Why Does My Project Look Bad
SCOPE
Design a handbook to guide non-designers through visual design concepts to help foster confidence to create simple well designed documents.
TOOLS
Adobe InDesign
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Illustrator
Figma
Why Does My Presentation Look Bad was created to assist students with the visual side of building a slide deck for a presentation. The booklet is organized to help meet any student where they’re at by using Help Desk FAQs to inform the content. Through educational content, “makeovers”, and short quips, the book aims to make the basics of visual design more widely accessible.
Avoiding design jargon and ensuring the language is conversational and welcoming was important when creating the content for the book. Oftentimes, Help Desk clients mentioned feeling intimidated when trying to prioritize visual design. The sentiment that “I know it’s ugly but I don’t know why” was shared in almost every meeting. Focusing on encouraging yet playful language helped the tone be more personable to students.