One question I get quite often is, "How do you find creative inspiration? What resources do you use for fresh ideas?" Often I respond Pinterest or Dribbble because those two resources are my go-tos for spotting broader web design trends that I can apply to e-learning. Trends like flat design, slider-based navigation, photo galleries, and parallax scrolling are just a few of the ideas I've been most excited to use in my projects.
What trends are you most excited to use in your courses? What resources do you rely on to stay on top of design trends?
You mean besides this awesome community, right? ;)
Right now I'm trying to incorporate a website-like feel in some modules. I want to be able to scroll based on menu selection like many modern sites these days.
I'm currently trying to broaden my horizons, but I've drawn inspiration from other well-branded softwares that have "the look" (intuitive and attractive UI, menus, color scheme etc.). This helps me cut down on the "noise" in the slides and focus the visual message.
I'm starting an Explainer Video project at my company - for training. It's important for us (for a lot of reasons) to get our customers to buy in to our training in the first few minutes, and then commit to an individualized self-service course. Here's a great explainer video.... about explainer videos: https://youtu.be/n4XGEwdDi74
I love the simplicity trend that's been going on for a while. Sites used to be just so much text and it wasn't always obvious what the action item was. I try to make obvious action items and simple arrangements of text that really attract the eye.
These are all awesome resources, Michael. Thanks so much for sharing them with us! Like you, I'm really excited to see what other ideas, inspiration, and resources people share.
Right on, Rachel. After all, wasn't it Einstein who said, "...ideas ought to lend themselves to so simple a description that even a child could understand them"?
I'm really liking the full screen images with transparent overlays look at the moment. Obviously doesn't work if you have to take accessibility into account by aesthetically it looks great. I am looking at ways of incorporating this into my work.
Scrolling, scrolling, scrolling- currently seeing what I can achieve with js & a scrolling wheel.. Creating animated sequences. Death to linear e-learning & the need for a page to explain to a user how to navigate.
The place I'm working at has invested heavily in custom html (we've created our own SCORM wrapped templated CCS pages)- I'm on a mission to show how we can still create really interesting content in Storyline at a fraction of the cost for clients. I don't want rapid development to be the low-budget dump for unexciting projects.
Love the video background trend, David! The weekly challenges are the best way to experiment with new design trends. I see lots of inspired ideas surfaced in the examples folks share.
Obviously doesn't work if you have to take accessibility into account by aesthetically it looks great. I am looking at ways of incorporating this into my work.
While working on challenge #92 which was about creating navigation instructions in e-learning courses, I've noticed how much visually I absorb from things around me and implement them into my e-learning examples. Inspiration is everywhere!
Sometimes it's a website element/effect but it can be literally everything what's grabbing your attention at the moment.
This thread here was one of the inspiration to write a blog post about...inspiration :) I've created several slides using a book cover and fruit bars box as a starting design point. You can read the post and download PowerPoint file from here:
Somewhere between Graphic Design / Web Design - But I'm really digging the "flat" aesthetic. I think it's really simple but visually stimulating, which makes it very versatile for learning material.
Thanks for chiming in with your thoughts and example, Joanna. And I absolutely love how your project turned out. It's such a simple, fresh design and very on-trend with the hand-drawn look.
To those on this thread who have been working on scrolling... scrolling forward is easy. I've found it challenging to scroll in reverse, such as when a previous button is selected.
Would be interested in hearing if any creative people have been able to crack the code on this, and/or what kind of ideas are out there....
15 Replies
You mean besides this awesome community, right? ;)
Right now I'm trying to incorporate a website-like feel in some modules. I want to be able to scroll based on menu selection like many modern sites these days.
I'm currently trying to broaden my horizons, but I've drawn inspiration from other well-branded softwares that have "the look" (intuitive and attractive UI, menus, color scheme etc.). This helps me cut down on the "noise" in the slides and focus the visual message.
I'm starting an Explainer Video project at my company - for training. It's important for us (for a lot of reasons) to get our customers to buy in to our training in the first few minutes, and then commit to an individualized self-service course. Here's a great explainer video.... about explainer videos: https://youtu.be/n4XGEwdDi74
For finding color schemes, I found this site very helpful: https://coolors.co/ (I think some others have mentioned it here too). There's also http://www.flatuicolorpicker.com/
Great blog about mobile app UI, and first time user experience: http://firsttimeux.tumblr.com/
Helpscout's knowledge base info - the biggest reason I like this is how it compares marketing & sales to training: http://www.helpscout.net/blog/knowledge-base-article/
Hope this is what you're looking for! I'm excited to see what others post for more ideas.
I love the simplicity trend that's been going on for a while. Sites used to be just so much text and it wasn't always obvious what the action item was. I try to make obvious action items and simple arrangements of text that really attract the eye.
These are all awesome resources, Michael. Thanks so much for sharing them with us! Like you, I'm really excited to see what other ideas, inspiration, and resources people share.
Right on, Rachel. After all, wasn't it Einstein who said, "...ideas ought to lend themselves to so simple a description that even a child could understand them"?
I'm really liking the full screen images with transparent overlays look at the moment. Obviously doesn't work if you have to take accessibility into account by aesthetically it looks great. I am looking at ways of incorporating this into my work.
Scrolling, scrolling, scrolling- currently seeing what I can achieve with js & a scrolling wheel.. Creating animated sequences. Death to linear e-learning & the need for a page to explain to a user how to navigate.
The place I'm working at has invested heavily in custom html (we've created our own SCORM wrapped templated CCS pages)- I'm on a mission to show how we can still create really interesting content in Storyline at a fraction of the cost for clients. I don't want rapid development to be the low-budget dump for unexciting projects.
I'm with the simplicity. Playing with fonts, line art that kind of stuff
We're looking at the full-screen video trend in this week's e-learning challenge: https://community.articulate.com/articles/video-backgrounds-visually-engage-learners
Love the video background trend, David! The weekly challenges are the best way to experiment with new design trends. I see lots of inspired ideas surfaced in the examples folks share.
Obviously doesn't work if you have to take accessibility into account by aesthetically it looks great. I am looking at ways of incorporating this into my work.
That's very nice question to answer, Trina.
While working on challenge #92 which was about creating navigation instructions in e-learning courses, I've noticed how much visually I absorb from things around me and implement them into my e-learning examples. Inspiration is everywhere!
Sometimes it's a website element/effect but it can be literally everything what's grabbing your attention at the moment.
This thread here was one of the inspiration to write a blog post about...inspiration :) I've created several slides using a book cover and fruit bars box as a starting design point. You can read the post and download PowerPoint file from here:
http://bit.ly/1NOPcMl
I've attached one screen as a preview what I've done.
Somewhere between Graphic Design / Web Design - But I'm really digging the "flat" aesthetic. I think it's really simple but visually stimulating, which makes it very versatile for learning material.
Thanks for chiming in with your thoughts and example, Joanna. And I absolutely love how your project turned out. It's such a simple, fresh design and very on-trend with the hand-drawn look.
I'm with you, Vince. I'm in love with the design flexibility you get with a flat look.
To those on this thread who have been working on scrolling... scrolling forward is easy. I've found it challenging to scroll in reverse, such as when a previous button is selected.
Would be interested in hearing if any creative people have been able to crack the code on this, and/or what kind of ideas are out there....
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