Hello,
I’ve had a few requests from folks who would like to use some of the graphics that have been posted here. Please feel free to use them however you wish. Best regards, take care.
This is a commentary about Jon Kolko’s article at Design Mind, “The Maturity of a Discipline”, linked below:
http://designmind.frogdesign.com/blog/the-maturity-of-a-discipline.html
As Jon Kolko pointed out several times, certain concepts are being treated as “silver bullets” to address complex problems. I feel that the quest for “silver bullets” is symptomatic of an approach to problems that has not changed for decades, namely, adhering to trends and fads instead of thinking about the nature of the problem. Any given use of a corporate buzzword will serve as an example. “Design thinking” is becoming a corporate buzzword. To me, it sounds like a rewording of the old standby, “think outside the box,” which in practice is a challenge that says essentially nothing, an expression of someone else’s frustration with real or perceived failure. At worst, it is used as an excuse to enforce their own narrow vision.
People tend to talk about a “design thinking” approach without really understanding what design is. Likewise, people tend to demand “creativity” without really understanding what that is, and what they really want is something that strikes their fancy. In reality, what strikes their fancy are shopworn ideas that appeal to an expectation of how things should look, and that kills innovation.
Understanding the fundamentals of design is necessary for “design thinking.” One should at least understand what design is before claiming to be a “design thinker.” It is not merely pushing elements around in a given space; form should complement function without becoming more important than the function itself.
Designers may hope that the current emphasis on “design thinking” and creativity may result in elevation of the design discipline. Sadly, what is happening is that design is considered too important to be left to designers, and people who do not understand design think they can do it without the designer. Managers often cannot or will not see or accept their own limitations. Task forces and committees tend to add complexity to problems that could otherwise be simplified. As the old saying goes, “too many cooks spoil the broth.” Yet, in the name of “design thinking,” groups and committees will become more involved in the design process, under the mistaken belief that many can make better decisions than a few. For an example from reality, I recently assisted in a situation in which multiple opinions on colors and graphic treatments from people other than the designers resulted in an 11th-hour halt to project so that a multitude of branding violations and grammatical errors could be corrected. There were plenty of unusual and different graphic treatments, most of them off brand, many of them inappropriate for the content. A few of us fixed an avoidable problem that would not have occurred had the many not made decisions and choices without consulting the few.
I doubt we’ll escape “metrics” and statistical analyses. Quantitative measurement of success will always be part of business. The fallacy lies in the belief that “if only” we would just create something unique, unusual, different, imaginative, outstanding, amazing, and so on, we will be successful. Reality does not always follow our expectations. Basically, the old adage rings true: adapt or perish. So, all we can really do is to continue to try new things and new approaches, while continually avoiding the stifling trap of the trend, the fad, the buzzword, and the status quo.
Every so often as I drive to work, I see a stocky-looking guy holding a large cup of coffee, rocking back and forth, listening to his radio, wearing a sandwich board advertising a local plumber.
I’ve seen him in the summer. I’ve seen him in the fall. I’ve seen him in the rain as well as the sunshine, and I think, “I’m lucky. I could be that guy.”
But how bad is his life? Is it bad at all? I really don’t know. He seems blissful enough. But what is bliss? Does it really matter? Do I even have the right to pity the man?
I could, of course, park my car and talk to him, and find out who he is and what he does, and why does he wear that sandwich board? How does he like his coffee? What does he listen to on his radio? What songs does he sing when he does a little dance there on the corner?
But that would mean stepping out of the safe and predictable pattern of my existence…
…which is at least worth a try.
In today’s tutorial I’ll show you how to make a nice design using two sticks and a rock.
If you want to use the shortcut, go out and find two sticks that suit your fancy and a nice heavy rock. Lay the sticks on the ground and bash them with the rock. You will have designed…something…
Or, you can take the two sticks and smack the rock with them. You will have made music.
This tutorial is slightly more sophisticated, although you may be able to market your smashed stick work, and I encourage you to record your rock music and send it to record companies.
If you want to do the digital thing, download the images you’ll need for this tutorial.
Here are your two sticks.
http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/174851
During the development of this tutorial, the design team got involved in a long argument about whether or not it’s a picture of two twigs, and whether or not twigs qualified as sticks. There was an impassioned plea for using drum sticks, then the discussion degraded into philosophical differences over chicken legs versus turkey drumsticks. An attempt to bring hockey sticks into the mix was shouted down before body checks could happen. Someone mentioned glue sticks, and there was dead silence.
Ultimately the creative director insisted that we follow the intended spirit of the creative brief, and that we use images of real sticks as found lying on the ground in nature. So we were back to square one.
Nobody really cared about the rock.
I’m not quite sure when a twig qualifies as a stick, but I’m a designer, not a botanist, and these are good enough sticks for anybody, unless maybe you’re a jazz drummer and you need some real sticks. I suppose you could use those kind of sticks for your own designs. Don’t let me stop you. Substitute your own sticks or rocks if you wish. It’s not as if I’m watching you.
This looked like a good enough rock for anybody.
http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/46850
Purists may argue that it is a boulder, not a rock. In this case I might agree, so here’s a group of genuine rocks. You might want prettier rocks. I wanted rocks that would be easy to clip out in Photoshop.
http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/99454
Open your sticks and rocks in Photoshop or whatever other image editing software you own. I have Photoshop so that’s what I’ll use. If you’re using Microsoft Paint you may find things a trifle more time consuming, but persevere. If you’re using PowerPoint…well, you must be the heroic sort.
First we need to isolate the sticks on separate layers. I assume you already know how to do this. If you don’t, please go find a tutorial that will teach you how to make clipping masks. Here we are dealing with sticks and rocks.
Sticks with clipping path
Now we need to pick a rock from the pile. Make a clipping path around one of the rocks and copy that to its own layer.
I'm not sure if these are rocks or coal clinkers.
Then, copy and paste or drag your rock layer to your sticks image. By now you should have a layered image with the sticks on one layer and the rock on another. This, too, is a basic skill I assume you already have.
Two sticks and a rock. We have a blog post title!
At this point a lot of you might say, “Hey, that’s pretty good, we’re done!” No, we are designers. It is never good enough. We are never done. We work on lots of projects to keep ourselves from picking at the ones we just finished.
Ok, we need to do something more interesting than laying a rock between two sticks.
First stop: divide the background between light and darkness in order to force a strong contrast. I used basic black; it matches everything.
Divide the background between black and white for strong contrast.
It’s a start, but as I said, not good enough. Now that we have a color contrast, let’s exaggerate the contrast between rock and wood by moving the rock to the left side and both sticks to the right side. I could have done the opposite, but I think the rock looks better on the black field and that the sticks look better on the white field. If you think differently, so much the better.
Rock on the left, sticks on the right. Subtle rhyme with "white", er, um..
The rock hangs nicely in the black field. The sticks don’t look so good. Maybe flipping one of them will improve the way the negative space appears.
The right-hand stick is rotated to generate better negative space
At this point I thought there was too much symmetry, so I moved the rock to the bottom of the black field. Rocks tend to sink, anyway, and this one isn’t pumice.
Rock moved to the bottom. Rock...bottom...must not make pun.
Time to try some text.
It isn't much better with the text, is it?
I wasn’t quite satisfied. Still too much symmetry, and the text block seemed a bit static. The negative space seems unbalanced.
I tried rotating the rock slightly and minimizing the amount of text.
Minimal text.
Maybe we could try this…not much better. The idea was to let the rock be self evident while hitting the viewer over the head with the two sticks.
The 2 is elegant, but this is a bit silly.
Making the rock bigger helped the negative space. The text placement is mildly more interesting but only mildly.
Bigger rock, smaller text.
Violating the edges of the layout resulted in better negative space and better balance between the left and right sides.
Violate the edges, nurture the negative space
At this point, we could continue to move text around with or without a plan. Ordinarily I would sketch this all out before starting work.
We could probably have used a prettier rock, and there are many ways to colorize or otherwise adorn images in your favorite image manipulation program…which you already know, of course.
This concludes today’s tutorial. Thanks for reading.
I stopped over at mom and dad’s house this morning to see if they needed anything. Dad was asleep. Mom was in the kitchen.
“Are you going to be here for a while? I want to go to Giant Eagle. Your dad needs some yogurt.”
“Do you want me to stay here or do you want me to go with you.”
“It doesn’t make any difference. I can’t find my car keys. I left them in my blue pants and I put those in the laundry chute. I should get my grabber and pull them out.”
“We’ll take my car, then.”
“I need to get some yogurt, some milk, some water…have you had breakfast?”
“I ate at home.”
“Give me my cane, it’s by my chair.”
We get to the front door. “I’ll back up the car to the driveway for you.” While she’s getting down the stairs, I back up the car and open the passenger door.
Mom gets in. “You car’s lower than mine. I have to sit on cushions in my car.”
“So, which way do we go?”
“We can go to the Giant Eagle over here, or the one on Ridge Road.”
“Which one do you usually go to?”
“The one over here. Just go down to 130th street and turn left, it’s on the right hand side.”
So we drive along. We get to an intersection. “Straight ahead?”
“Yes, turn left.”
Left it is. “Your father goes up to 140th but I go this way.”
Over to 13oth. “Turn right.”
Down 130th. “Just turn left. It’s on the right.”
Left on Lorain, along we go until Giant Eagle appears. Into the parking lot. “Find a handicapped space.”
“I can’t park in a handicapped space.”
“You can if I’m in the car. I have that hanger for the mirror. There’s a spot there, take that one.”
“This other one is closer.”
Park the car. Mom hangs the handicapped hanger on the mirror. We’re technically legal.
Into Giant Eagle we go. She grabs a cart which becomes her walker for the duration. We take a slow stroll among the racks of foodstuffs. The produce section is right near the doors. She regards a display of peaches. “They don’t look so good.”
I worked in a produce stand for several years, so I cast my professional fruit peddler’s eye upon the peaches. Indeed, they are large, firm, smooth, peach-colored fruit. I’ve had peaches like this; they are all appearance–juiceless, with no flavor, a product of careful breeding. I remember peaches that were small by comparison, covered with irritating fuzz, easily bruised, but with distinct aroma and pungent flavor. These are mass market peaches.
“I need some of those small Reese’s cups. I have a recipe I want to try.”
We find candy right next to the produce, close to the entry. Halloween season is upon us. There are bags of “snack size” Reese’s cups. She’s looking for the tiny ones wrapped in foil. “We’ll look at the other candy racks.”
Down the hot food aisle. It’s 10 am and the Fresh Hot Chicken is cooking. Cooks and clerks look at us expectantly. Someone stops to order something. I pull the nose of the cart so mom doesn’t run into him.
Mom winks at me. “Didn’t you want me to run over that man?”
“If I let you hit him, I’d have to fight him.”
She smiles. We’re in the bakery section. She regards the racks of donuts and bagels, lined up on sterile plastic racks with clear plastic covers that have little plastic doors you can open and reach through to get your bagel or donut. The bagels appear mildly embarrassed to be seen in public with their sugary cousins. A couple of quasi-bakers are working in the white room behind the racks of cakes and pastries. Â The old man baker is slicing something. The middle-aged woman baker is decorating a birthday cake, turning the cake on a rotating plate while she applies chocolate frosting with a plastic-gloved hand. Everything in the modern store is wrapped or packaged in the clear sterility of plastic.
“69 cents for a bagel!” says mom. “They’re cheaper at Marc’s.”
We round the corner into the meat department. A couple of quasi-butchers are sawing something back in the white room behind the racks. We pass by the remnants of slaughter.
“Is there anything here you need for home?” says mom.
“No, we’re good.”
“These pork chops look good. Do you guys eat pork chops?”
“Not usually…”
“There’s the milk.”
We find the milk. Yogurt is 20 for $10.
“You father likes peach yogurt. Get some of those. Don’t get any lime flavor, he doesn’t like lime.”
There’s a wide variety of flavors. Peach, lime, pineapple, raspberry, strawberry, cherry…
“Oh look, there’s cinnamon roll. He’d like that.”
Yes, there is cinnamon roll flavored yogurt. There’s also lemon meringue and apple turnover flavored yogurt, each with a little picture of the item from which the yogurt makers extracted the flavoring to put in their yogurt. We get some cinnamon roll, some lemon meringue, and definitely some apple turnover yogurt.
“He likes that apple turnover. We’re almost done. Now I need some canned peaches, some denture cleaner and some dish soap. Is there anything here you want?”
“No, I’m fine.”
Canned peaches are back near the bakery aisle. On our way we stop at the beverage aisle and pick up a 24-bottle package of bottled water. Dish soap is nearby. “Give me the lemon soap, I don’t want that bleachy stuff.”
Down the canned fruit aisle, conveniently shared with the canned vegetable aisle. We find the canned peaches. “He likes those. Get me some of those pear halves. He likes those. Get me some of those asparagus spears. He likes those. Ok, we’re done.”
Off we go to the checkout line. While there, she picks up three dark chocolate candy bars. “He likes dark chocolate. Do you want a soda or anything?”
We get through checkout, then to the car. I load the groceries into the trunk and we’re back on the road.
“Let’s stop at George’s, I want to get some carry out.”
We stop at George’s Kitchen. George’s is always busy; it’s one of those local short order places everybody goes. I find a parking spot as close as I can to the door–the two handicapped parking spots are taken.
We work our way to the door, then into George’s we go.
“Hi, welcome to George’s!” As busy as they are, whoever is at the register sings out the greeting whenever a customer comes in. George himself, in a chef’s white shirt, is in the booth by the register. People who sit on the stool to the right are there for carry out. People who step to the left will be dining in, and George escorts them to their seats. “Two? This way please.”
One of the ladies addresses mom, “How can I help you, dear?”
“I’d like some carry out.”
“Would you like to see a menu?”
“Yes, please.”
She brings the menus. Each menu has a picture of George on it. Mom looks at me. “You can order anything you want.”
“Hi, welcome to George’s!”
It’s one of those short order menus. Â You know the kind–breakfast all day long, dinner all day long, lunch all day long–eggs, omelets, chicken tenders, breaded fish, baked fish, ham, steak, potatoes, hash browns, pancakes, cole slaw, onion rings, fries, soup, salad, coffee, iced tea, soft drinks.
Mom orders baked fish for dad with baked potato and beef barley soup. She orders chicken tenders with mashed potatoes and salad and chicken noodle soup for herself. “What you do you want?”
“Hi, welcome to George’s!”
“Three? This way please.”
“How about the turkey club sandwich with an order of fries.”
Mom looks at me. “Is that all you want?”
“Ok, how about the breaded walleye, mashed potatoes, beef barley soup.”
The waitress took the order and yelled it to the cook (I suppose there were more than one cook; I could only see one). The waitresses have to stand in line to yell orders to the cook. There’s a NO TALKING AT THE WINDOW sign above the narrow, stainless-steel-clad aperture into the realm of the kitchen. Below that are cauldrons of chicken noodle, beef barley, and vegetable soup, next to the toasters. The ebb and flow of waitresses and cashiers is a marvel of cooperative choreography. “WESTERN OMELET HOLD THE BACON SIDE OF HASH BROWNS EGGS OVER EASY SIDE OF HASH BROWNS DO I NEED TO REPEAT?”
They get the finished orders from somewhere behind us and around to the back. “HOT TRAY COMING THROUGH!” You learn very quickly to sit on a stool if you’re waiting for carry out and not to stand in the aisle.
Mom orders an iced tea and sips it while we wait. “Can I get change for this twenty?”
“Sure, dear.”
The waitress brings the change. Mom leaves two dollars on the counter for the waitress, who politely ignores it while she puts thick slices of bread into wax paper bags, twists the tops, and puts into paper bags which she shoves into plastic shopping bags with bright red script Thank you! on the sides. Little plastic containers of cole slaw, tartar sauce, slices of lemon; plastic bags with plastic forks and knives and spoons; little paper packets of salt and pepper; and finally the styrofoam boxes of baked fish, breaded walleye, chicken tenders, potatoes mashed and otherwise, and the soup, all go into the paper bags and the tops of the plastic shopping bags tied in little granny knots. Mom slides over her debit card, signs the little receipt, and we’re good to go.
Thank you for coming to George’s! Have a nice day!
He put me to work doing odd jobs and cooking lunch. Lunch was Nathan’s hot dogs.
“You gotta chop an onion.”
So I find an onion. Then I get a paring knife.
“What that you got?”
“A knife.”
“That ain’t a knife. Go in the other drawer and get a knife.” Then proceeds to get the knife himself, one of several extremely sharp heavy weight full tang balanced German steel knives he keeps in the “other drawer.” It’s big enough to carve a side of beef and sharp enough for shaving. Wasn’t quite sharp enough, so he gets the steel and sharpens the knife a bit more. I start to chop the onion.
“Here, use this one.” He hands me a different knife–this one is much sharper than the other, slightly smaller, straighter blade. I take that one and finish chopping the onion.
By that time the hot dogs were ready. Into the buns, on with the chopped onions, the brown mustard, the ketchup (or was it catsup?) and down the hatch.
We also chopped up some rhubarb, which went well once we got the right knife.
Here’s the “6 Critical Questions” for screen presentations in PPTx format and as a PDF. The words at the bottom of each page are hyperlinked.
6 Critical Questions (PDF)
6 Critical Questions (PPTX)
I decided it was a good idea to restart this blog on WordPress. Here, the focus will be on critical thinking. Previously, I had a mix of topics ranging from graphic design to sports. I want to avoid diluting the primary goal of promoting critical thinking, although design will remain the chief tool for doing that.
So, I’ll be reposting previous articles and graphics pertaining to critical thinking, and leaving the rest at the original location.
Thanks for reading.
This week’s “Slap Up” poster uses the old adage, “Look before you leap,” as the main theme.
Have you thought about what you're about to do?
I’ve been directly involved in business presentations for 26 years, in the employ of some rather large corporations. Thirteen of those years were spent in a marketing support group. Primarily I have been a maker of presentation slides and a participant in presentation planning for sales pitches, internal meetings, financial reports, and pleas for mercy from project managers to boards of directors. While that does not necessarily mean that I am The One True Expert–certainly there are as many of those as are there are leaves on trees in the summer and on the ground in the fall–I do know a few things.
There are many books and many Internet articles about how to make effective, winning presentations. I suppose this is just one more. The difference here is that I will be brief and to the point. In my opinion, if you use any one of my simple suggestions, your presentations might improve.
These are not new ideas; they are what I’ve seen to work.
Relax
Many people approach a presentation with varying degrees of urgency or even outright panic. You’re an intelligent person. You know your job. You will do well. Your audience is just as human as you are. You’re having a conversation with other human beings. Yes, conversations can be stressful and people can treat other people badly, but presentations are usually formal settings and people tend to act professionally in formal settings. You needn’t fear.
Plan Ahead
It is simple common sense to plan ahead. Many people don’t–they choose a reactive approach, as in “Let’s pull all the slides from the last ten pitches and see what fits this one.” That isn’t planning. Planning should consider, at minimum, the following:
Theme
This is the fundamental message you want to convey. This is the foundation of your presentation. It can be as simple as “We’re the best. Hire us,” or a single word such as “confidence.” The theme informs everything else you do for this presentation, and will help you devise a strategy. Think carefully about your theme. Make sure it honors your values, your company values, and most importantly, your client’s values.
Strategy
Your strategy is how you structure your presentation. Strategy should be an overall outline, where you decide what you want to say. You are not, at this time, deciding how to say it. It is akin to outlining the plot of a novel or sketching for a painting or the parts of a musical piece. This is the skeleton, the framework, the structure upon which you will build the specifics of your presentation. Strategy doesn’t have to be extremely detailed, but it does have to exist.
Tactics
Here you decide the specifics. Here is where you start developing graphic concepts, writing text, deciding who is going to say what, and what kind of clever bribery you will use in the form of handouts. (One company I worked for once delivered a presentation to a major aerospace firm. Our team bought a brand-new laptop, delivered the presentation to an executive via the laptop screen, and then gave him the laptop so he could review the slides at his leisure. Yes, it was for a government job.)
Edit Ruthlessly
Clients these days have less time and less patience for long-winded presentations. Even Steve Ballmer has said he’s found the “long and winding road” approach to be inefficient, and wants his meetings to be focused on the main points.
The key to efficiency is ruthless editing. Think about what you really need in your presentation. Follow the advice of William Strunk, Jr. and omit what is needless.
Pay Attention
Make sure you understand what your client needs and what you can provide. If the client has given you instructions, make sure you understand them and that you follow them. I’ve seen people read clearly-written instructions from clients and then assign a completely wrong meaning to those instructions. For example, when the client tells you that you will have 30 minutes to present, do not prepare a 1-hour presentation. I’ve seen people do that, with embarrassing results.
Know Your Content
If you do not know your own presentation material, it will show. Your slides will not help you.
Avoid the “Be Amazing” Trap
Yes, we all want our presentations to be super huge boffo jaw-dropping blow-their-minds awesome rock star smash hits, and maybe your team actually can achieve such a miracle of presentation greatness that the client will burst into tears and be compelled to sign your contract on the spot and give you money right out of their own wallets, but the reality is that client decisions involve much more than where your presentation places on their scale of awesomeness.
Your job, as a presenter, is primarily to communicate. While awesomeness is awesome if you are in the business of selling awesomeness, if you are in the business of selling industrial cleaning solvents then your main message needs to be about your excellent industrial cleaning solvents, not about how good you are at presentations.
They’ve Seen It Before
Yes, they have seen it before. Pie charts, bar charts, and line charts, for example, date back to the 1800’s. I was making 3D pie charts in the 1980’s. Beveled boxes, glossy buttons, gradient fills, 3D extrusions, drop shadows, clip art, and the like are ancient practices. New versions of software allow the user to apply various effects much more easily. As with any graphic element, it is how we use them to enhance our message that matters. Gratuitous use of graphic treatments can obscure content.
Make It Easier for Your Audience
You may be a rock star slide guru who can wield a mean gradient fill. You may be a superstar art director who can invent some really cool graphical ways to symbolize key messages without resorting to clip art of keys. You may be a secretary who has been stuck with the task of cleaning up some purely awful set of slides, and all you have is the built-in set of clip art the program gives you. Whoever you are: use them carefully. Your goal is to draw the viewer’s eye to your content.
Example 1, below, shows how graphics can make it hard on the audience. What’s the most important thing in this slide? Is it the title? Is it the multicolored triangle in the background? Is the the foreground text? All the elements are competing for attention, making it harder for the viewer to read what you want them to read.
What's important?
Example 2 shows the same graphics. Now the viewer can see what’s most important, which are the “value propositions” that answer the various customer needs. The background is not important. The title doesn’t need adornment. The multicolored triangle is softened in order to make the foreground text more easily seen, and the softer colors allow us to use color to enhance the foreground text. Red for need, blue for authoritative answers to those needs. This isn’t the best solution, but it illustrates the basic approach. Think about what’s important, and use your graphics to show what’s important. Don’t allow the graphics to be more important than the content unless you’re selling graphics.
Your message is what's important
Special graphics are icing on the cake. They are not the cake itself.
Rehearse
Practice, practice, practice. Instructions abound for how to properly present to an audience, and much of it is good advice, but it will do you little good if you do not rehearse. Rehearsal also will help you remain confident.
Be Professional
Your slides, boards, handouts, and other tools you use are only parts of the presentation. They are not the presentation itself. However you choose to communicate your ideas, whether you use boards, slides, handouts, or are just sitting around the table talking, it is how you present yourself that truly matters. You are probably the most important part of the presentation. Treat your audience with respect, and behave professionally.
Finally…If You Want To Think Outside The Box, Step Away From The Computer
This applies mostly to the planning stage. As soon as you sit down at the key board and stare at the screen, your thinking is automatically bound by the luminous rectangle before you and the plastic buttons your fingers are tapping, or the voice dictation you may be using. Even your mouse has a limited range of movement. There are limits inherent in any approach, but working at the machine makes it much more difficult to color outside the lines, and you need to color outside the lines in order to give free reign to your creative planning. Plan using big markers and large sheets of paper. Use sidewalk chalk in the parking lot if the easel board isn’t big enough for your ideas. The basic idea is this: avoid limiting your options to just the computer and keyboard.
I guess that’s that. Present well, and have fun doing it.
Critical Thinking Asylum 