6: Design Principles in Context

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Summary

Taking a look at some examples of different types of media.
Useful resources and software for creating your content.

Infographics

An infographic can be described as a visual representation of information or data. This may be in the form of an infographic poster or an image within a presentation, for example. Infographics can work really well to explain processes or to simply complex data into something visual (this is also known as data visualisation).

Using infographics

Below are some ways you may wish to use an infographic. Can you think of any more?

A visual overview of weekly activities in a module
Represent results of an experiment
Simplify a complex set of instructions
Graphical abstract for a paper

Example of a PowerPoint slide featuring a venn diagram infographic — Venn Diagram – Created using PowerPoint

Example of infographic featuring a combination of percentages, written text and charts in a simple graphic way — Venn Diagram – Created using PowerPoint

Infographics – Software and Resources

Using MS office, you will find that you can use basic shapes, icons and charts to create infographics for your content. This video by Educational Technologist, James Kieft shows you how to create an infographic in PowerPoint.

There are also many infographic software websites available online including Canva (sign-up required) and Adobe Spark (sign-in with staff email address). These sites offer you a range of templates, in-built tools and media to help you get creative.

Introduction Infographic Workshop: Using Adobe Spark and Canva, 30 mins – Workshop recording (available to University of Dundee staff only).
Canva and My Dundee , 1 min – Video of how to embed an infographic made with Canva into a My Dundee document.
Image use rights: Adobe Spark, Canva

Presentations

We have used presentation slides as examples throughout this Learning X series. In summary, when designing your presentation slides you should consider:

Consistency, such as the colours used or the placement of headings
Visual hierarchy and layout
The balance between text and graphic elements
Sufficient negative space and consistent margins
Significant contrast between colours (particularly text and background)
Simple, clear typefaces and fonts

Design and Accessibility for PowerPoint

PowerPoint Video 1 – Improving Design Accessibility

PowerPoint Video 2 – Accessibility Checker

Presentations – Software and Resources

Presentation and Learning Design – tutorial by Iona Campbell; Natalie Lafferty; Annalisa Manca
PowerPoint: Design your Slides – Microsoft Support
PowerPoint: Pictures, charts and tables – Microsoft Support

Video

Check out our Learning X series on Effe ctive Videos for Education for more information!

Accessibility

It is worth thinking about files in which your audience cannot easily edit the formatting (for example, a video or PDF). If you provide an additional copy of the original file (for example, a PowerPoint presentation) the text, the colours and the design can be customised by the audience to meet any specific needs they have. Text can be increased in size or the colours changes for any visual or neurological needs. It is still important to keep to professional standards and use a design that is accessible as possible from the get-go.

Activity

Steppingstone – Day 6: Finalise your Visuals

By now you should have made some progress with your design and have hopefully started to think about developing your visual style. The next stepping stone is to ‘finalise your visuals’. This will be dependent on the type of content you are creating. It may be creating slides for a pre-recorded lecture or adding text / images to an infographic.

Today’s is mainly about research and discussion. Let us know how you have been getting on so far in the comments. Please reach out with any questions you may have.