Visual Style Guides 101: Mastering eLearning Content Development
Marina Arshavskiy (Instructional Design consultant)
I help instructional designers upskill and advance their careers. I also write curricula for universities and provide corporate training on eLearning and course design. | Author of E-Learning Design on a Shoestring
In the ever-expanding world of eLearning, the creation of captivating and consistent content is a lynchpin of effective instructional design. One indispensable tool that aids in achieving this consistency is a Visual Style Guide. In the discussions below, we’ll explore the foundational aspects of developing a Visual Style Guide for eLearning, and offer practical insights to empower instructional designers in their content creation journey.
Getting Down to Basics: What is a Visual Style Guide?
A Visual Style Guide is a comprehensive document that serves as a roadmap for instructional designers, providing a clear framework for design elements and guidelines. It outlines the principles and specifications that maintain a consistent visual identity across all eLearning materials, ensuring they align seamlessly with the overarching goals of the course.
So, when should you prepare one, and what value does it bring to eLearning projects?
Timing is critical when developing a Visual Style Guide, ideally at the project's onset during the planning phase. However, it should evolve alongside content development, accommodating any changes or additions that may arise. The value it adds to eLearning projects is multifaceted.
Consistency is a primary benefit, as it ensures a uniform look and feel throughout the eLearning modules. Efficiency is another crucial advantage, streamlining the design process and saving both time and effort. Moreover, a well-crafted Visual Style Guide reinforces an organization's brand identity, fostering recognition among learners.
Why is it Important for eLearning Instructional Designers to Have One?
For instructional designers, a Visual Style Guide is a foundational tool that goes beyond aesthetics. It ensures consistency across modules, fostering a cohesive visual experience for learners throughout the course. Additionally, it serves as a communication bridge, facilitating collaboration between instructional designers, graphic designers, and other stakeholders involved in the development process.
Instructional design often leads to iterative, incremental development. By reducing the need for constant decision-making during the design phase, a Visual Style Guide leads to significant time and effort savings.
What are the Key Components of a Visual Style Guide?
The Visual Style Guide encompasses several key components, each playing a pivotal role in shaping the overall visual identity of the eLearning content. Some of the elements covered in the Guide include:
?Color Palette
Define primary and secondary colors, ensuring accessibility. This involves specifying not just the colors themselves but also their appropriate usage across various elements within the eLearning modules. For instance, indicating that you’ve reserved blue for headers and green for interactive elements.
Typography
Specify fonts for headings, body text, and any additional text elements. Consistency in font choices ensures a seamless reading experience for learners and contributes to the overall cohesiveness of the course.
Imagery Guidelines
Provide directives on the types of images, illustrations, and icons used. This can include specifying the resolution of images, the tone they should convey, and even the inclusion of certain visual elements for a personalized touch.
Layout and Grid Systems
Establish a consistent layout structure for pages and modules. This involves deciding on the arrangement of text, images, and interactive elements to create a visually appealing and user-friendly learning environment.
Interactive Element Guidelines
Detail the design of buttons, navigation bars, and interactive components. This ensures that interactive elements across different modules maintain a unified design language, contributing to a seamless user experience.
Brand Elements
Include logos, taglines, and other brand-specific elements. Integrating these elements reinforces the organization's identity and aligns the eLearning content with broader branding efforts.
Over time, many IDs develop and refine other Guide contents. For example, some include guidelines on pagination, cover pages, tables of content layouts, naming conventions, rules for comments and annotations, and even for headers, footers and margins.
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Examples of Developing a Visual Style Guide
To better illustrate how one might go about preparing a Visual Style Guide of their own, lets examine the various elements discussed above, in the context of an example scenario: Creating an Onboarding eLearning Course. In this hypothetical scenario, let's consider the development of a style guide for the development of an onboarding eLearning course for a company.
Color Palette: Primary color: #0073e6 (Blue), Secondary color: #00cc66 (Green). The directive here is to use blue for headers and green for interactive elements, creating a visually engaging and easily navigable interface.
Typography: A consistent font choice ensures clarity and readability across all textual content. Provide the hex values of the colors that you have chosen for your course. Explain what each color represents and when to use it. For example,
Tone or voice: Describe the tone of voice that you want to use in your course text. Is it formal or informal? Serious or playful? Friendly or authoritative? Provide some sample paragraphs or sentences that illustrate your tone or voice.
Writing tips: Offer some rules or guidelines for writing your course content. For example, how to name your course elements (e.g., modules, lessons, assessments), how to capitalize and punctuate lists (e.g., commas or semicolons), or how to use numbers (e.g., numerals or words).
Imagery Guidelines: High-resolution images of team members for a personalized touch. This adds a human element to the onboarding process, making it more relatable for new employees. For example,
Images: use high-quality photos that relate to the content and the audience. Avoid stock photo clichés. Use the graphic color for image borders. Resize and crop images to fit the slide. Provide the source and attribution of the images.
Illustrations: use simple and clear icons or diagrams that convey the message. Use the graphic color for illustration fill and stroke. Align and distribute illustrations evenly on the slide. Provide the source and attribution of the illustrations.
Buttons: provide examples of how your buttons should look and function in your course. Specify the button color, shape, size, text, etc. Explain when to use different types of buttons such as next, back, or submit. Provide instructions on how to create and edit buttons in your authoring tool.
Layout and Grid Systems: Consistent use of a two-column layout for easy navigation. This structure provides a standardized format, enhancing user familiarity and ease of interaction.
Interactive Element Guidelines: Buttons with rounded corners, hover effects, and a consistent color scheme. These details contribute to a cohesive design language, making interactive elements intuitive for learners.
Brand Elements: Include the company logo in the header and footer. This not only reinforces the organization's brand identity but also aligns the onboarding experience with the broader brand image.
Where possible, provide samples and examples of style elements (such as *.JPEG images) that project members may use. It’ll help if the guide includes resource locations (such as links to image and template galleries) for ease of accessibility.
Practical Style Guide Creation Tips for IDs
Instructional designers can enhance the effectiveness of their Visual Style Guides with the following practical tips:
1)????? Involve Stakeholders: Collaborate with graphic designers, content creators, and other key stakeholders to gather diverse perspectives. This collaborative approach ensures that the Visual Style Guide reflects the needs and expectations of all involved parties.
?2)????? Regular Updates: Periodically review and update the Visual Style Guide to adapt to changing requirements. The eLearning landscape is dynamic, and regular updates ensure that the guide remains relevant and effective over time.
?3)????? Provide Examples: Include visual examples for each guideline to clarify expectations. Visual aids enhance understanding and serve as practical references for instructional designers during the content creation process.
?4)????? Usability Testing: Test the Visual Style Guide with a small group to identify and address potential issues. Usability testing helps ensure that the guide is user-friendly and practical for all team members involved in the eLearning development process.
?5)????? Flexibility: Ensure the guide is flexible enough to accommodate different learning modules and scenarios. While providing a structured framework, the Visual Style Guide should also allow for adaptability to diverse content types and instructional approaches.
The Final Word: Moderation
Don’t overdo it! A well-crafted Visual Style Guide proves to be an indispensable asset in the realm of eLearning, ensuring a consistent, visually appealing, and engaging learning experience. But too many rules lead to stifling creativity! Instructional designers, armed with a well-balanced guide can streamline their workflow, save time, and deliver content that captivates and resonates with learners effectively.
Great insights! -Consistency, efficiency, and brand identity- are pillars of impactful content. ?? Visual style guides truly elevate instructional design! ?? #eLearning #ContentCreation