Art Holden has been in the animation and presentation industry since 1996. He helped start Animation Factory in 1997 and served as general manager of Animation Factory for thirteen years. He currently lives in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA and works with PresenterMedia, a media content creating company.
In this conversation, Art discusses the new additions at Presenter Media, and the closure of Microsoft's Clip Art Gallery.
Geetesh: It's been a long while since we interviewed you -- can you tell us more about what's new at Presenter Media, such as your animation and video customizers?
Art: PresenterMedia has been working on expanding the definition of clip art. A generic image can distract and dilute the main ideas, whereas the right image can drive home the point and maintain an audience's attention.
By building a library of modifiable imagery, we are striving to do away with tired generic clipart. Our diverse collection provides active, dynamic imagery that fits with a presenter's message and design style.
For example, you can extend your branding and message right into the image or animation. Include your logo as part of a clipart image, add your own message to an animated video background, or change colors to match your company's design style.
PresenterMedia does not require any additional software to install and works right inside your web browser so you can use our tools from any location.
In the future we will be expanding our custom design templates to include real people and live action video as well as several new features I can't talk about yet.
Geetesh: Microsoft no longer provides the immensely popular Clip Art Gallery on Office.com – or even within Office applications. How is Presenter Media positioned to provide this missing link to users?
Art: I feel that Microsoft did away with their clip art library for the very reasons we are striving to expand the customization features of ours. Many of the clips from the Microsoft Online library were dated and had appeared in millions of other PowerPoint presentations. It was instantly recognizable when a presenter was using an image from the Microsoft Clip Art Gallery.
We want to provide imagery that reinforces the presenter's message, not just fills up empty space on a slide. With many of our clipart, animations and video projects, two different presenters can easily create two completely different designs. By including their logos, main subject points, or unique messages directly in our media, they are assured of original images that completely compliment their own presentation.
Categories: clip_media, design, interviews, powerpoint