Comments on: Pretty Slides = Good Presentation…NOT.

By: Magda Maslowska

Magda Maslowska — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 06:01:56 +0000

All actual graphic designers will disagree that appeal is not part of the design. Appeal is incredibly important. Appeal is what draws the viewer in, what makes the design memorable. What you’re describing is content development, maybe copy-writing if you’re cutting down the words, maybe information architecture or storyboarding if you’re putting structure into the story.

When I try to describe the distinction between a graphic artist, and graphic designer I tell people that the only difference is that
A graphic artist will make you feel
And a graphic designer will make you do
Both professions are visual and use aesthetic to create whatever it is they are making. BUT A graphic designer is also a problem solver. Design is deliberate, and functional but it still uses visual aesthetic. I think this is where MANY Power Point “designers” fall short. They are not designers; they are presentation developers or presentation architects.

This is why the website industry has made it clear to call people either a website designer or a website developer. The designer creates what you look at, the developer creates the code behind it, and how things work. And even another person is in charge of the copy; the words on a web page belong to a copy-writer.
Presentation developers tend to wear ALL these hats, and often not very well. It’s not easy being amazing at several separate disciplines.

For example, I’m a graphic designer/information designer and a content developer. I work both in litigation and business sectors of presentation development. I do storyboarding, concepts; I add meaning to data etc. When I look at other peoples slides I can tell whether a trained graphic designer created them. I see where visual cues are missing and could add more value.
But I don’t have any formal training in copy writing. I can only spot the obvious mistakes. Copy-writing in presentations requires plain language experts.

Our industry is based on too many all in one combos that can’t do neither role very well.

By: Ryan Flynn

Ryan Flynn — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:47:44 +0000

I design presentations for law firms and these are consistently my challenges as well. Too much info crammed on to each slide and little forethought as to how they will play together and support the ‘story’ of our case at trial. Getting in early helps, then you can help them develop the storyline of the presentation and create graphics that tie information together. The problem with trial is that there is so much info that needs to be admitted into the record that most times I have to bite the bullet and add all the extra, ugly details. But the worst, you are correct, is the dreaded Powerpoint ‘dump’. Wherein the night before trial I receive a trainwreck.ppt file that someone just wants ‘prettied up’. Ugh, what a nightmare.

By: Michael Pierce

Michael Pierce — Fri, 29 May 2009 08:58:54 +0000

I’m relatively new to the concepts you’re talking about here. Although I understand them at a gut level and appreciate their importance, some examples would be really helpful. What does a “designed” presentation look like versus designed/formatted slides and text?