The states in the USA are all over the map when it comes to total area (aka, “size”).
We all love data visualizations on maps, but the wide range of state sizes can distort visual messages.
Smart graphics for visual people
The states in the USA are all over the map when it comes to total area (aka, “size”).
We all love data visualizations on maps, but the wide range of state sizes can distort visual messages.
Today I had the idea to make a Minions Visio SmartShape. I was primarily interested in controlling eye movement using ShapeSheet techniques.
As a responsible adult, I probably don’t (shouldn’t) have the time to finish it properly. But I thought I’d make this video to show off some capabilities and point out general concepts that might help to make useful SmartShapes.
PhotoShop, Illustrator and SketchBook Pro users have all the fun. They make these cool, time-lapse videos, set to trendy, fast-paced music. I know Visio isn’t as cool as those other apps, but a lot of people still love using it. And they like music too! So I whipped out my trusty Camtasia Studio/Recorder and gave it a shot.
Microsoft changes the look of Visio’s user interface from time to time. Most of the uproar came for Visio 2010 with the introduction of the dreaded Ribbon.
But Microsoft has also made changes to Visio’s shape-manipulation handles, thereby rendering millions of painstakingly-created screenshots on websites the world over instantly obsolete, and confusing users everywhere.
As a reference point for users using older and newer versions of Visio, and just out of plain curiosity, I’m rehashing the look of Visio shape handles for Visio 2000, 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2013. Have fun!
A customer/fan asked me the other day how to create custom bullets in Visio using a character he’d carefully selected from the Wingdings font. He had dug his way deep into the text editing dialog, and had actually found the right place for customizing bullets, but he couldn’t quite get it to work.
It turns out he was making it just a bit more complicated than it needed to be. When I looked into it, I found that the process was indeed a bit unclear. So let’s walk through creating custom bullets in Visio, and clear up any muddiness that you might encounter along the way.
The 2014 FIFA World Cup is nigh, soccer/football fever is at a…er…pitch, and it’s time for another topical Visio Guy article and download!