Embrace asymmetry for slide design

Asymmetry has gotten pretty hot these days.

Think asymmetrical warfare, like that being waged in Iraq and Afghanistan. Or asymmetrical hairdos, like those commonly warn by pop music star Rihanna. Some of the most interesting apparel is cut and stitched in asymmetrical patterns. Sumi brush painters and artists of other genres in the Far East have created asymmetrical works for centuries.

One place asymmetry hasn’t caught on is with slide design for presentations. Your average PowerPoint or Keynote presentation is populated almost entirely with symmetrical type and images.

This isn’t surprising. To the sensibilities of the people and cultures living in the Western Hemisphere, symmetry is the preferred style of design and organization of objects, information and so on. Western cultures are, by and large, symmetrical cultures.

What exactly is symmetry? And what is asymmetry?

Think of symmetry as balance. In other words, we tend to design slides and paint canvases with the dominant element or focus point smack-dab in the middle. If we write a three-sentence statement on a PowerPoint slide the tendency is to place those words in the center of the slide with the text surrounded by equal white space on all sides.

This applies to objects as well. In our homes and offices we have a preference for placing pieces of furniture in symmetrical or balanced positions.

Asymmetry, by contrast, can be considered unbalanced.

The reason I recommend asymmetrical slide design is because asymmetry is more visually interesting. Because we’re not used to seeing asymmetrical design it captures our attention.

The photographs I’ve included with this article have asymmetrical compositions. Imagine the photograph with the castle instead composed with the architectural structure in the center. Not as interesting, is it? It would have also robbed the image of its dimensionality, as well as its ability to provide a prominent and elongated light source.

The Asian woman in the meditation photo is made more interesting and mysterious by being presented in partial form.

The Eiffel Tower is made more visually appealing by the unusual vantage and angle. Again, the image is not centered and balanced; it’s presented asymmetrically and is all the more captivating as a result.

Asymmetry can also be used with type, both in terms of how you position type on the slide, and the sizing of the type you use. Here are some examples.

• If you create a slide that says EXIT STAGE LEFT, it would make sense to have the type flushed to the left side of the slide.
• If your slide says BIG & SMALL ISSUES, it would make sense to set the word BIG in a larger typeface than the rest of the statement, and the word “small” in a small point size. In effect, you would be using different type sizes to reinforce the meanings of the individual words.
• A slide that reads THE WORK KEEPS STACKING UP could be given visual meaning by actually stacking the words one on top of another. By also moving the stack of type off center you give the viewer the sense they are poised for a tumble, adding just a tinge of tension.

Take a look at this slide presentation titled The Brand Gap. It’s full of asymmetrical slide design using both type and images. The first few slides are mundane but things really pick up from there. Although the presentation is a whopping 162 slides, you’ll get the picture by clicking through the first 25 slide. Just click here.

Bring your slide presentations to life. Put asymmetrical design up in lights.

 

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