Tips and Tools for Designing a Stand-Out Presentation

Tips and Tools for Designing a Stand-Out Presentation

(article read from Adam Noar in designshack )

In this article, we’re going to take a look at five such tools. While I can’t promise that these tools alone will turn you into a design professional, they will certainly point you in the right direction.

Be Precise in Color Matching

Believe it or not, picking the right color matters when it comes to designing presentations. When you’re adding color to your slides it sometimes makes sense for colors to match exactly, instead of settling for an approximation. By using a “color grabber” tool such asColor Cop you can copy the exact color code from an image, text, etc., and apply that specific color to whatever you want on the slide.

Color Cop works by identifying and representing various hex color code formats. To use it, simply drag the tools eyedropper to any location on the screen and release. The hex color code for the selected color will then be automatically copied to the Color Cop clipboard (as seen in the image below). Then, all you have to do is select the new object that you want to color and type in the hex color code from the clipboard.

This tool can really come in handy when you are trying to match specific colors from an image (e.g., your company logo) to other elements on the slide. Instead of finding a color that’s similar, you can now replicate the exact color and create a more professional look. Trust me, your audience does notice when the colors on your slide are matching correctly. When your colors match properly you audience will pay more attention to your message instead of trying to figure out why your slide is slightly off.

Create a Solid Color Scheme with Adobe Kuler

One of common issues with creating a good presentation revolves around choosing a powerful color theme that compliments the message of your presentation. If you’re not a designer, it can sometimes be difficult to coordinate a set of colors that all work together and complement each other. The solution to finding a sweet color theme is now simple thanks to the Adobe Kuler tool.

All you have to do is upload an image that has a color scheme that you like and then the Adobe Kuler tool will get to work and extract all the colors from that image. This will give you a set of coordinated colors that you can use to create a professional look for your slides. Now, your slides will appear as if you’re an experienced designer that carefully chose the perfect color scheme for your slides.

Also, if you want to create your own color scheme based off a particular color you like, you can do that too. Creating a scheme from a color begins with an initial presentation of a color wheel, color panels, and different sliders that represent the immediate color scheme. You have the option of changing that scheme through the adjustment of the bubbles which are connected to the center of the wheel.

This will allow you to adjust up to five different color hues simultaneously. You use the various sliders for fine tuning your adjustments. You’ll also have the option to choose which color mode you’d like to work in by selecting the sliders that you want to display.

Making Screenshots Interesting with Skitch

When you need to further illustrate a point in your presentation, sometimes that purpose can be served by including a screen shot. There are a lots of screen capture tools out there. However, imagine that you could not only take a screen shot but also annotate that capture in order to further illustrate your point.

Skitch is an easy to use screen capture tool that is designed to do just that. You can then either save the captured area as a JPG, BMP, TIFF, or PNG file. This tool can also effectively allow you to perform a large number of additions and modifications to your screen capture. This includes re-sizing, flipping, cropping, and rotating images as well as automatically archiving your images for use at a later time.

Choose a Unique Font at Font Squirrel

One of the limiting aspects of creating your presentation in PowerPoint is the lack of cool and impressive fonts that are available. Unfortunately, this can make your overall presentation seem generic and boring. Font Squirrelis a great place to download hundreds of attractive fonts to spice up your presentation and give it a more customized look.

Using new and exciting fonts is an excellent way to separate your presentation from others that use the same boring fonts that come standard with PowerPoint. All the fonts offered at Font Squirrel are free, and ready for instant download to your computer. Just make sure that whenever you download custom fonts for your presentation that you embed them into your presentation when saving your file. That way if you send your presentation to someone else the new fonts will show up properly.

Constructing a Presentation with MindMeister

“presentations are all about telling great stories”

Getting started with the construction of your presentation can be a daunting affair. Rather than running into a situation where you find it difficult to arrange the logical order of the concepts you want to present, MindMeister can help you organize your thoughts by quickly and easily creating  ”mind maps” while adding notes to them using your arrow and insert keys.

You can also customize the items with the font size and colors of your choice. It even has a history function that you can use to look over your past mind maps for further inspiration when creating a similar presentation. Using this powerful tool will create an amazingly helpful mind map and present your ideas and thoughts in a visual way for better presentation coordination, understanding, and problem solving.

This can help you overcome potential “presentation blocks” that come from disjointed presentation points that are written with no logical sequence or progression. Remember, the presentations are all about telling great stories. MindMeister helps map out your story.

Conclusion

One of the things that will separate an ordinary presentation from an exceptional one is the ability to incorporate the right tools when designing that presentation. Fortunately, many of the best tools can be obtained without having to spend a lot of money or require a steep learning curve to effectively use them. With just a bit of time and effort, you can create effective and persuasive presentations that will definitely get your message across.

So, here’s my final question for you… After reading this post, do you plan on using some of these presentation enhancing tools? What are some of your favorite tools that you use when designing presentations? Share your comments below now!

Study on low false ceiling

Study on low false ceiling  

Design considerations (referred wikihow )

Low ceilings are often found in modern homes. If you have a low ceiling that is making you feel a little cramped and closed in, here are some simple decorating tricks to make the ceiling feel less closed in.

1. Paint the ceiling with white paint. White will create a sense of height and expansiveness and it will reflect a lot of light, giving rise to the sense of increased height. There are two schools of thought as to whether or not a matte or high gloss finish is better for making a ceiling appear higher, so both are provided here for your own assessment:
   
   
   
   
   • Apartment Therapy states that high or semi gloss paint is ideal because it will create a reflective sheen and the reflection will give the impression of height and additional space.
   • On the other hand, Art & Home states that a matte finish is better because it allows the ceiling to "disappear", with all of its faults being subsumed under the matte finish.
2. Consider lighter colors rather than plain white. White isn't always the ideal color for a room and it isn't necessary to stick to a plain white where you'd prefer a color. Choose cool colors, especially from the pastel shade range. The important thing is to ensure that the color chosen is lighter than the wall colors.
3. Use vertical patterns to good effect. Focus on the walls in this instance; the sensation of increased height can be created by the use of vertical stripes on the walls. Paint vertical stripes or use wallpaper that has a printed vertical stripe pattern. The vertical stripes will help provide the appearance of height.
   
   
   
4. Avoid using any features that protrude from the ceiling. A low ceiling benefits most from being very flat. Features that protrude tend to make the ceiling feel closer. This includes not using ceiling fans, moldings, and overhead lighting.
   
   
   
   
   • Keep crown molding thin. Any wider than 2–3 inches/4-6cm will be too thick.[5]
5. Choose wall lighting instead of overhead lighting. Be sure to keep the light sources even across the ceiling. It is recommended that you avoid using recessed can lights because the light distribution will be uneven and can make the ceiling seem more closed in.[6]
   
   
   
6. Use window furnishings to increase the sense of height. Hang full-length curtains or drapes as high to the ceiling as possible, preferably from ceiling height. Doing this will draw the eyes straight up the long, vertical line, creating a sense of height. 
   
   
   
   
7. Hang artwork up high. This tricks the eye into looking upward and gives more impression of height. Prefer artwork and photos with vertical lines and features over horizontal shapes. Note that the artwork is hung high in the introduction image.
   
   
8. Use large mirrors that take up most of the wall. These tend to make the ceiling seem higher and work really well to do the trick!
   
9. Paint a "faux finish" that is lighter at the top. Paint the room two shades using a "sponging" or "bagging" technique, with the darker shade at the bottom, gradually moving to the lighter shade near the ceiling. This creates the visual effect of more space up high.

Moses Bridge / RO&AD Architecten

 Architects: RO&AD Architecten
Location: Halsteren, The Netherlands
Client: Municipality of Bergen op Zoom
Material used: Accoya wood
Project Area: 50 sqm
Photographs: Courtesy of RO&AD Architecten

The West Brabant Water Line is a defense-line consisting of a series of fortresses and cities with inundation areas in the south-west of the Netherlands. It dates from the 17th century but fell into disrepair in the 19th century. When the water line was finally restored, an access bridge across the the moat of one of the fortresses, Fort de Roovere, was needed. This fort now has a new, recreational function and lies on several routes for cycling and hiking.

It is, of course, highly improper to build bridges across the moats of defense works, especially on the side of the fortress the enemy was expected to appear on. That’s why we designed an invisible bridge. Its construction is entirely made of wood, waterproofed with EPDM foil. The bridge lies like a trench in the fortress and the moat, shaped to blend in with the outlines of the landscape.

The bridge can’t be seen from a distance because the ground and the water come all the way up to its edge. When you get closer, the fortress opens up to you through a narrow trench. You can then walk up to its gates like Moses on the water.

(read this article in archdaily.com ... to read more click here)