Clipart killing PowerPoint presentations

Hi guys, I thought I would just follow our thread from a few weeks back http://www.123ppt.com/powerpoint/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=162 - http://www.123ppt.com/powerpoint/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=162 which ended in with us touching upon clip art in PowerPoint.

Clipart. It's a word that makes the spine shudder and every audience member bow their heads in shame.

Everytime I see some annoying little gif animation clip art in a PowerPoint presentation I have a mental break from listening. It's like my whole brain shuts down and the only thought I have is kill the clipart...kill the clipart!

Why do people actually still use clipart? There are so many valuable resources around online, why do presenters still give us those annoying cartoon gif animations on slides that are supposed to convey a serious message?

-Jim

Agree totally.

I think the biggest problem with clipart in PowerPoint is that because it's basically free, a majority of presenters just don't know when to stop. So they keep adding animations and keep adding graphics which were never really designed to sit together and you get this collection of disjointed graphics trying to be on a page but all competing for attention.

This is becoming a very interesting and valid discussion.

Most definetly Jim, you have hit the preverbial nail on the head!

Clipart and most specially clipart animations are usually made in isolation. For example, an animated dollar sign or an animated car.

One of the main problems that arises is the graphic expression or "style" of the clipart. Produced in isolation it is very difficult to find any number of clipart items that are harmonious, or rather designed to be used together.

Even in instances where the presenter may feel a light-hearted approach to their presentation is required and cartoon illustrative themes are employed. It is extremely difficult to find 2 similar illustrative styles that are required to illustrate the presenters key arguments or messages.

If I can jump in there Charles.

That's only the first problem because now the presenter has a choice to make.

Either:

• Go with 2 or more differing styles of clipart then to illustrate the point, argument, or slide. 
• Try to find an animated gif in the same style which whilst not ideal, can illustrate the point as closely as possible.

This always leads to 2 very bad scenarios, where either the slide becomes visually messy with no matching styles and choatic design. Or the audience viewing a slide with content describing one argument or keypoint, and illustrations illustrating something else.