Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Showing Restraint and Preserving Space
One reason the effective use of empty space is so rare in slide designs is that software
companies keep throwing more and more features into their slideware. This tends to
lead novice designers astray as they discover new ways to decorate and embellish. I
don't really blame the software companies. They are, after all, in the business of
satisfying customers by promising more value in costly updates, and some of the new
features can be useful. Having many choices is generally a good thing, but it's up to us to
exercise restraint.
Learn to love constraints
Our professional lives have become complicated by more and more choices, features,
and options. But we know through experience that no freedom is to be found purely in the
maximization of choices. In
The Paradox of Choice
(Ecco, 2003), author Barry
Schwartz makes a similar claim. He says that having an unlimited array of choices and
few constraints is not liberating or enabling—it is, instead, a burden and even bondage.
Schwartz, speaking from the consumer's point of view, believes that, in many cases, the
abundance of choice does not make us more productive or improve our decisions. At
the end of the topic, Schwartz lists 11 ways we can halt the crippling effects of too much
choice—“the tyranny of small decisions.” The last item is simply this: “Learn to love
constraints.”
In
Buddhism Plain and Simple
(Broadway, 1998), Steve Hagen says that “...no freedom
lies in maximizing petty choices.” We all know this, but still we battle with the
unnecessary and the nonessential. No one likes the idea of restrictions or fewer choices.
But too many choices, options, features, and functions can become bondage that leads
to poor decision making—such as adding more when removing more and exercising
restraint is a better option.
True freedom doesn't lie in the maximization of choice, but, ironically, is
most easily found in a life where there is little choice.
—
Steve Hagen
When more is less
When embarking on a presentation, the most frightening thing for many people is the
empty slide—a blank slate without even a template (gasp!). So, under pressure and the
common belief that “no one ever got fired for including too much data in a deck of
PowerPoint slides,” the novice designer adds more and more just to be safe.
Unfortunately, too many elements placed without thoughtful consideration of what to
include and what to exclude often leads to wasted space and clutter.
What does it
feel like
to be confronted with too many options? To view designs made
