We as instructional designers and eLearning developers wear many hats. Consider one more!

When we create instructional materials, we have to think very carefully not just about the content, but also about the visual design. Everything should have a purpose and be tied to the learning objectives. Visuals should always reinforce the content. If a picture or illustration does not have a very clear purpose and connection to the content, then it actually can take away from the learning experience. (Think of extraneous cognitive load.)

This idea brings me back to film school. One of my majors for my undergraduate degree was Film and Media Studies. Because it focused heavily on film theory, I learned how to critically analyze the media I consumed. The foundation of critical analysis and film theory is film history; I’ve linked the textbook that got me started.

One of the things you learn about in film theory is that early cinema took direct cues from theater. In theater,...

“Instructional Designer? What’s that?” I’m sure you’ve heard that question too. Most people would assume that we are designers working with our palettes and rulers. Well, they’re not far from the truth; we’re not called designer for no reason. We design instruction, job aids and courses because we understand how people learn. And because we understand people, we know that the visual design of these contents is equally important.

In my last blog post, I wrote about the importance of good and accessible visual design and introduced some tips on how to get started. In this post, I will use practical examples to point out what bad and good designs are. 

No, I’m not swearing, I’m quoting an acronym from my favourite graphic design book author, Robin Williams from The Non-Designer's Design Book. This page-turner has hundreds of images to point out the differences between amateurish and easily achievable professional-looking...