral marketing video shot by the summer intern (or very expensive hipster digital agency)?
Lululemon, the recently embattled yoga wear brand, just hired Laurent Potdevin as their new CEO. The company has struggled recently under some bad press for corporate practices, embarassing statements by leadership and even product recalls.
Lululemon is hoping that Potdevin, a former leader at Luis Vuitton, Burton snowboards and Toms shoes will turn the corporate fortunes and reputation around. And to introduce him to customers and shareholders, they released a simple, but well-produced video that is pure visual storytelling.
I love it.
Visual storytelling was much of what I helped Edelman raise the bar on during my years at the company. Many of you know that I recently left the PR firm to start my own consultancy. If you would like to learn how I am now working with other organizations to improve their visual communications, drop me a line.
