Re: PowerPoint is art

[John Fleming <johntwrl -at- hotmail -dot- com>]

On Tue, 6 Jan 2004 15:13:53 -0800 (PST), while chained to a desk in the
scriptorium, rjayz -at- yahoo -dot- com ("R. Johnson") wrote:

> $I hate to admit this but...
> $
> $I have to agree with David Byrne. Don't stone me to death;
> $let me give my POV first. I HATE the typical PPT
> $presentations that PHBs and marketing types bore us to
> $death with at meetings and seminars, but I have seen some
> $inventive uses of the application, too.
> $
> $I knew one guy who was a macro-maven, and he created a PPT
> $CBT that rivaled anything I'd ever seen in Director or
> $Authorware. It was a fully interactive, multimedia
> $presentation that he produced on CD-ROM to train employees
> $at our job sites and satellite locations. It even contained
> $a simple testing unit that evaluated the progress of the
> $trainees, and reenforced what they'd learned.

While I have never done anything this complicated, I do know how it can
be done and I admire his inventiveness.

Basic PowerPoint can be boring and overused, but when you push the
limits of the software and see what it can really do, you can produce
some really cool stuff.

> $For me, I find it useful for making quick mock-ups and
> $designs, storyboards, layouts, etc. It's a great
> $brainstorming/"ideation" tool that let's me create a sketch
> $or abstract of whatever it is I'm trying to produce,
> $without having to know how to draw. You can easily color,
> $move and resize the objects, and develop and massage your
> $concept with minimal effort. I do this for everything:  web
> $sites, page layouts, GUIs, process flows, outlines,
> $floorplans, drawings--anything that can be represented
> $visually. 

PowerPoint is where I design a lot of conventional overheads for use
with an overhead projector.

Here, though, I get a bit more mileage by incorporating elements
developed in other applications like Visio, Quick CAD, Excel and the
like.

A lot gets lost when PowerPoint is used as a stand alone tool.

> $I wouldn't go so far as to call PPT art, but I have seen
> $some slides that remind me of stuff I've seen in
> $contemporary art spaces.

I wouldn't call a sheet of canvas, a couple of tubes of paint and a
paintbrush art either.  Art is what you do with the canvas, paint and
paintbrush.

Now, if I could just get people to stop sending me these PopwerPoint
slideshows with Tibetan tantras and the like, . . ..

John Fleming
Technical Writer
Edmonton, Alberta