SurfPark
04-24-2007, 08:18 PM
I found this old article from 2003 (http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/12/30/byrne.powerpoint.ap/), but I think all the points are still valid. I'd like to start a discussion about the issue of templates in design.
Artist David Byrne, took PowerPoint and used all of its features to create art in very non-traditional ways. He sold a Book/DVD about information design and how simple templates, automatic bullets, and other auto-generated content has made the thought process of design almost non-existant for business people. Here is a quote from the article...
Visual artists say Microsoft Corp.'s popular "slideware" -- which makes it easy to incorporate animated graphics and other entertainment into presentations -- lulls people into accepting pablum over ideas. Foes say PowerPoint's ubiquity perverts everything from elementary school reports to NASA's scientific theses into sales pitches with bullet points and stock art.
One of the Internet's inventors, Vint Cerf, gets laughs from audiences by quipping, "Power corrupts and PowerPoint corrupts absolutely." I love that last line. When I had my senior class in college, the professor was fixated on the DESIGN of our resumes. She argued that the structure should support the content and that the layout given in Microsoft Word wasn't always the most sensible. I embraced this approach and attempted to design my own resume. In other posts, I've actually told people to not design their own resumes. I say this not because they should surrender to the tendency for templates, but because of most of the people hiring are slaves to a familiar format.
I thought this guy's book was interesting. I found the Amazon link (http://www.amazon.com/David-Byrne-Envisioning-Epistemological-Information/dp/3882439076/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/104-0941485-5088767?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177445696&sr=1-3) for it. I think the concept is probably better than the actual book. The idea of using something outside of its original intention is like having "found art". What do you think?
Artist David Byrne, took PowerPoint and used all of its features to create art in very non-traditional ways. He sold a Book/DVD about information design and how simple templates, automatic bullets, and other auto-generated content has made the thought process of design almost non-existant for business people. Here is a quote from the article...
Visual artists say Microsoft Corp.'s popular "slideware" -- which makes it easy to incorporate animated graphics and other entertainment into presentations -- lulls people into accepting pablum over ideas. Foes say PowerPoint's ubiquity perverts everything from elementary school reports to NASA's scientific theses into sales pitches with bullet points and stock art.
One of the Internet's inventors, Vint Cerf, gets laughs from audiences by quipping, "Power corrupts and PowerPoint corrupts absolutely." I love that last line. When I had my senior class in college, the professor was fixated on the DESIGN of our resumes. She argued that the structure should support the content and that the layout given in Microsoft Word wasn't always the most sensible. I embraced this approach and attempted to design my own resume. In other posts, I've actually told people to not design their own resumes. I say this not because they should surrender to the tendency for templates, but because of most of the people hiring are slaves to a familiar format.
I thought this guy's book was interesting. I found the Amazon link (http://www.amazon.com/David-Byrne-Envisioning-Epistemological-Information/dp/3882439076/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/104-0941485-5088767?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177445696&sr=1-3) for it. I think the concept is probably better than the actual book. The idea of using something outside of its original intention is like having "found art". What do you think?