How To Make

DiagramsAwesome

For your

slides

Me

Enrique García CotaI do software at Splendeo

@otikik

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.

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1. Lines

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Never use 0pt line width

Wrong

Right

Visible from the far end of the room

Have consistent line width

0.10'' 0.32''

Wrong

0.06''

Right

Maybe two very different widths; not more

0.06''

0.06''

0.32''

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 3Phase 2Phase 1

Phase 1

vs.

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

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Use a grid

Wrong

Right

Align when possible

Wrong

Right

Size means Importance

Wrong Right

NotImportant

NotImportant

VeryImportant

VeryImportant

Size means Hierarchy

Wrong Right

Face

Eyes Nose Mouth

Face

Eyes Nose Mouth

Size means Relative Size

Wrong Right

Elephant Duck ElephantDuck

Size doesn't mean “long name”

Wrong

Right

A

A B*

* Long Name

A

Long Name

Long Name

A ...

Long Name

Different Shape = Different Type

OK

?Yes No

Better

Yes No

?

Maximum number types: 4

If you need more, use images

OK

A B C

Better

Warning! Finding appropriate images takes time

Transparencies, Shadows & Gradients

Don't

They take a lot of time to get right, andmost projectors won't show them anyway

3. Nesting©

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One nesting level per slide

Wrong

Unique 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?

One nesting level per slide

Yes, it will.But less than nested shapes.

But, won't adding slides increase the presentation complexity?

Nes

tin

g →

Co

mp

l ex

ity

→

Slides →

1 slide /1 nesting level

If you need everything in one place

You are not making a presentation

Consider other formats

4. Color©

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Color count

Fill + Text + Lines - Background

Hi

Bye!

Fill = Green + Red = 2Text = White = 1Lines = Black = 1Background = White = -1

2 + 1 + 1 – 1 = 3

Color count should be ≤ 3

The magic of combinatory

threeonlyI'm

still colorsbut here

using

can make many combi-nations

When in doubt, use Primary colors

Red#c5000b

Yellow#ffd320

Green#008000

Blue#0084d1

These are awesome for diagrams

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

Color is great for Stress or Status

Wrong Right

OK OK Alert

Alert OK OK

OK Alert OK

OK OK Alert

Alert OK OK

OK Alert OK

OK OK Alert

Alert OK OK

OK Alert OK

Color is not great for lines

Wrong Right

More easily seen from far away

Use bright background colors

Some projectors don't handle dark slides well

Wrong Right

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

Alert OK OK

OK Alert OK

OK OK Alert

Alert OK OK

OK Alert OK

Black and White = information loss

Printing: Graceful Degradation

OK OK Alert

Alert OK OK

OK Alert OK

OK OK Alert

Alert OK OK

OK Alert OK

OK OK Alert

Alert OK OK

OK Alert OK

OK OK Alert

Alert OK OK

OK Alert OK

Use contrast and borders to compensate

5. ext

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First and foremost:

Are you an

optometrist?

Then don't make us feel like this.

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Smallest font size:

20pxOtherwise it's impossibly difficult to read from far away

Only one font

Wrong

a a a aRight

a a a a

Exception: Typographic diagrams

Nice Yuck

Bigger shape ⇒ Bigger or equal text

A

Wrong

LettersA

Letters

Right

Otherwise text size contradicts shape size

Italics: Don't bother

a aWrong Right

No one will notice the difference

Bold: Don't mix it

a

Wrong

aa a

a a

Right

Again, the difference is hard to notice

Use horizontal text

Oblique

ofte

nha

rdto

text is

read

,especiallywhenupsidedow

n

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and

small font.

with

a

That was it!

© E

nrique G

a rcía Co

ta

Now GoAnd

Make

Awesome

Diagrams!

Some

Now

Make

Some

Diagrams!

Go

Awesome

Thank you!

© E

nrique Ga rcía C

ota