Hold a magnifying glass between the sun and a tinder. You’ll notice a small, bright dot appears on the tinder. Tilt the magnifying glass back and forth to change the dot’s size. This will eventually create enough heat to start a flame.

The magnifying glass was able to focus the dispersed light rays of the sun onto a single spot, creating focused and intense energy that could ignite something.

There is beauty in simplicity. As Nancy Duarte states in her book Slide:ology: ‘Keep it simple. Save the decorations for the holidays.’ The extras actually TAKE AWAY meaning because they become a distraction.

I believe that this design concept can be applied in many contexts: meetings, content development, communicating a project to the team at-large, your day/week/month/year/life, and the list goes on.

What are the 3-5 main points your audience needs to know in order to get the joke?

This is why I always start with an outline. I make sure I get buy-in from all stakeholders on the outline before proceeding to make my art (I call ‘art’ what what others call a ‘deck,’ ‘brochure,’ or ‘dossier’).

How do you ensure that your craft remains focused?