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Sunday, September 19, 2010

Comics and Presentation

In the last post, I mentioned how I felt the concepts behind a comic (strip or book) to be very similar to those behind a business presentation, when I read Scott McCloud's Making Comics book. I would like to expand on that.

In his previous book Understanding Comics - now a classic pertaining to field of comics, Scott McCloud defines the term comics as "Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or produce an aesthetic response in the reader". It sounds a little academic. The crux of the definition is that comics is sequential art, where each frame is made of pictures and words to convey a message both individually and over the entire span. This definition fits equally well for presentations as well. After all, a presentation is nothing but a series of frames where each frame is normally made of words and pictures and conveys some information to the viewer.

It looks like I was not alone in seeing the similarity. When I did a bit of research before penning this blog, I found an interview by Scott McCloud himself talking about this, as well as others.

Source: Austin Kleon
So, "What is the benefit?", you might ask. After all, comics is not necessarily associated with serious stuff - like pitch decks or lunch and learn sessions. It's supposed to be read & throw, right? Wrong. Think about this - which one have you felt is more engaging - comics or presentations? Which one has kept you on your toes, completely engaged, immersed? If the two share a number of common traits, then how come a comic is so interesting and a presentation is not? Is it just because of the relatively dry content of a presentation or is it something beyond that? After all, when we write a presentation, we don't start with the intent of boring people to do death, do we? What can we learn from the comic art that we have loved and apply to our presentations as well?

One easy and most common mistake that has been made over the years is the lack of pictures. And on occasions where there are indeed pictures, the compelling urge to drown it with words describing what the picture means.

Source: Call me Cassandra - Death by PowerPoint
Let's take a look at what Scott says on things that makes a comic and things that makes it work. A clear, persuasive, and intense comic (and from here on, you can freely replace the word 'comic' with the word 'presentation') has the following components.
  1. Choice of moment: Picking what moments in a story to include and what not to
  2. Choice of frame: Picking the right angle and distance. In short, the right viewpoint to provide the right emphasis
  3. Choice of image: Picking the right image at the right level of detail
  4. Choice of words: Picking the words that go with the image
  5. Choice of flow: Picking the order of the frames that guides the readers from start to end
The same rules govern a presentation as well. I have seen numerous instances (and in early days, I have fallen prey to this as well), where the writer tends to include a few slides either because it looks cool, or because they spent hours searching the Internet to get it and just didn't want the effort to go to waste, even though it does not add to the story. This is where the Slide Sorter mode in PowerPoint comes in. It lets you take a look at all the slides at slightly higher level and let you figure which ones to keep and which to remove. Comic writers (or any writer for that matter) go through this phase, and so should a presenter, if the aim is to make the presentation crisp and to the point.

Similarly, the other aspects are equally important - picking the right bullets or emphasizing the right bullets to convey the message, picking the right images to add clarity to the text (or vice versa), and ordering the slides in such a way that it flows end to end in a cohesive manner.

Comic writers can tell you how much work goes to creating a newspaper comic strip or a full-fledged novel. It takes weeks of preparation and work to produce a comic that is typically devoured in 30 minutes or so. The same unfortunately, applies to a presentation as well. While it may not take a few weeks, it will at least take a few hours if not, a couple of days to refine a deck - but at the end of the day, if it gives the same level of immersion as a comic strip or a graphic novel, I think the effort spent is worth it.

He goes into a number of other details too long to mention in a simple blog entry, but definitely worth reading. Here's another example that pertains to the interaction between the words and pictures. Scott classifies the interaction into seven categories.
  1. Word-Specific: Words provide the information with pictures accentuating what the words say
  2. Picture-Specific: Pictures provide the information with words accentuating what the pictures say
  3. Duo-Specific: Both words and pictures say the same thing (added emphasis)
  4. Intersecting: Both work together, but also provide information independently
  5. Interdependent: Both work to provide meaning, but neither will provide the information alone
  6. Parallel: Each provide seemingly differing message that do not seem to converge
  7. Montage: Words conveyed as pictures
In your next presentation, see if you can spot these variations. While each has its own purpose in life, most often we tend to overuse a few of the categories and more often than not, use one in place of another, thereby resulting in a poor presentation as a whole.

I feel that a little extra effort and some understanding of the basics, even if not from the same field, can go a long way in making one's craft far more superior than where it currently is. I know I myself am not there yet, but hope to get there soon. After all, how awesome it will be if we can immerse our PowerPoint-viewing audience in the same way as a comics immerses a kid?

Making Comics - A Review and a Teaser

Last week, I read a very interesting book - Making Comics by Scott McCloud. The author, I later came to know, is also the one behind the Google Chrome manual, which caused quite a sensation when it came out. The book itself is written in a comic format, true to the message it conveyed. Like any typical comic book, this was very easy to read and to understand, even though it covered much heavier concepts.

As a kid, and probably like any other kid of my time, I enjoyed reading comics, and still do. In India, the concept of a 'lending library' is quite popular - it's akin to a video library (such as Blockbuster) but for books. You become a member by paying a nominal fee and can borrow books - anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks depending on the nature of the book - for a fraction of the actual price of the book. I am still not exactly sure if it violated copyrights of the book (although the model is similar to video libraries - so I guess it's OK) but it did expose me to a wide range of books to which I would otherwise have not had access.

In fact, so much was my craze that whenever our family moved to a new city, the first thing I would do is become a member of the nearest lending library (sometimes three or four). The comics available in India were primarily European (Tintin, Asterix, and the like), American (Archie, Disney, and a few such as Mandrake and Phantom imported via Indrajal comics) and local flavors like Tinkle and Amar Chitra Katha (ACK).

Comics were always an interesting read, primarily because of the mix of visuals and text, which suited my level of concentration as a tween. It was short, to the point, and fun. When I came to US, I was disappointed to find that most European comics were simply not available. I don't know if it was because of the tendency in USA to distinguish themselves from Europe (manifested in a number of ways) or just plain preference, but all I could find in bookshelves were either Marvel Comics (---man, fill the blanks for any word) or super-contemporary ones that I did not get. Recently, Japanese comics (Manga) seems to be the only non-US genre that has broken this barrier, and that too in a big way.

Of late, I have been wondering why Indian comics has not blossomed beyond Tinkle and ACK despite access to a rich treasure of stories from generations past. One thing led to another, and I started exploring the world of comics - to understand what makes a comic instead of just reading them, which led me to the book in question.

One of the general dilemmas one has when looking for a book about writing is the credibility of the author. If I want to read a book about comics, I expect the book to be written by an established comic writer. Same for a book on movie direction or story writing. However, I feel that this is wrong. Not all teachers of an art are accomplished in their area of expertise or vice versa (accomplished persons may not be good teachers). Barring a few (like Richard Feynman on teaching itself, or Stephen King and Ray Bradbury on writing), these two don't tend to meet and that is no reason to discredit a person's work.

Frankly, I had not heard of Scott McCloud till I read this book. Regardless of whether he is an accomplished comic writer himself, he seems to have an excellent grasp of the theory behind writing comics. He breaks down the concepts behind a comic in a simple yet profound manner. My only pet peeve with this book, probably due to my background as mentioned earlier, is that the book focuses primarily on the genre of comics sold in USA (graphic novels, manga, and contemporary comics) and skips almost entirely the European style of comics. I wish he had at least dedicated a chapter on it, given that it shaped the thoughts of the world outside USA.

Interestingly, as I got deeper into the book, I found myself increasingly comparing the concepts behind a comic book to those behind developing business presentations. Stretching it a little, I feel that some may even extend to the area of User Interface and User Experience.

I will expand on this correlation between comics and presentations in my next blog (hence the teaser part). In the meanwhile, if you are curious enough, I would definitely recommend picking up the book from your friendly neighborhood bookstore. It's an easy, fun, and thought provoking read. If you are more interested in knowing Scott McCloud a bit more, you can also view his TED presentation on comics.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Sandhi Ganesha

Yesterday was Lord Ganesha (Elephant God in Hinduism)'s day. In India, Ganesha is also known as a knowledge provider. He is purported to have written the Mahabharata under Saint Vyasa's direction.


As kids, it was absolutely crucial for us to worship Ganesha before any exam and most importantly Mathematics (not really sure why). The more devout, such as those who desperately need to pass the exam, would break anywhere from 1 to 108 coconuts (Ganesha's favorite) depending on the strength of their hand and wallet.

Unlike most Gods, it is never too difficult to find a Ganesha idol for worship in India - especially South India. There is pretty much an unwritten rule that if there is a 'T' junction, there MUST be a small Ganesha statue in that corner facing the street. In most cases, the house forming the broader side of the T ensures this. Some such Ganeshas tend to become more popular and eventually transform into a bigger shrine with proper worship. There used to be one on the way to school which I used to visit regularly. I don't know if it helped me study better, but it at least improved my confidence!

The Sanskrit word for junction is 'sandhi'. While sandhis refer to street junctions, they also refer to conjunctions within the language such as one that is formed by combining two words together.

While English does not have too many sandhis (may with the exception of I'd, We'd, aren't, etc.), I believe the underlying Latin does use it liberally, giving rise to many English terms. In Sanskrit, sandhis are used all over the place - for poetic, aesthetic, and probably egoistic reasons as well (for the poet to show his language prowess).

The downside with sandhis in Sanskrit is that depending on how the word is split by the reader, it can give a completely different meaning, which has led to a number of interpretations for almost every Sanskrit text ever created!

My grandfather used to give us a very hilarious example to highlight the importance of understanding the rules of splitting the terms to get the right meaning, and interestingly, it involves a verse praising Ganesha, the king of sandhis.

गजाननं भूतगणादि सेवितं कपित्व जम्बू फलसारभक्षितं ।
उमासुतं शोकविनासकारणं नमामि विघ्नेश्वर पाद पङ्कजं ॥
It translates as follows:
GajAnanam: O Elephant Lord
Bhootaganaathi Sevitham: Worshipped by the disciples of Shiva (bhoota ganas)
Kapitva Jambu PalasAra Bhakshitam: Likes fruits such as Elephant Apple (Kapit) and Black Plum (Jambul)
Umasutam: Is with Uma (Parvati) - wife of Shiva and mother of Ganesha
Shoka vinAsha kAranam: Reason for destroying all sadness for his devotees
Namami vigneshwara pAda pankajam: I surrender to your feet soft as lotus petals

Now, my grandfather's version is slightly different - the words are the same but they are just split differently

गजानानाम्बू  धगनादी सेवितं
कपित्वजम्बू पलासराबक्षितम
उमासु तमसो कविनाशाकारानाम
नमामि विग्नेश्वर पाद पंकजम

The translation now becomes this:
gajAnanambu: One who wears an elephant flower (bu -> phoo -> flower in Tamil)
daganAdi sevitam: Burns all those who worship him
kapitva jambu: Jumps like a monkey (kapi = monkey)
palasAra bakshitam: Devours all snacks given to him
umAsu: Brought bad name to Uma (Parvati)
tamSo: (I forgot what this one was - nothing pleasant I can assure you!)
kavinAshakAranam: Responsible for the demise of all poets who sing his praise
namami vigneshwara pAda pankajam: I worship one with such qualities!

Same words, but completely different meaning! It goes to show the importance of learning something properly and understanding the intended meaning and not a screwed up interpretation - something current religious scholars who (mis)interpret the original intention of various religious texts without putting it in context need to desperately learn!

Hope Lord Ganesha gives them such strength :)

Having your cake ... and eating it too! 3 Operating Systems in 1

It's very hard to have your cake and eat it too, so to speak - but not in the case of Operating Systems! A while back, I had blogged about Ubuntu and how it is as good, if not better than Windows for everyday use.

While Ubuntu (10.04) has served me well as a server, it still had its issues in terms of general user acceptability. After all, everyone is so used to the Windows look and feel that it is hard for them to see a slimmer version with better functionality. Mac as always has its fans for its cool docking bar at the bottom and the jumping icons, but the rest of the OS is not necessarily useful, save for the artistically inclined.

But what if there is something that has the best of all three worlds? Wouldn't it be cool? For years, Mac users on Windows have used different themes to make Windows look like a Mac. I don't think the reverse is true - for that matter, I am not even sure if there are themes for Mac. In any case, beauty is only skin deep and what counts is the stuff within. However, no one said no to a good looking skin on a good looking body, right?!

Enter a few additions to Ubuntu that makes it not only look like Mac but also like Windows, at the same time! And you can do this three simple steps.

  1. Install the latest Ubuntu (10.04)
  2. Install Awn (Avant Window Navigator) via Ubuntu Software Center. This will add the very nice Mac Dockbar with all its features
  3. Install Win2-7 pack from Gnomelook.org. This will completely change the theme of Ubuntu to make it look exactly like Windows 7!
Normally with Windows, most themes hog memory like crazy and slow the system down, but thanks to Ubuntu's underlying sound architecture, there seems to be barely an effect on the system performance with this theme.

Who says I can't have my cake and eat it too?!