Quick and Dirty Image Effect for E-Learning Cover Slides #377

E-Learning Cover Slides #377: Challenge | Recap

Can You Judge an E-Learning Course by Its Background Image?

Need a quick way to set the stage for your course content? Try using a custom background image.

Background images are the largest object on your slide, making them one of the best ways to establish context while creating a sense of location. This works equally well for content and course cover slides.

But not all projects require custom themes or visual treatments. For example, most e-learning courses are built from existing templates that are modified based on the course content. That’s okay because there’s a background trick for those courses, too!

Creating Custom Backgrounds Images Using Transparency

In a recent post, Tom Kuhlmann shared a visual design tip commonly used in advertising and high-end product photography.

The effect is achieved by using the same image for the focal point and background graphic. The background version is scaled beyond the slide size, and transparency dialed way up to blend the image into the background.

Here’s a before-and-after view of the effect:

Notice how the faded image fills the background without dominating the slide? This is one of the quickest ways to add richness and depth to your slide backgrounds. And that's what this week's challenge is all about!

Challenge of the Week

This week, your challenge is to create a cover screen for an e-learning course,  real or fictional, using the transparent echo technique.

You can share a static image of a cover slide or add a cover screen to an existing project or challenge entry you created.

Share Your E-Learning Work

• Comments: Use the comments section below to share a link to your published example and blog post.
• Forums: Start  your own thread and share a link to your published example..
• Personal blog:  If you have a blog, please consider writing about your challenges. We’ll link back to your posts so the great work you’re sharing gets even more exposure.
• Social Media: If you share your demos on Twitter or LinkedIn, try using #ELHChallenge so your tweeps can track your e-learning coolness.

Last Week’s Challenge:

Before you uncover your slide designs, check out the creative ways course designers build templates from stock vector illustrations:

E-Learning Templates from Illustrations #376: Challenge | Recap

New to the E-Learning Challenges?

The weekly e-learning challenges are ongoing opportunities to learn, share, and build your e-learning portfolios. You can jump into any or all of the previous challengesanytime you want. I’ll update the recap posts to include your demos.

Learn more about the challenges in this Q&A post and why and how to participate in this helpful article.