Avert your eyes!

When I look back to the beginning of my teaching career, it is possible that I may have broken every rule there is concerning design. At that point, PowerPoint was cutting edge… and I was not. However, I picked up a few things along the way, but not enough to keep me from cringing at a slide or two in each presentation.

“5 Common Visual Design Mistakes,” lays things out clearly enough to get you thinking in the right direction about design. The article also provides some great resources as well. One in particular I am reading now, The Non-Designer’s Presentation Book, by Robin Williams, has been an excellent read thus far. I certainly fall into the “non-designer” category and the examples and illustrations are practical easily applied.

What caught my attention the most in this article was the way the writer suggests content and design work together to tell a story. In essence, there needs to be consistency between what the audience is seeing and what the instructor is teaching for it to flow and enhance the learning experience. This can be accomplished through  choice of graphics, contrast, and font selection.

I look forward to creating and redesigning lessons with these principles in mind. You can read the article at  http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/5-common-visual-design-mistakes/ .