Smart graphics for visual people
If you like Microsoft’s ecosystem of devices and software, then you’ve been waiting for a new Nokia Lumia handset for a looong time. Well the wait is just about over, and the only questions remaining are: 1. Are they too expensive? and 2. Which one is the right size for me?
We’ll tackle question number 2 today with a handy Visio download!
If you need a catchy title for your Visio diagram, then diamonds could be your best friend!
Today’s Visio SmartShape encases each character you type in it’s own individual diamond for that perfect Retro or Argyle look!
(Just what you were looking for, eh?)
No documentation of Apple-related products would be complete without the Blue Lego Icon.
Whether you’re a UI Designer or a Smart @ss, you will surely be able to put this Visio SmartShape to use!
The frenzied launch of Apple’s sadly-named iPad really highlights how big touch-based user interfaces are these days. If you are a UX designer or are working out user interfaces, then you’ll need to include touch gestures in your plans.
Luckily, John Goldsmith has just released an excellent stencil of Visio touch gesture shapes to help you lay out your ideas!
Web designers and AI folks need to know what colors they are using. And they need to know precisely.
Bright red, Fuchsia and Mauve just won’t do. They need exacting names like: #FF0000, #FF00FF and #E0B0FF.
Since more and more folks are using Visio for prototyping web sites and user interfaces, I thought it might be useful to create a SmartShape that displays the hexadecimal color value for a particular shape.
[Read more…] about Get Web Hex Color Values from Visio Shapes
Need a sophisticated 3D button shape for your Visio presentations?
Whether you need to indicate buttons, highlights, important notes, corrections, status lights, or just cool visuals, this highly-capable Visio SmartShape will make your Visio diagrams pop off the page!
UserFocus has released a cool set of user experience shapes for Visio users that are involved with user experience activities or produce user experience deliverables.
This free Visio stencil contains 34 master shapes that will help you to illustrate your research plan and show the types of deliverables you will produce.
The last time I flew the Amsterdam to Seattle route on Northwest Airlines, I noticed an interesting graphic while trying to figure out how to watch a movie with the in-flight entertainment system.
The graphic showed a clever way to squeeze more steps into a gauge-graphic without using more space.
Of course I couldn’t resist turning it into a Visio SmartShape. You can download it here and use it your presentations and documentation to show ratings, status, priority or other relative data values that will pop off the page when illustrated visually!
[Read more…] about Turn It Up With the NW Airlines Volume Gauge!
The other day, I visited one of my favorite coffee houses in Munich: Aran. While sipping my mocha, the logo on the cup gave me the idea for a Visio SmartShape:
A title shape that automatically places each character in a circle.
The cup graphics look something like the thumbnail you see at the beginning of this article. In fact, I used the newly-created SmartShape to make that a-r-a-n that you see in the square.
[Read more…] about Run Circles Around Your Text With the Circle-text Title SmartShape
I’ve seen much buzz lately regarding breadcrumb shapes in Visio.
Evidently a lot of folks are using Visio for IA and wireframes. Yup, you can lay-out and design web-sites with good ol’ Visio!
So I decided to create a Visio Breadcrumbs Shape to help web-site designers more quickly finish their prototypes. This shape incorporates some smart-behavior that should save you a lot of time!
[Read more…] about Design Web Pages With This Visio Breadcrumbs Shape