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How To Make




 Awesome
Diagrams
                           u   r
                F   o r yo
                slides
Me
Enrique García Cota
I do software at Splendeo




@otikik
© http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrimperial/121370739/
                Disclaimer
●   I'm not a designer.
●   I've just done lots
    of diagrams in
    presentations.
●   These guidelines
    work for me.
●   “Right” and
    “Wrong” are used
    in that context.
    Don't take them
    personally.
1. Lines


           © http://www.flickr.com/photos/twinysam/4988273864/
Never use 0pt line width
              Wrong



               Right




   Visible from the far end of the room
Have consistent line width
                Wrong
                  0.06''        0.32''
   0.10''




                 Right
                  0.06''
   0.06''                       0.32''




 Maybe two very different widths; not more
Use only one line ending
              Wrong



               Right




 People at the far end won't see the difference
Use one dashed style
       Wrong



       Right




          Guess
Arrows instead of lines



             vs.




  When? See example on next slide
Use connectors, not straight lines
                      With lines




                   With connectors
Shapes instead of lines (sometimes)

  Phase 1        Phase 2          Phase 3

                   vs.


  Phase 1       Phase 2         Phase 3


      They look better on simple workflows
Colors instead of outlines (sometimes)



                     vs.




       Useful to reduce the number of colors
2. Shapes

            © http://www.flickr.com/photos/alessandropinna/1423128740/
Use a grid
  Wrong



  Right
Align when possible
      Wrong



       Right
Size means Importance

       Wrong                        Right


  Not         Very        Not             Very
Important   Important   Important
                                        Important
Size means Hierarchy

       Wrong                  Right


                              Face
        Face



Eyes    Nose   Mouth   Eyes    Nose   Mouth
Size means Relative Size

     Wrong           Right


Elephant   Duck   Elephant
                             Duck
Size doesn't mean “long name”
                       Wrong

                   A          Long Name


                       Right

  A           B*          A           A          ...
* Long Name
                       Long Name     Long Name
Different Shape = Different Type

      OK                  Better




      ?                     ?
Yes        No       Yes            No
Maximum number types: 4
If you need more, use images

      OK                           Better


A     B        C




       Warning! Finding appropriate images takes time
Transparencies, Shadows & Gradients


              Don't


     They take a lot of time to get right, and
     most projectors won't show them anyway
© http://www.flickr.com/photos/24241587@N05/5184820807/




                          3. Nesting
One nesting level per slide
          Wrong




        Unique slide
One nesting level per slide
           Right




           Slide 1
One nesting level per slide
              Right




    Slide 2
One nesting level per slide
           Right




                   Slide 3
One nesting level per slide
               Right




    Slide 4?




        Is this level really needed?
But, won't adding slides
  increase the presentation
  complexity?



Yes, it will.
But less than nested shapes.
Complexity →




                                   →
                                  ting
                                 Nes
                                         Sli d es →
               1 slide /
               1 nesting level
If you need everything in one place

  You are not making a
      presentation
       Consider other formats
© http://www.flickr.com/photos/yetti/8743214/




          4. Color
Color count

 Fill + Text + Lines - Background


           Fill = Green + Red = 2
 Hi        Text = White = 1
           Lines = Black = 1
           Background = White = -1
Bye!       2+1+1–1=3
Color count should be ≤   3
The magic of combinatory

I'm     only   using   three



still   but    here    colors


                       combi-
can     make   many    nations
When in doubt, use Primary colors



     Red          Yellow           Green             Blue
     #c5000b         #ffd320         #008000         #0084d1


       In LibreOffice: Chart 11, Chart 3, Green, Chart12




 These are awesome for diagrams
Color is great for Stress or Status

          Wrong                    Right

  OK       OK      Alert   OK       OK     Alert
                                           Alert


  Alert    OK      OK      Alert
                           Alert    OK      OK


  OK       Alert   OK      OK      Alert
                                   Alert   OK
Color is not great for lines

  Wrong                    Right




      More easily seen from far away
Use bright background colors

   Wrong                        Right




   Some projectors don't handle dark slides well
Don't use pale colors in foreground

     Wrong                       Right




     Gray 10%                  Gray >20%

        To projectors, any pale color = white
Printing: Black and White


OK       OK     Alert               OK      OK       Alert


Alert    OK      OK                 Alert   OK       OK


OK      Alert   OK                  OK      Alert    OK


                Black and White = information loss
Printing: Graceful Degradation


OK      OK      Alert
                Alert              OK     OK      Alert
                                                  Alert


Alert
Alert   OK       OK               Alert
                                  Alert   OK       OK


OK      Alert
        Alert   OK                 OK     Alert
                                          Alert   OK


             Use contrast and borders to compensate
5. ext

         © http://www.flickr.com/photos/rahulchhiber/5177233766/
First and foremost:


    Are you an

optometrist?
us feel like this.
                  Then don't make




©http://www.flickr.com/photos/sveinhal/2182773789/
Smallest font size:




20px
   Otherwise it's impossibly difficult to read from far away
Only one font
       Wrong


a    a       a      a
         Right


a    a       a      a
Exception: Typographic diagrams




   Nice            Yuck
Bigger shape ⇒ Bigger or equal text

     Wrong                      Right



         Letters                       Letters
A                          A

       Otherwise text size contradicts shape size
Italics: Don't bother


 Wrong               Right


  a                    a

   No one will notice the difference
Bold: Don't mix it
Wrong                        Right


                        a            a
a       a
                        a            a
    Again, the difference is hard to notice
a      hard to re
                                                d,                                n
                                                                                te
                                                                              of
                                         esp




                                                                                 is
                                   ec iall




                                                                                  Oblique text
                                 when     y
      Use horizontal text

                                    up




                                                                      font.
                                       sid




                                                                       l
                                                                     al


                                               d
                                           e




                                                 ow
                                                                 sm


                                                    n   and with
                                                                 a
© http://www.flickr.com/photos/cobalt/1156232979/
That was it!
© Enrique García Cota
Go
Now        And




             Make
           Some




            Awesome


                      Diagrams!
Now   Go


           Make


           Some   Awesome

                  Diagrams!
© Enrique García Cota
                        Thank you!

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How to make Awesome Diagrams for your slides