Sunday, April 18, 2010

Good Design for PowerPoint

A good PowerPoint design is essential in every presentation. Be it to inform or to persuade, our slides are the key to our goal. The question lies here, “How do I create a good and effective design for my PowerPoint slides?” Design features increase the usefulness of the document Reep(2006).


To answer this question, I am going to use my own assignment one presentation slides as an example to be criticized in term of design by applying principles of design. The aim here is to identify the absent of design principles so that improvement can be made. This critic will be based of Diana Reep explanation of Document Design

Balance
Page balance refers to having comparable visual "weight" on both sides of a page or on opposing pages in a longer document Reep(2006)



(Figure 1)

By looking at figure one we can see that the proportion of the text is not balance therefore feels heavy on one size. The circle that is pointed out shows that the bottom and side is much heavier where the text fails to balance the slide design.

Alignment
Alignment creates unity among the elements. Every image is connect via an invisible line Reynolds(2008)


(Figure 2)


The text alignment in figure 2 has moved which disrupts the unity of the slides. This however gives a sense of disorganized.

Consistency
Creating consistency is very important as it helps readers relate better to the similar information. Do not mistake consistent format for boring format. Consistency helps readers by emphasizing similar types of information and their similar importance Reep (2006).


(Figure 3)

The use of same fonts and headings and background will allow consistency which in the example of figure three there are certain elements of consistency but font size different.


Reference:
Reynolds, G. (2008). Presentation Zen.Simple ideas on presentation design and delivery. Berkely, CA: New Riders.

Reep, D. C.( 2006), ‘Chapter 6: Document design’ in Technical writing: Principles, strategies and readings, 6th ed., New York: Pearson

New form of Media publication: The Twitter phenomenon.

The World Wide Web has certainly caused a huge shift in our human norm.. For example, there are people who no longer wants to buy newspaper, turn on the television for their news, and listen to radio because the can do all these without spending money with just a click. With the Internet, what was known as old media has been discarded for what is now known as the new media.





Created by Jack Dorsey, Twitter, has become an internet phenomenon and is rapidly growing in the social network platform. Limited to 140 character per post it combines blogging and instant messaging giving the user writing what is known as “micro blogging” Yeatts, C. (2010). It’s simple way of updating status or posting short messages quickly gave it instant popularity among users who appreciated quick message.

How does it work?
Users simply create an account with their name, username and password. Adding information about themselves helps allow other users to find common ground to follow them. If a user found someone of the same interest, they could receive the updates of the other user just by clicking follow to be a follower. Users could easily update their post by using their phone which are linked to twitter.

How did it change the way we communicate?
Twitter quickly gain its success due to uprising trend of micro blogging which somehow overtaken conventional blogging. Its simple 140 words created a culture of condense information which benefits the now busy audience to quickly obtain updates from who are they following. It allows it followers to excess at ease whether it is PC or mobile devices which boosted its userbility. Due to this simple way of updating organization uses twitter to promote their products of update information of their company. According to McIntyre.D As Twitter grows, it will increasingly become a place where companies build brands, do research, send information to customers, conduct e-commerce and create communities for their users. Some industries, like local retail, could be transformed by Twitter.

Twitter Issue: Security threats
One issue concerning to twitter was security threats where users account were hacked. This however addresses the issue of whether is it safe to store personal and business data in the net and if password is enough to keep hackers away. An example of a hacked incident would the twitter account of President Barack Obama where a Frenchman hacked twitter by simply guessing their password.


Link to the Video:


Reference list

Johnson, S.(2009) How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live. Extracted on 14 April 2010 (online) http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1902604-2,00.html

Yeatts, C. (2010, January 30). What Is Twitter and How Does it Work? Extracted on 14 April 2010 (Online) http://ezinearticles.com/?What-¬Is-¬Twitter-¬and-¬How-¬Does-¬it--Work?&id=3668615

24/7 Wall St.(2009) The Future of Twitter extracted on 14 April 2010 (online) http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1901188_1901207,00.html


Bibliography
Obama Twitter account 'hacked by Frenchman' extracted on 14 April 2010 (online) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8586269.stm

Sutter, J. (2009) Twitter hack raises questions about 'cloud computing' extracted on 14 April 2010 (online) http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/07/16/twitter.hack/

Twitter.com extracted on 14 April 2010 (online) http://twitter.com/

What is a Blogging Community

To define what is a blogging community we have to first define what is a community. According to Atkinson.P(1997) a community is a group which share a common interest who reveals themselves by sharing the same language, manners, customs and law, which is their tradition. To link it with blogging would be a group of bloggers sharing the same interest which they participate with each others blogs by comments and sharing of ideas

How to create a blogging community?
According to Elise Bauer in BlogHer Conference, there are 4 methods on how to build blog traffic or community.

a) Link
By linking other to others blogs of the same interest, it would help you to gain more readership as other will began to notice you when you linked.

b) Comment
By leaving thoughtful and insightful comments on others blogs shows that you are interest in their post which will result in them writing back to you as well. Comments also built a platform of sharing each others thoughts which bloggers will appreciate.



c) Plan and Join online events
Plan and join online events allow bloggers to work together thus creating a community with a common goal.

d) Contributing to the community
A blogging community is all about generosity. When you volunteer your time and expertise to help other bloggers in your community, you raise up everyone, including yourself. (Bauer, E. 2006)

Is my Blog Burning?

This is a food lover blogging community where Food Bloggers are invited to blog about recipe on the current theme. Why this is regard a community is because it allows blogger to connect with each other by sharing new recipe and tips about cooking.

Relating this blog with Nancy White’s (2006) blog based community, this food bloggers community falls under the Boundaries Community



Reason being that its structure requires members to register and join the community. It has tools such as forums, discussion boards and instant message.

This community allows bloggers to be connected to other bloggers which are members within the boundary which is the community. This blogging community has an owner or regulator which impose rules in the community. The benefits of this community is that it allows denser and faster possible internal connections (White, N. 2006)


Reference list

Atkinson, P(n.d.) A Definition Of Community extracted on 13 April 2010 (online).http://www.ourcivilisation.com/define.htm

Bauer, E (2006) How to Build Blog Traffic – Community extracted on 13 April 2010 (online)
http://www.blogher.com/node/8128

Dessinger, D.(2010) Define Blogging extracted on 12 April 2010 (online)
http://dailyblogcrush.com/define-blogging/

White, N. (2006) Blogs and Community – launching a new paradigm for online community? Extracted on 12 April 2010 (online)
http://kt.flexiblelearning.net.au/tkt2006/edition-11-editorial/blogs-and-community-%E2%80%93-launching-a-new-paradigm-for-online-community

Friday, April 16, 2010

Questions about the Classifications of Blogs

There are many varieties of blogs. They are classified according to the topics they cover and the focus of their post for their targeted audience. As mention on my previous post blogs are journals which address issues or comment by bloggers to their audience which are the blog readers.

Here are a list of type of blogs according to WordPress.com

• Personal: This is the most common blog which includes topic such as personal life, opinion, photos, family, health and politics

• Business: Professionals ranging from realtors to lawyers and stock brokers shares their ideas or business tips.

• Schools: Educational blog is a great way for teachers and students to collaborate on classroom projects.

• Non-profits: A Foundations, charities, and human rights group uses blog to raise awareness and money for their causes.

• Politics: Members of parliament, political parties, government agencies, and activists uses blog to connect with their constituencies.

• Military: Military blog report what they see happening in various parts of the world and to stay in touch with their families.

• Private: Some people make their blogs private to share photos and information within families, companies, or schools.

• Sports: There are teams, athletes, and fans using blogs to express and share their passion for various sports.

• How-to, tips and reviews: There are lots of blogs that share tips and reviews about cooking, games, music, books, movies, and so on.
(Source: http://en.wordpress.com/types-of-blogs/)

Margaret Simons Classification
Author and media anaylist Margaret Simons however classified blogs into 9 categories which is Pamphleteering, Digests, Advocacy, Popular Mechanics, Exhibition, Gate Watcher, Diary, Advertisements and lastly News. Explanation of these blogs can be view in http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2008/2372882.htm#transcript

Comparison?

The comparison between WordPress and Margaret Simons classification of blogs is that one classified blogs in a much more general way where else the other which is Margaret Simons classification is focus on the aim of the blogs. An example of a comparison of blogs is Wordpress.com’s political blogs and Margaret Simons Pamphleeteering blog.

My thoughts.

Classification of blog is link to the topic which is discussed most often. Very often we see blogs covering various topics which makes them difficult to identify which classification they belong to. In my opinion classification is determined by the consistency of their topic throughout their blogging period. A thought about the comparision made earlier, I think Wordpress classification is user friendlier compared to Margaret Simons classification because of its diversity of classification it covers. In my opinion classification system should cover a very vast topic because of the combinations of style of bloggers.


Reference List

Funnell, A.(2008) A taxonomy of blogs extracted in 13 April 2010 (online) http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2008/2372882.htm#transcript

WordPress.com: Types of Blogs extracted in 13 April 2010 (online) http://en.wordpress.com/types-of-blogs/

What is a Blog?

Blogs, first known as Web log is a is a public journal which kept personal thoughts, ideas and images of the blog writer which is known as the Blogger. Types of blog include personal which is the broadest category of blog, business , schools, politics, non –profit and How-to Tips and review blogs.



What is the current size of the blogosphere?

As reported the size of the blogosphere is 133 million users indexed since 2002 by Technorati in 2008 and since then no known record showed to explain what is the size of today’s blogosphere.

As discussed by Lee Hopkins, there could be drop in the blogosphere which amounts to 70 million blogs or less right now which he said could be a result of the uprising of twitter.


What is the trend of blogs in Malaysia?

The trend of blogs in Malaysia is personal and lifestyle followed by technology, business and politics. This trend could be seen in Sabahan.com 50 most influential blogs in Malaysia which stated 28% of the Malaysian Top 50 Bloggers write about personal stuff 16% write about politics 16% write about technology.



What is the benefit of Blogging in Malaysia?

The benefit of blogging in Malaysia would be in term of politics. Why would I say that? Because of the effect it has on Malaysian opinion in politics. A good example which can be seen is in the 2008 general election in Malaysia where there was a huge shift in Power. A reason why the huge shift if cause by changing public opinion. Eyes of public were much more opened due to increase of opinion posted in blogs. An example of blog would Malaysian Today whos writer is Raja Petra caused much influence in public opinion during the general election.

Bibliography

Malaysia Today, extracted on 11 April 2010 (Online) http://www.malaysia-today.net/


Reference List

Blogging Hits Mainstream, Integral to Media Ecosystem extracted on 11 April 2010 (online)http://www.marketingcharts.com/interactive/blogging-hits-mainstream-integral-to-media-ecosystem-6256/technorati-state-of-blogosphere-size-2008jpg/

Drovak, J.(2002)The Blog Phenomenon , extracted on 11 April 2010 (online)http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,12899,00.asp

Gaman(2007) 50 Most Influencial Blogs in Malaysia extracted on 11 April 2010 (Online)http://www.sabahan.com/2007/02/06/50-most-influential-blogs-in-malaysia/

Hopkins, L. (2009) Technorati and the size of the blogosphere: it can’t be THAT hard to figure out, surely?! Extracted on 11 April 2010 (online)http://www.leehopkins.net/2009/12/26/technorati-and-the-size-of-the-blogosphere-it-cant-be-that-hard-to-figure-out-surely/

Rowse, D. (2005) What is a Blog, extracted online on 11 April 2010 (online) http://www.problogger.net/archives/2005/02/05/what-is-a-blog/



Monday, April 5, 2010

Purpose for this Blog

My purpose for this blog is to address issues regarding the field of publication and design. This blog would be targeted to students of the same field and teaching staff where it aims to help explain the issues surrounding the field. What i wish to achieve at the end of all the discussion is strong understanding and sollution making through contructive comments and discussion. Discussion and comment should only be related to subject matters. Comment can be made via comment column.