Digital Storytelling: Image Best Practices
-
Upload
netsquared-vancouver -
Category
Education
-
view
659 -
download
0
description
Transcript of Digital Storytelling: Image Best Practices
Digital Storytelling: Creating Facebook Postcards
november 2013charityexpress.com
Digital Storytelling: Creating Facebook Postcards – Fall 2013
What We’ll Cover
1. Intro
2. Principles of Creating Images
3. Finding your Facebook Audience
4. Creating your Image with PicMonkey (demo)
5. Workshopping
6. Question Period
Take-Homes: - This presentation PDF- Visual Resourcing Guide PDF
Digital Storytelling: Creating Facebook Postcards – Fall 2013
Brainstorming
Before you start thinking images, generate some related words to your subject
Don’t censor yourself; keep your mind moving and write it all down
Use paper & pen, post-its on the wall
Spend no more than 5 minutes on it
Circle the strongest words you come up with
Try to have nouns, adjectives, verbs, and even details
Case Study: The Plenty Campaign,a campaign to increase food security for se-niors living on Vancouver’s West Side.
Digital Storytelling: Creating Facebook Postcards – Fall 2013
Searching for Images
Now use your brainstorming words to help drive your searches
Don’t forget there are many ways to describe the same thing (thesaurus.com is your friend!)
Pair subject word with a mood wordelderly + hopefulelderly woman + proud
Pair subject word with context word elderly + marketelderly + park bench
Pair subject word with an action wordelderly + smilingelderly + shopping
**Refer to the Visual Resourcing Guide supplement for more resources & tips
Digital Storytelling: Creating Facebook Postcards – Fall 2013
Searching for Images
Make sure you check the useage rights of the image (see Resourcing Guide)
Facebook specs:A 1:1 ratio is bestImages should be a minimum of 403px by 403px; can be larger but not smallerLow-Res (72 ppi resolution)
403 px
403
px
Digital Storytelling: Creating Facebook Postcards – Fall 2013
Analyzing Images - SubjectWho is in the image?What is their body language? Pay attention to age, race, gender, clothing, where they are - does this relate to your audience and/or help convey your message?
Digital Storytelling: Creating Facebook Postcards – Fall 2013
Analyzing Images - Photography StylesDoes it look professionally taken or a snapshot?Are the colours cool, warm, dark, bright?
Digital Storytelling: Creating Facebook Postcards – Fall 2013
Image Sourcing - Photography Styles
Is the image natural-feeling, or heavily edited? Does it have faux-film filters?
Digital Storytelling: Creating Facebook Postcards – Fall 2013
Image Sourcing - Photography Styles
Black and white photography can appear timeless and soft, or very dramatic
Low-Contrast (softness) High-Contrast (dramatic)
Digital Storytelling: Creating Facebook Postcards – Fall 2013
Image Sourcing - Tips
Look for images with large areas of consistent colour for text placement.
Digital Storytelling: Creating Facebook Postcards – Fall 2013
Image Sourcing - Tips
Avoid cliches! Stay specific to your message.Have you seen the image many times before? Could it be applied to many different causes?
Save the World!
Digital Storytelling: Creating Facebook Postcards – Fall 2013
Image Sourcing - Tips
Keep in mind: this is what your audience sees when they log into Facebook…
Selecting a simple, clear, focused image is crucial in order to not have your im-age be lost in the clutter.
Digital Storytelling: Creating Facebook Postcards – Fall 2013
Working With the Image
Digital Storytelling: Creating Facebook Postcards – Fall 2013
Working With the Image - Cropping
Digital Storytelling: Creating Facebook Postcards – Fall 2013
Working With the Image - CroppingSubject is off-centreCut out a busy backgroundFeels more intimateFocus is clearer
Digital Storytelling: Creating Facebook Postcards – Fall 2013
Working With the Image - Touching Up
Increased contrastSharpenedWarmed tones
Every photo will need different touch ups, some may need none.
Less is more when it comes to touching up - it’s easy to get carried away.
Digital Storytelling: Creating Facebook Postcards – Fall 2013
Working With the Image - Adding Text
Decorated, distressed, and embellished won’t look good viewed in small sizes.
Sticking to one font helps keep it clear and concise.
Allow for breathing space around the text. Try to bal-ance it with the main focus of the image.
Readability is key!
Digital Storytelling: Creating Facebook Postcards – Fall 2013
Working With the Image - Adding Text
To create variety & grab the reader’s attention, try emphasizing the most important word or words and giving them more weight.
Say the phrase out loud and see which words you naturally emphasize
Heirarchy
Digital Storytelling: Creating Facebook Postcards – Fall 2013
Working With the Image - Adding Text
Stick with one colour if you can
Use a colour that has high contrast against your background
Colour
Digital Storytelling: Creating Facebook Postcards – Fall 2013
Final Image
Digital Storytelling: Creating Facebook Postcards – Fall 2013
Facebook Specs Recap
403px minimum sizeKeep a 1:1 ratio (square) to avoid cropping in your Timeline preview
Max image size is around 2048px - larger will be slow to load, or may be rejected by Facebook
Image formats: .jpeg.png
72 ppi (low-res)Filesize should be below 1MB
Digital Storytelling: Creating Facebook Postcards – Fall 2013
Questions?
Digital Storytelling: Creating Facebook Postcards – Fall 2013
Finding Your Facebook Audience
(demo)
Digital Storytelling: Creating Facebook Postcards – Fall 2013
Creating with PicMonkey
(demo)