Monkey Butler Ninja

Presentation Zen Design by Garr Reynolds

Who is this book for? Is it the same for the Designer working at Apple versus a high school student. Not really.

Therefore, if you have NOT been formally trained in visual arts or you are one of those ’self-taught’ AND you use PowerPoint (or Keynote) then absolutely 5 stars on this book. It is written for YOU!

If you do have some artistic or designer training you will find this book on the beginner side. The sub title on the cover actually addresses this, “Simple Design Principles and Techniques to Enhance Your Presentations.”

Pros:

1. Garr Reynaolds has immersed himself in Japanese culture, which has obviously contributed heavily to his design teachings and principles. If you are going to pick a culture, Japan’s is a good choice.
2. His points are VERY clear (imagine that) and supported by plenty of nice examples.
3. An abundance of slide examples accurately reinforce points made in the text.
4. The layout of the book is pretty pleasing in my humble opinion. Maybe a tad to much white-space, but then again, he is the expert.
5. FAST read that is written efficiently and leaves you retaining the knowledge you acquired.

Cons:

1. The book fails to communicate one message. It makes it appear as if PowerPoint has NO place in design, but then later in the book the message then seems to counter that. I caught myself actually saying, “OK, I’m not suppose to use PowerPoint, got it… then what do I use?” But I think THIS is the message: PowerPoint is a presentation tool. And in the hands of someone with good design principles and technique, it can be a powerful tool.
2. Tooooo Japanese. Nothing is wrong with the culture and the examples are very nice. But at times some of the book felt like a tourism brochure. Slight, slight con in my opinion
3. While so many good examples populate this book, the “slide examples” chapter left me rather disappointed. Some were nice, but most just didn’t do it for me.

Neither Pro or Con:

As a rookie photographer I have been introduced to the micro stock debate. If that has any meaning to you then you should know iStockPhoto is a huge contributor to this book… even the cover is a photo from iStockPhoto. I have mixed feelings about the debate. On one hand iStock is a great service for this books target audience, on the other, how much was paid to the photographer for the COVER photograph of a book?

Summary:

This is absolutely a book you can read from cover to cover. It builds on previous lessons fluently. The delivery is done so in a simple, yet powerful manor. I consider myself a decent “designer” and good “graphics-guy” that can say with certainty this book has enhanced my presentation practices.

Recap:

If you = are an artist; formally trained; use Flash instead of PowerPoint/Keynote = PASS on the book, 2 of 5 stars.

If ANY of the following describe you: open PowerPoint fairly often; use clip art; think more color and fonts the better; feel like you need a better handle on design = BUY IT TODAY! 5 of 5 stars.

Monkey Butler Ninja Rating:

Since the book clearly says it on the cover “Simple Design Principles and Techniques…” it should not miss its target audience, therefore the Monkey Butler Ninja says 5 ninja stars out of 5!