Template design for huge project

The second theme

Two quick ideas:

1. I'd start with the visual design map to see if you can come up with some ideas
2. I like the way Joe did the roundabout demo and the way Linda did her driving demo. Perhaps there's something to glean from those.

Hi Sophie

Sounds like an interesting project, I would go with a consistent look because the look and feel will become familiar rather than becoming boring, have you considered a custom skin for all the module?

Phil

Thanks Phil. We have considered about that. However, we are not the premium user of Articulate and don't have the access to change the skin of Articulate.

Hi Sophia,

I would use something to do with cars for the theme, like a desk top with car keys, etc, or a dashboard.  Or make the outside edges of the slide look like your state's license, or license plate and use different colours for each module.  Do some brainstorming, I think you can come up with a lot of good ideas for this project.

Linda

What a fun project. Design mapping would be a good start.

Couple elements and themes that come to mind are driver licenses and how the similar layout ratio might transfer nicely to your course design.

You mentioned 17 modules so that gives you some freedom to do multiple "driver license" themes and include different colors and styles for the consistent license design theme.

A quick Google Image search (strict results applied) should give you some great ideas for various design element and layout options.

The great thing is how fluid the layout options are. Need more space, reduce the profile image and increase when you have less content. There's also so many car and license metaphors you can use for design elements.

Here's something I quickly put together.

David,

That's a sweet mock up with both flexibility and depth of design.  I sooo wanna be like you when I grow up!

@Mike LOL well, be careful what you wish for is my only advice.

@Sophia - how is it going? Were any of these ideas helpful? Please share your progress when you can!

I did a series of 5 modules for a course recently.  We used the same general template for each module, but changed the colors each time.   Module 1 was teal,  module 2 was green, etc.  Within the module, I was able to use variations of the main color using transparency techniques. 

Nice way to create visual distinction while maintaining a consistent theme

Is there anyway you could share screenshots of all 5 modules?

An example I often use to demonstrate visual derivatives is the Chronicles of Narnia books. That series has had a dozen-or more-book covers over the years. What I like about them is how some designs follow either a strict or loose design variation. 

In the stricter design variations, the cover's color and design illustrations--separated elements--change across titles. In the looser variation, the cover designs blend the distinct colors and illustrations. In both cases, however, the title and author font styles are consistent.

Couple folks asked about the fonts I used in the mockup.

The main title font is called License Plate (free): http://www.fontspace.com/dave-hansen/license-plate

Heading font is Serifa (commercial) but check out this group of Free-Fat-Serifs: http://theroxor.com/2010/02/18/10-essential-free-serif-fonts/

Body font is Gil Sans which is pretty standard.

Hi Everyone:

Thanks very much for the discussion and brainstorming. I did some brainstorming and research about my topics following the visual design mapping. Attached my mindmanage file to share.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12829479/Driver%20License%20Examiner%20Training.mmap

I got 3 ideas about the theme.

1. road sign-- different road sign for different ppt. The style will be consistent.

2. driver license-- same design, different color for different ppt

3. license plate-- same design, different color for different ppt

I will attach the templates I designed. Be free to comment, so we can get improved.

Thanks all

Sophia

The screenshots of the 3 ppts:

Hi Sophia,

I just wanted to check in on your project to see how it's going. I like where you're going with the templates. In fact, I think you have a good variety of layouts.

Have you tried working any of your content into those slides? Most of those look like navigational slides more than content slides. For example, what will the following slides look like:

• Objectives
• Text, read-only
• Video (if applicable)
• Scenarios (will you have any)
• Image, graphic-heavy content slides
• Quiz and interactions (Will you also customize Quizmaker and Engage?)

I really like what you have going with the first three slides. One thing you might keep in the back of your mind as you design your colors is how you'll handle red and green colors. Those have significant meanings--beyond pass and faill-- and could cause a visual interruption if used casually.

Do you have content you can use to create a 3-slide mini course?

Hi Sophia,

I'm currently beginning a very large project much like your own. What I found helped me most was utilizing much of the assets my company already has. What I ended up doing was stealing many of the images/styles from our website, such as title styles, bullet images etc. to try and keep a look and feeling that is consistent with what customers are used to.

Cheers,

Hi Drew: Good idea. Thanks for sharing.

Sophia