Be creative with text

Text has value in presentations. That value can be added to by fontography choices as well as altering the size and position of text within an image. Think of this as making an image including words rather than annotation.

In a presentation on paediatric trauma I utilised the same picture of a person laid in the road following an accident. For each sparkline I added a different phrase to introduce the discussion.The first section considered “why does paediatric trauma matter?” In terms of design it is easy to see that the large font dominates the image but is not easily read. Attention is initially directed at the why and probably the question mark. The image does not flow well.





The second image uses exactly the scene and words but conveys a completely different impression. This is achieved by changing the size and position of the text. The key word for the individual sparkline “matter” has prominence and the introductory 3 words are almost redundant. They are easily read as a whole and take up less “real estate” in the image such that the horror of the scene is more apparent; there is a child, on the road, at the scene of an accident, one so severe that his shoe has been removed by the violence. “Why does it matter?”

To achieve this effect use two separate text boxes. This will allow both font size and position to be independent. Once the desired effect has been constructed,the two can be “grouped” and then moved appropriately around the slide. An ideal position is found using the rule of thirds. Font can be considered as part of an image rather than text overlying. This adds to the image rather than annotating it. Be creative with text.

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