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Saving Good Causes from Bad Design

Saving Good Causes from Bad Design

Choosing the right images, fonts, and colors can be the difference between getting the attention of the people you’re trying to reach and getting lost in the noise. Bad design might alienate and confuse people. Good design can build trust and help spread your messages.

You’ll learn about the basics of visual design, the key rules and principles you need to know, and how to create a flyer, social media graphic, or report that will get your message across. You’ll also get started with how to use the free software and tools you need to design just about anything.

www.mollymcleod.com[email protected]

Molly McLeod

May 05, 2016
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  1. Molly McLeod @mollyampersand • mollymcleod.com Saving Good Causes from Bad

    Design What You Need to Know about Visual Communication
  2. @mollyampersand Hi! What are we doing? 1. What is design?

    Why does it matter? 2. Design principles 3. Design tips 4. Tools & resources
  3. @mollyampersand Worried you’ll forget 99% of this? Check out my

    slides and links to all the resources at mollymcleod.com/resources. Ask me questions on Twitter @mollyampersand.
  4. @mollyampersand Visual Design User Experience Design Interaction Design Instructional Design

    Information Design Content Design ...and more. Our focus for today
  5. Choosing the right images, fonts, and colors can be the

    difference between getting the attention of the people you’re trying to reach... ...and getting lost in the noise.
  6. Bad design might alienate and confuse people. Good design can

    build trust and help spread your messages.
  7. @mollyampersand Before you start designing... 1. Who is your audience?

    2. What is your communication goal? 3. What’s the content and key info? 4. What’s the call to action?
  8. @mollyampersand When choosing a font: keep in mind legibility and

    personality. Times and Helvetica are harder to read. Typography
  9. @mollyampersand Sans serif fonts tend to be easier to read.

    Source Sans, Lato, and Roboto are all great choices available for free download. Typography
  10. @mollyampersand Make the text bigger! Typography 24-60 pt: headers 18-24

    pt: paragraph/body text (web) 12-18 pt: paragraph/body text (print) 6-10 pt: honey I shrunk the type!
  11. @mollyampersand Keep line length short, around 10- 15 words a

    line. Typography Choosing the right images, fonts, and colors can be the difference between getting the attention of the people you’re trying to reach and getting lost in the noise. Bad design might alienate and confuse people. Good design can build trust and help spread your messages. In this webinar, you’ll learn about the basics of visual design, the key rules and principles you need to know, and how to create a flyer, social media graphic, or report that will get your message across. You’ll also get started with how to use the free software and tools you need to design just about anything. Choosing the right images, fonts, and colors can be the difference between getting the attention of the people you’re trying to reach and getting lost in the noise. Bad design might alienate and confuse people. Good design can build trust and help spread your messages. In this webinar, you’ll learn about the basics of visual design, the key rules and principles you need to know, and how to create a flyer, social media graphic, or report that will get your message across. You’ ll also get started with how to use the free software and tools you need to design just about anything.
  12. @mollyampersand Use all-caps sparingly. All-caps can convey a bold sense

    of urgency. When used for more than a few words, it can seem like yelling and is hard to read. Typography
  13. @mollyampersand Google Web Fonts – available for web and desktop

    download. Free! Open source! Sort fonts by popularity to get the best choices. Typography Resources
  14. @mollyampersand Use icons primarily to inform and draw attention to

    key information, not as decoration. Graphics
  15. @mollyampersand When using text on a photo, use a simple

    photo and give it a dark or light tint. Add a black or white box on top of the photo and lower the opacity – this is easy to do in any graphics program. Graphics
  16. @mollyampersand Using portraits of people alongside quotes is a powerful

    way to build empathy and connection. Graphics
  17. @mollyampersand Photography can be a powerful way to show inequalities

    and power dynamics in a simple way. Graphics
  18. @mollyampersand Use light text on a dark background or dark

    text on a light background. Make sure there’s enough contrast. Color
  19. @mollyampersand Sim Daltonism – Color Blindness tool for Mac michelf.

    ca/projects/mac/si m-daltonism/ Color Resources
  20. @mollyampersand To create hierarchy, make a clear path for the

    eye to follow. Use 2-3 font sizes, and no more than 2 colors for text. Layout
  21. @mollyampersand Use a colored box behind text, or crop an

    image to fit on one side of the text. Layout
  22. No hierarchy Too many styles Not enough contrast, too busy

    Too much information Centered text is hard to read Consider audience needs – no one cares about your logo
  23. ★ Clear hierarchy ★ Limited color palette ★ Large, readable

    text ★ Simple images ★ Call to action!
  24. @mollyampersand PROTIP Test your materials with your target audience! Show

    it to someone for 3 seconds and see what they remember. What do you think? Do you like it?
  25. @mollyampersand Powerpoint and Google Slides are great design tools! I

    made a template for you: bit.ly/design-template Tools
  26. @mollyampersand Worried you’ll forget 99% of this? Check out my

    slides and links to all these resources at mollymcleod.com/resources. Ask me questions on Twitter @mollyampersand.
  27. @mollyampersand Was this helpful? I’d love your feedback! Did you

    use any of these tips? Want to share something you designed? [email protected]