Very often the course material graphics, charts and graphs we receive from subject matter experts are less than stellar. They are usually developed by third parties and have been passed down through the years from presenter to presenter. By the time we receive them at KMi, they have been saved and re-saved so many different times that they have unrecognizable file extensions and barely legible resolutions. 

Though it's nearly impossible to recreate every precise line graph and data developed chart, we do have the opportunity to improve the simpler graphics, which usually constitute a large chunk of the material. Our content developers have outlined a process that utilizes isometrics and other techniques to quickly and easily recreate any number of graphs and charts in a visually attractive manner. Let's have a look at an example.

This is a sample survey that I will use to illustrate the process. Since the results of the survey add up to 100% of those questioned, a pie chart is the most logical method to display the findings. Using some basic math I was able to quickly recreate the pie char. In just a few simple steps I can simply add perspective, color and shadow to create a much more visually pleasing graphic.

While not as appropriate for this survey, I will also demonstrate the bar graph method we often use. On the left, we can see a flat bar graph - similar to ones we receive from subject matter experts. Starting with five simple squares (1), I first use isometrics to create the desired perspective (2). Then, I create each bar based on a 100 pixel high scale. This allows the graph to be exact. After the bars are created I've added color and shading to bring the whole graph to life (3).

Lately, I've been asked very open and general questions by non-graphics people trying to get a grasp on how everything works. Basically, the questions are any number of variations on "what programs do you use?" It's a very good question that really has no simple answer. So I'm going to give a brief and basic guide to the different types of programs KMi's custom content developers use when creating our course material.

Essentially, this is an extension of my Vector or Bitmap series. It would be helpful to read those blog entries as a prerequisite to this discussion. Our custom eLearning solutions generally use web based graphics, streaming audio and video and written text. In order to keep this as simple as possible I'm only going to cover graphics and delivery and avoid lengthy audio and video discussion.

For creating and editing bitmap graphics such as photographs, Photoshop is the industry king. It's likely that everyone, no matter their graphics proficiency, has heard of Photoshop at some point and most likely used as a verb. For example, "I Photoshopped Cousin Joe's head on to this bodybuilder's body. There are a number of other programs that have similar capabilities but Photoshop is the standard.

Many times we create vector illustrations such as character designs, logos and other "drawn" elements that need to be scalable and high resolution. Adobe Illustrator is the vector counterpart tool to Photoshop's bitmap capability. Again, there are a number of other similar tools that will produce the same results.

Fireworks is another program that is extremely powerful for specific jobs. This program is useful for developing and optimizing graphics for the web. For example, some of the courses we produce have HTML skins. We use Fireworks to design, slice and optimize the graphics that, when reassembled, create these skins. There are a number of other capabilities that Fireworks provides such as creating rollover states for buttons.

Finally, when we have all of our graphics created we use all powerful Flash to bring everything together in a rich interactive final product. You might say this is where the magic happens. Flash is a timeline based program that utilizes a programming language called Action Script. In Flash we create complex animations and interactive graphics, activities and exercises.  It also has pretty powerful vector drawing capabilities as well and our eLearning content developers create many of their graphics directly in the program.

While this only scratches the surface of the tools we use on a daily basis we use these four programs as the foundation for the development of our rich and engaging custom eLearning solutions.

There are loads of tools and techniques that our learning content development team use to make our customized eLearning courses as rich and engaging as possible. At KMi we have a wide repertoire of secrets that we use everyday that span all mediums, from photography techniques (one of which I'll describe today), to many software tools, to complex mixing of mediums such as 3D and 2D. I anticipate this new blog series to be a diverse, ongoing and unique window into the graphics for eLearning development world.