AJLI ODI Conference

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AJLI, JLGO, Junior League, ODI Conference

The Association of Junior Leagues International hosts its Organizational Development Institute conference this weekend in Orlando, and I was selected as one of three women from the Junior League of Greater Orlando to attend.  Obviously, I am honored more than I can ever say, but I’m also really, really excited to learn all sorts of new things about Membership Development.  Here is my ODI track:

It’s going to be a wonderful event.

Enjoy your last weekend of Daylight Savings Time!  Don’t forget to set your clocks back on Saturday evening when you go to bed.

Inspiration: Hans Rosling

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data, Hans Rosling, TED, TED Talk

While attending a workshop on Visual Presentation today, I was reintroduced to Hans Rosling’s TED Talk: “Debunking third-world myths with the best stats you’ve ever seen.”  This Talk has long been on my to-watch list, so I settled in this evening to finally view it.

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Though I’m probably going at this backward, I started with David McCandless and worked my way back to McCandless’s “master,” Hans Rosling.  Even though I’m discovering him a little late, Rosling can teach us so much about data, presentation, and delivery.  Rosling is obviously so passionate about data that his audience laughs with delight (see 4:00).  His clear obsession with his topic makes us lean forward because we want to know more.  What a perfect example of inspiring an audience!

What TED Talks have you been watching lately?

Visual Design: Favorite Fonts

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dafont.com, design, font, fonts, visual design

Fonts are such treats!  I love the browsing fonts and even seeing the different characteristics of each font: weight, slope, width, Serif or Sans Serif… Ahhh.  I adore fonts.

My laptop’s font book has over 600 fonts in it, and I find myself visiting my favorite font website just to see what’s new… Of course, I’ll end up downloading an awesome font, not using it immediately, forgetting I have it, and stumbling upon it months down the road.

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This is my most often visited font website: dafont.com.  Da Font is amazing!  Luckily for those of us who live and breathe fonts, all fonts on dafont.com are free as long as you cite the author.

Here are my (current) Top 5 Favorite Fonts:

Komika Axis is an amazing font developed by Vigilante Typeface Corporation.  I use Komika Axis in my Delivery Workshop because it puts the focus on the image and the message I’m trying to convey as opposed to a frilly font.  Since the font is all-caps and bold by nature, the word or phrase I put on my slides is easy to read.  I love the strength, power, and directness of this font.  A student last week stopped class to ask, “What font is that, Mrs. Rister?”  Precious.  This same student claimed today that he wasn’t a visual learner, but clearly, his attention to font proves that he is.  We all are!

Beautiful, elegant Helvetica Neue Ultra Light… It’s so simple and timeless that the font really speaks for itself.  It’s like a strand of pearls or a little black dress; it will never go out of style.  A few months ago, I watched a movie on Netflix simply because the opening credits were done in Helvetica Neue.  What was the movie?  Click here to find out.  The closing credits are similarly gorgeous.

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KG Like a Skyscraper makes me smile.  It looks handwritten, and I like the combination of the uppercase “R” letter even when I want “r.”  I think it’s a little messy (proven by the “a,” for example), but it reminds me of the imperfections of text written by hand.  It makes me a little nostalgic for my childhood and for days when everything was handwritten.

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This font is charming.  Again, I like the hand-drawn look of Second Breakfast, but I also like that it’s whimsical and home-y.  This reminds me of the perfect lettering my teachers would always write in on the board that I’d try my best to emulate on the paper on my desk.  I also love that the font is a little thicker… like a marker on a white board.  It’s a little more mature than KG.

This is my favorite fancy font: Scriptina.  Created by Apostrophic Labs, this font just exudes “wedding” or “cocktail party.”  Occasionally, I have to be careful and add extra spacing between letters when using Scriptina, as it does have a tendency to blend together in an unreadable fashion.  I would use this font very sparingly in a presentation, but it would be stunning on an invitation.

My Top 5 Favorite Fonts will change and likely by the end of the month.  I’ll keep you posted.  What are your favorite fonts?

JLGO: Hoops For Hunger Charity Gala

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charity gala, Hoops for Hunger, JLGO, Junior League, Junior League of Greater Orlando

This year, the Junior League of Greater Orlando hosts is annual spring fundraising gala with a brand new name: Hoops for Hunger Charity Gala.  Just in time to celebrate March Madness, the gala will be held on March 10 at Terrace 390 in Downtown Orlando.  All proceeds benefit childhood health, hunger, and poverty in our local community.  Get your tickets here.

 

In Defense of David McCandless

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BBC newsnight, data visualization, David McCandless, information design

David McCandless is one of my favorite designers not only because of what he does with data visualization and information design, but also because he isn’t a trained artist – he learns by doing.  He is proof that we’re all literate in visual design, and I love that idea.  McCandless is soft spoken and has a beautiful speaking voice; I love his humility as well as his brilliance.  Watch his TED Talk here.

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In this interview with BBC NewsNight (above), McCandless explains his work to David Sillito.  After the 6-minute introduction, McCandless then appears live on NewsNight in a debate-style piece with Neville Brody who is immediately given precedence over McCandless… the anchor calls him “the legendary designer.”  The anchor and Brody join in dismissing McCandless’s ideas.  Brody does so directly – he says, “the problem is trying to make information pretty.”  Brody then claims McCandless’s designs are “beguiling and seductive,” and he also dismisses McCandless’s work as “decoration.”  If you look at McCandless’s “good” information design chart (below), you can see that he strives not only for beauty, but also for honesty and integrity, function and useability, as well as meaningful and relevant data.

During the interview, Brody continuously mocks McCandless, and the anchor rarely lets McCandless finish a thought without interrupting him.  The anchor asks, “Why not just put information straight on the screen?”  She then calls his work “coffee table graphics.”

Both Brody and the anchor obviously miss the point.  If they were going to dissect McCandless’s work critically, which is a wonderful thing to do to all ideas and theories, Brody and the anchor could have at least done their homework to provide more coherent, relevant criticism.

Positive things do come out of the interview!  During the piece, we’re introduced to Stefanie Posavec of It’s Been Real.  Her work is magnificent.  My favorite is this visualization of literature: Literary Organism.  Of course, we meet Hans Rosling, the man McCandless calls “the master” and “his master” (Source).  Rosling delivers his TED Talk so passionately that you can’t help but be excited about information design.  Learning about these two figures helps to place McCandless in the world of data visualization, though, I would argue, he is far and away my favorite.

Advice: The Power of Faces

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eye gaze, Garr Reynolds, power of faces, presentation zen, visual design, visual presentation

Garr Reynolds recently discussed the power of faces on his blog, Presentation Zen.  He explains that not only are we wired to see faces (both human and animal), but also that we notice of eye gaze (Source).

Think about eye gaze when designing your visual presentations.  Since we immediately focus on the face before the text, use the face to guide your audience around your visual.  Look at this example:

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Since faces are the most powerful visual tool, our eye first focuses on the face.  After processing the face, our eyes follow the eye gaze of the man in the picture.  The flow of this image is simple, but it goes something like this: 1) face —> 2) eyes —> 3) eye gaze —> 4) text.

Garr Reynolds shows the power of eye gaze in an example similar to this one:

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Faces are important in advertising, marketing, and slide design because our eye gravitates toward a face.  Simply remember that eye gaze is important when placing text on a slide so that you can lead the audience visually in a way that flows well.

Duarte/Endicott: Presentation as 3-Legged Stool

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content, delivery, Jim Endicott, Nancy Duarte, presentation ecosystem, three-legged stool, visual presentation

Nancy Duarte’s Presentation Ecosystem was based upon Jim Endicott’s theory that presentation is a three-legged stool.  When I first heard this concept, I liked it, but I didn’t truly digest it.  Now, I totally get it.

The first leg is content or message.  In slide:ology, Duarte explains that this leg includes brainstorming, developing a theme, researching, organizing and structuring, developing an outline, writing stories, considering ethos/pathos/logos, and considering the audience by utilizing the Audience Needs Map.  Your content, your message, is important in a presentation… but it’s not the only part of your presentation.  Most people (especially people who are still killing us with bullet points and slideuments) emphasize content and don’t consider  the other legs of the presentation stool.

The second leg of the three-legged stool is visual presentation or visual story.  Visual presentation inclues your slideshow developed from your storyboard, diagrams, multimedia, colors, template, images, contrast, text, proximity, size and shape, fluidity and flow, speed, hierarchy, unity, space, and other design elements.  To learn more about visual presentation by Duarte, slide:ology is a must-read.  Now that you have your content and your slideshow, you may think your presentation is finished, but there is a third leg.

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The third and final leg of the three-legged stool is delivery.  We often forget this exists because we’re so focused on, first, content and then visual presentation.  Some of us feel that delivery is the least important leg, and I’m not sure why, as I feel it’s extremely important.  I also feel “winging it” never works delivery-wise, and practice is essential for any presentation.  Learn more about delivery in my Delivery Workshop based on Garr Reynolds’ The Naked Presenter philosophy here.

When you think “presentation,” think three-legged stool: content/message, visual presentation, and delivery.