Pt 2. Making Things Pretty — Plating matters
Perfect burgers are served with finesse. The buttered bun covers half the patty, exposing the other half for admiration. Fries are best served in a tin can, ketchup looks fancy when it’s in a glass bottle. Of course, to add the extra rustic touch, burgers should always be served atop a wooden board. In the world of deck design, the slide is an empty plate waiting for you to dress.
Understanding how your audience will consume your deck is critical to enhancing the meal experience.
First, people naturally read from left to right and top to down. What does this mean? Lay out content that flows in the direction of natural reading. Now is not the time to get fancy with arrows pointing in 45 degree angles.
Second, white space is your friend. It is a multi-use tool that can be leveraged to dissolve clutter, draw attention to important content, improve readability, and even add a touch of sophisticated flair. Attention is directed to content, not space. Equal white space between content implies equal importance of all information, as a reader’s attention spread evenly. Content surrounded by large amounts of white space is highlighted as it “pops out”. Think back to the last time you ate at a fancy restaurant — was your food served atop a oversized white plate?
Last, pay attention to variations in slide layout. There should be variations of slide layout within the deck to maintain interest from the audience. Just like you wouldn’t serve all five courses on a plate (it’s hard to eat soup on a flat plate), you wouldn’t lay out a overview slide the same way you are presenting a competitor analysis slide.
A carefully composed plate of food always tastes better than one tossed together the last minute. It shows you took the extra time and effort to do things right.
Cooking Tips: Slide layout will vary depending on the industry you are presenting to. For example, financial service industries are better accustomed to dense, information packed decks, whereas technology investors would be overwhelmed.
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If you enjoyed today’s content, you’ll also appreciate tomorrow’s post on picking typography.
