[OT] Getting stupid with Smart Art in PowerPoint 2007

Sure, you've seen the Gettysburg PowerPoint Presentation. You may have even seen the Death Start Attack PowerPoint, or David Byrne's PowerPoint fueled artwork. PowerPoint has always been there when we needed our bullet points to say something more.

Now, if you've really got something to say, then Smart Art might help you say it a little better. For the rest of us, PowerPoint 2007 Smart Art pumps our dumb bullet points full of steroids and PCP - they don't really get any smarter, but they're stronger and edgier.

Example:

Boring, right? Plus, presented that way it's obvious that I've got absolutely nothing to say. No problem, I just select the bullet points and click on the Smart Art button, and our bullets go number one with a bullet:

 

Action! Machinery! Gears are turning, things are happening!

 

 

Well, we're not sure what's going on here, but it seems that there are some tradeoffs involved which may require further analysis. There's a delicate balance to be preserved...

 

 

Quality ingredients, wonderful results. Better not let this one stay on the screen too long, but it looks like a million bucks if it just flashes by.

 

 

Well, I think we all suspected what this slide is telling us. Notice, though, how the graphics make the horrible truth inescapable.

 

 

 

Well, they can't all be gems. This one's not so great as a slide, but this might have a shot as your desktop. Wait a minute... keep with me here... what if we airbrush it on a van! Are we talking now?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course we are. That was a rhetorical question; you weren't supposed to answer. I need to get some minor touch-ups, but believe me when I tell you that heads turn when I drive by.

Now, you're probably sinking into despair at this point. Jon's got access to this process, this Smart Art, which you can't have until 2007. In the meantime, he's going to... well, he'll create so much business value, such a wealth of shared meaning that he'll rule the emerging reputation economy.  I wish your despair was well founded, but it's not. You can test drive PowerPoint 2007 online right now, and unleash your own Smart Art today. If you publish it on Flickr, be a dear and tag it with "smartart", would you?

4 Comments

  • You know, if you think about it, I can see where Darth Vader really is just a pile of spaghetti and a monkey behind the mask. That speaks volumes for his personality and the path he's chosen. He's trapped in a world of carbs where all he really wants is a banana. That's deep, Jon. Very deep indeed.

  • This is all fine and good, but once you've converted something to SmartArt, how do you remove it and go back to bulletted text?

  • Hi there, maybe you can help me with this. I noticed that the "change color" button only has shades of blue to choose from in a ppt that I was given and want to edit. If I open an new one, I have many other color choices. So without having to go in and manually change the color of each smart art graphic, I'm wondering how to get my color choices back? Have you had this issue? Is it a smart art plug in I need to add for more color choices?

  • @susan: Try going to Design->Colors and choose a different color theme (or create new theme colors). PPT uses your color theme to determine your color options in SmartArt.

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