Cliché of the Week: The PowerPoint Starburst

Honestly, I love Batman as much as the next guy. And I’ll even admit to wanting to be Batman at different points in my life.

But—and this is very, very important—I never wanted to be the campy, 1960′s, Adam West Batman. Never. Not once.

The difference between Adam West’s Batman and Christian Bale’s Batman is…well, it’s all the difference.

If Christian Bale’s Batman made PowerPoint slides (and how do you know he doesn’t?) they would be succinct, hard-hitting, sharply refined, and just slightly elegant.

Adam West’s Batman? Well, he does make PowerPoint slides, and they turn out like the one you see here. POW! KRAK! BOOM! These are excellent techniques if you’re making a campy television show, but outside of that particular aesthetic they just end up looking…well, cheap.

Callouts can be very helpful visual devices, adding just the right amount of information to a graphic. But make sure that the information is the focal point, not the pointy callout shape.

How do you call out information on your slides? Let us know in the comments.

Douglas

Firstly, I’m disappointed as I was certain that cliché of the week had to be a picture of a trader with their hands on their head with out of focus stock prices on a LED screen in the background. To call out information, I like the approach of either darkening all other elements of the slide just before moving on to the next slide or bringing up some highlighting text briefly then having it grey out or disappear. This would be a single call out line and large enough text to be read with other elements on the slide. The final approach would be to use a contrasting color, though only if the highlight is the point of the slide. I think if you leave it on screen then everything that is not called out, or not highlighted, will be ignored and may as well not be there.
zeroks

Having watched enough of Terry Gilliam’s Monty Python animations as a kid I employ the use of a large ‘Hand of God’ that swings in and pokes that which needs highlighting, accompanied by an embedded ‘oooh’
http://customersatisfaction.typepad.com/ Stephen

Like Douglas, I also like to de-emphasise (if that’s a word) other elements rather than explicitly highlighting something – I often use a semitransparent white box to mask un-highlighted bits.

If it’s a static highlight, good contrasting colours work well. Even the judicious use of bold can be effective if you’ve managed to avoid making all of your text bold in the first place!
http://mattragland.wordpress.com Matt

I use speech bubbles within the character of people in slide, or a post-it note, or some paper with contrasting tape. Anything that adds texture and depth to the slide while fitting within the design asthetic
http://packtdavidb.tumblr.com David Barnes

I wish more presentations used these ‘flashes’. At least it shows that the designer has identified some kind of key point.

Bursts beat bullets.
Steve

Using a high contrast color for the text is enough for me! =)
Milind

For text – font size and color usually works for me.

For Image – Typically appropriate background color.
http://www.fishandcross.com/blog Ed Taekema

I use a very small dot … usually red given the color schemes I have to abide by … and then have it either appear next to the item that needs highlighting, or if the visual is complex, fly in to position. I keep the red dot small .. just a bit larger than my laser pointer would be … That laser pointer never works well for me anyway…
http://www.speechworks.net Joey Asher

Nice Post.
Here’s a question. What would Spiderman’s PowerPoints look like?;)
Joey Asher, President of Speechworks,
http://speechworks.net/wordpress/
http://www.fleetingglimpse.com Rikk Flohr

The following is a direct (read Copied) quote from a client email on October 3rd… (Sounds like an Onstar® commerical) “Please note that we would like to include a “Starburst” at the top indicating that ”
Do you give them what they want or what they need when they fired the last firm for not giving them what they wanted-regardless of what they needed?
http://www.duarte.com/#doug Doug Neff

That’s a great point, Rikk. Like most design firms, I suppose, we grapple with this question all the time. I’m sure we’ll do a post on it in the future, too.

Of course we run into situations where a valuable client tells us they want a starburst. That’s the nature of the business.

We try to remember that it’s also our job to help our clients make good choices. Telling them “no” probably isn’t the best way to go about it. Giving three alternatives and explaining the advantages over using the starburst… that might go down a little easier.

But it really starts with you. What kind of designer/firm do you want to be? Are you willing to work for anyone, regardless of what they ask you to do? And are you a slide jockey for your client, or are you a professional, paid to help them give great presentations?

No easy answer, I’m afraid (especially in today’s economy) but the answer will come from asking those types of questions.
Stephanie Urmeneta

I like a lot of white space… Less = more.

=)
Mark Heaps

In response to Rikk’s comment about dealing with clients who want you to give them exactly what they ask for. I generally try to use this as an opportunity and not see it as a negative. If the client wants a starburst, and they are fairly insistent upon it, then I try to work within the realms of that. How many types of starbursts are there, do they have to look so clip-art styled? I don’t think it’s possible to invent something new for every client, every time, especially if they are that specific but maybe a new treatment, a variation on that idea, can help you keep your sense of design with the ability to please, and even coach your client. Take advantage of those moments and build baby steps to introduce your client to further thinking. Re-invention can often be more fun then we appreciate.
http://www.dontblink.nl Adam

If it is really important for the audience to understand, why not use a black slide to focus on the presenter and thus making it more intimate, instead of dazzling everyone with bright colors or sending people into an epileptic fit with blinking animations.

/ Let us suggest something

Resonate, Slide:ology, Nancy Duarte, Giraffe, Wizard

Cliché of the Week: The PowerPoint Starburst

10.14.2008 / Doug Neff

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