Instead of trying to offer a quick fix to your presentation design problems, our training will teach you to think like a designer, so that you learn to make the right design decisions with speed and confidence. The graphic design lessons are broken into four sections: Slide Layout, Type, Color, and Visuals that can be applied directly to your next presentation.

And, included free with every DesignSense™ purchase: Powerpoint® Templates to create better slides immediately.

In addition, you'll receive sections on Critique, Makeovers, Examples of "Befores" and "Afters", and an illustrated Glossary of design terms. Click on DesignSense™ lesson screen images for larger images. In the DesignSense™ program, actual screens are interactive and animated.

Learn how DesignSense™ will improve your presentations; review the outline below. Ready to improve your presentation design skills?


OUTLINE
Section 1 - Slide Layout
Your design goal is to make your message clear, easy to read and memorable. You must also direct the viewer to your key points and present your information in a visually interesting manner. Learn these fundamentals of layout:

Grid
Learn how to create and use a grid that holds your whole presentation together, gives it unity and presents the elements as a family of information.

Type
Type must be effectively organized on your slide in order to get your message across. Learn how to properly select and align type to give your slide both order and visual integrity.

Continuity
Continuity suggests a flow of visual elements throughout your presentation. Learn techniques to bind your presentation together and prevent your viewer from growing bored from too much repetition.

Section 2 - Type
Getting your message across depends on the type you select and how you use it. A full understanding of type is the key and is covered in the following lessons:

Type Terms
To become comfortable working with type, you need to know some basic terminology. Learn the language of typography and communicate effectively when considering your type choices.

Readability
As a designer, your first task is to make sure your information is presented clearly. Learn the issues and solutions to creating readable, legible slides.

Classification
Type conveys and expresses messages in its own terms. Learn the differences among classifications in order to select the most appropriate fonts for different messages.

Emotional Quality
The individual characteristics of a typeface give the text a voice, an attitude, an emotional quality. Learn how to use type styles to convey the intended emotion behind your message.

Typesetting
Certain rules have been followed in typography layout for centuries. Knowing the fundamentals of typesetting will make a presentation clean, clear and professional.

Contrast
Learn how to choose faces that respond to each other, not conflict and confuse. Mixing typefaces is like creating a conversation.

Details
Type is more than just letters. Learn how to appropriately and efficiently use bullets, captions, rules, initial and drop caps to add vitality and variety to your slides.

Section 3 - Color
Color lends emotional impact to your presentations, but too much color or the wrong color can muddle your message. Most people don't know that the selection of individual colors is not as important as the relationships they create. Get an edge on color choice through an understanding of the following:

Theory
Color has dimensions of value, hue, and intensity. Learn the concepts behind these properties to make color work for you.

Legibility
Contrast is the key to legibility. Colors with strong contrast ensure that your message is presented clearly.

Impact
Colors can add a shout or a whisper, create a mood or lend dignity to your slides. Learn to use and manipulate color to set the appropriate tone for your presentations.

Palettes
Using color successfully depends on understanding color relationships. Learn to create palettes that achieve results.

Section 4 - Visual
Sometimes a picture (or chart or symbol or image) is worth a thousand words. Visuals are the elements that depict or enhance information slides. Using the following properly can make or break a presentation.

Charts and Graphs
Charts and graphs are often the best way to organize and communicate data and information with numeric qualities when text alone isn't enough. Learn how to avoid letting style drown out substance and how to guide the viewer's eye to the most important information.

Signs and Symbols
Clear, appropriate communication is the goal with signs and symbols. Learn to properly combine text and visuals to make your presentation a cohesive whole.

Clip Art and Images
Strong imagery helps get your message across and adds a layer of information when text alone isn't enough. Clip art is more than cartoon images. Learn where to find the strongest available imagery and how to use it most effectively.

System Requirements For CD-ROM
DesignSense for Presentations™ is a cross-platform CD-ROM. The product runs on Windows 95, 98 and NT and Macintosh Power PC.

The product runs off the CD drive, and therefore does not require installation or extra hard drive space. The product has the following system requirements:
- Monitor set at true color depth (24bit)
- Monitor with a resolution set to SVGA (800 x 600 pixels)
- 64MB of RAM
- 133MHz Pentium II Processor or better or Power PC