Document Design

Powerpoint presentation had been essential for all sorts of presentation, from business to assignments; as well as simple picture slides. Nevertheless, presenting a good powerpoint is vital for the audience to have a clear view and idea of the items and topics presented, which is why the document layout and writing skills are very important for every presentation.

Very often students would think that powerpoint with fancy slides and effects would be more entertaining, but a good document design should be simple and clear. (Stadler, 2007) The structure of the document should be clear in terms of images, titles, headings, tables and others. (Stadler, 2007) For instance, the main header should be on top where the audience can see. (Wendy, R. 2010) Often have the texts near to the top so that audience from the back could read. (Wendy, R. 2010) Looking at the layout of our powerpoint presentation slides last week, the structure of the slides are simple and clear with a fine background colour that allows the texts to be more readable. To improve more, the powerpoint presented may include some images or tables so that audience will not feel bored and also gives a better idea of the topic.

In terms of writing, a well written document should includes precise information whereby the item or subject can be explained clearly with relevant details and proves. (Rothman, S. 2005) Moreover, simple texts are more encouraged to use, such as Times New Roman or Arial instead of fancy fonts. (Marques, Z.L. 2010) The fonts used should be consistent throughout the whole presentation and default templates are more advised to be used. (Bear, J.H. 2010) The slides we presented have the right texts for viewers and its consistent, but the subheadings should be larger so that audience can view better.





References:

de Stadler, L. 2007, ‘The Basic Rules of Effective Document Design,’ Effective Document Design, 5 October, viewed 26 August 2010 <http://www.documentdesign.sun.ac.za/document-design/general-issues/the-basics/ >

Wendy, R. 2010, ‘10 Tips for Creating Successful Business Presentations,’ viewed 26 August 2010 <http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/powerpointinbusiness/tp/bus_pres_tips.htm >

Rothman, S. 2005, ‘What Makes Good Scientific and Technical Writing?’ 18 September, viewed 26 August 2010 <http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/9447/error>

Marques, Z.L. 2010, ‘How to Make a Good PowerPoint Presentation,’ 25 August, viewed 26 August 2010 <http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Make-a-Good-PowerPoint-Presentation&id=4313178>

Bear, J.H. 2010, ‘Before You Create a PowerPoint Presentation,’ viewed 26 August 2010 <http://desktoppub.about.com/od/microsoft/bb/powerpointrules.htm>

Purpose

The first blog post for the subject, Issues of Publication and Design's (IPD) blog is about the purpose of blogging. The main aim of blogging for IPD is to discuss more on the issues regarding publications and media. The audiences targetted as readers of the blog are basically communication students, especially students majoring in journalism or broadcasting.