A few weeks ago, I shared an Articulate Studio ’13 course (Payroll 101) and got some good feedback and lots of comments about it. Seems people really like seeing a completed course for inspiration and ideas!

I thought I’d share another completed example of a course I built in Studio ’13, this time about identity theft. I created it using Articulate Presenter, Articulate Engage, and Articulate Quizmaker.

Launch the course.

Bright and Vivid Color Scheme

Color is a great way to draw someone’s eyes into an e-learning course. In this case, I went with a mix of bright pastels, with white and dark blue as main accents. I used these fun and eye-catching colors consistently throughout the rest of the e-learning course.

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Consistent Layouts, Fonts, and Imagery

One thing that helped me shape the clean and simple design of this course was consistency with the layouts, fonts, and imagery. Every page has a similar layout: a header with a title, a character over a background image, and a white space for text. This consistency goes a long way toward making a course look polished and professional.

You’ll also notice consistency in the fonts and imagery. I used a consistent background throughout the course to pull it all together and create a “setting.” Apart from the background image, all the other graphics, including the characters, are of isolated objects. This means the images are “cutouts” and don’t have a background. It also helps to choose one image style and stick to it for a more cohesive look.

Fun Sound Effects

Sometimes it’s nice to add a little something extra to your e-learning courses to make them more fun. In this one, I added a few fun sound effects. There’s an intro sound effect when the very first title screen loads, and there are a few fun sound effects sprinkled into the feedback for the quiz questions. My intent was to make someone laugh when they encounter these! Did they work for you?

If you have any feedback or comments about this mini e-learning module, or have any questions about how I pulled it together, please leave a comment below. And if you have any tips of your own for building Studio ’13 courses, please share them with the community. We love to hear your feedback!

You can always sign up for a fully functional, free trial of Articulate software. And don’t forget to post your questions and comments in the forums! We’re here to help. For more e-learning tips, examples, and downloads, follow us on Twitter.

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