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Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter Mouton October 23, 2013

Between the grid and composition: Layout in PowerPoint's design and use

  • Emilia Djonov

    Emilia Djonov (b. 1975) is a lecturer at Macquarie University and an honorary research fellow at the University of Technology 〈emilia.djonov@mq.edu.au〉. Her research interests include multimodal and hypermedia discourse analysis, visual communication, social semiotics, and systemic functional theory. Her publications include “Children's website structure and navigation” (2008); and Critical Multimodal Studies of Popular Discourse (co-edited with S. Zhao, 2014).

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    and Theo Van Leeuwen

    Theo Van Leeuwen (b. 1947) is a professor of language and communication at the University of Southern Denmark, Odense, and emeritus professor at the University of Technology 〈theo.vanleeuwen@uts.edu.au〉. His research interests include social semiotics, critical discourse analysis, multimodality, and visual communication. His publications include Discourse and practice: New tools for critical discourse analysis (2008); The language of new media design (with R. Martinec, 2009); and The language of color (2011).

From the journal Semiotica

Abstract

Ubiquitous software such as PowerPoint has contributed to making layout an important semiotic resource in everyday professional communication. Drawing on developments in the visual arts, graphic design, and social semiotics, this paper presents two central and complementary principles for layout design and analysis: the grid and composition. These principles are then applied in a conceptualization of the template as an interface between the grid and composition, which provides a basis for comparing default layout templates in PowerPoint for Windows 2003 and 2007. The comparison reveals that options in PowerPoint 2007 are less explicit from the perspectives of both grid-based design and composition, and considerably limit users' freedom in layout design. We then consider the implications of the limited guidance that PowerPoint, through its default layout options and help menu, offers its users on how to use layout effectively with reference to a survey of twenty-seven slideshow presentations from corporate and higher education settings and three case studies selected from this data. The survey and case studies suggest that PowerPoint users can benefit from explicit advice about both grid-based design and composition as well as a stronger awareness of the limitations and advantages of using templates.

About the authors

Emilia Djonov

Emilia Djonov (b. 1975) is a lecturer at Macquarie University and an honorary research fellow at the University of Technology 〈〉. Her research interests include multimodal and hypermedia discourse analysis, visual communication, social semiotics, and systemic functional theory. Her publications include “Children's website structure and navigation” (2008); and Critical Multimodal Studies of Popular Discourse (co-edited with S. Zhao, 2014).

Theo Van Leeuwen

Theo Van Leeuwen (b. 1947) is a professor of language and communication at the University of Southern Denmark, Odense, and emeritus professor at the University of Technology 〈〉. His research interests include social semiotics, critical discourse analysis, multimodality, and visual communication. His publications include Discourse and practice: New tools for critical discourse analysis (2008); The language of new media design (with R. Martinec, 2009); and The language of color (2011).

Published Online: 2013-10-23
Published in Print: 2013-10-25

©[2013] by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston

Downloaded on 19.3.2024 from https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/sem-2013-0078/html
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