Starting today, we’ll be analyzing the design of a presentation every Thursday. Our analysis will be broken down into strengths and weaknesses, and the analysis is derived from a discussion with our graphic designers here at Ethos3. Let us know your take on the deck we’re discussing each week in the comments section!
Strengths:
Our favorite slides in the Gapingvoid deck are those that feature a single cartoon image accompanied by a few words. For example, slide 2 with the cartoon image and “We live in a visual world,” slide 20 with the comical cartoon image and “Habits eat intentions for breakfast,” and slide 24, again with the comical cartoon image and “Cartoons work.” These slides are the most powerful in the deck because of their simplicity. We remembered them in particular because of their impactful, comical image and pithy wordage.
We also enjoyed how Gapingvoid gave the logos on slide 26 a hand drawn treatment to keep it consistent with the rest of the deck. As one of our designer’s pointed out, “It’s subtle things like that that can really make or break design.” It’s essential to pay attention to details to maintain an adequate level of consistency in the deck.
Finally, the cartoon drawings on slide 12 made us laugh, and we loved the simplicity of slide 13. Throughout the deck, the images are lighthearted, fun and entertaining. Overall, the slides with only one cartoon image and a small amount of text were the ones that left a lasting impression on us.
Weaknesses:
Our main criticism of Gapingvoid’s deck is that the hand drawn font was not the best choice for small text. It works well as a headline text, but it’s difficult to read as a smaller type. The font is lighthearted and fun, but because it’s the sole type used throughout the deck, it almost makes the deck look too fanciful.
Further, we would have liked to see the cartoons a little more refined. While we appreciate the fun, hassle-free, out-of-the-box approach to the cartoons, they look a little too hastily done. As one of our designers commented, “The same idea could be presented in a much more purposeful, refined way.”
Lastly, one of the overarching messages of the deck is to be unique and creative, but they still fall into the old habit of using bullet points, which seems counterintuitive to their message. We would have liked to see a more creative layout, and on a number of slides (19 and 28, in particular) there is far too much text on the slide. Cutting down the wordage and breaking it into several slides would have benefitted the overall message.
