OWASP Presentation Template 2013 revision Design Criteria

= OWASP Presentation Template 2013 revision Design Criteria =

some feedback on the design criteria for a possible revision of the current OWASP presentation template.

Actually the version from 2011 worked quite ok.

Just in case you are wondering which one I mean, this is it: https://www.owasp.org/images/7/76/OWASP_Presentation_Template.zip (btw. I noticed, quite a number of people are still using an older ppt design template...)

Feedback from Tobias
On first glance, the new design looks cool and modern, but IMHO it has a number of practical flaws that make it very hard to work with:

1. the title page: the page has a dark blue background with a white image in the centre. So, if you write a title over several lines with white characters (as you are supposed by the template) on that, it becomes partially very hard to read (i.e. read white char on white background... ) - note: I experimented with various font colours, and none really works. Although red would work, but that is not a good font colour for a title page, either. So the key is to change the background image to something more homogeneous. - the subtitle section is a problem, too. The grey font is equally not very good to read - though I totally get it why the designer chose grey - because you can't use white as half the background is white and you can't use black or dark font colour as half the background for the subtitle is dark blue) - so grey is a compromise, but hard to read on both. Again best would be to change the background image or shape.

2. normal pages: the wave like design of the title bar looks cool, but: - it takes a lot of space of the slide (much more than many other templates) - due to the fact that it is mixed light/dark design, you can use for the slide title only the upper right corner, or you run in the same problem as with the title slide (light char on light background is impossible to read). So the space is very limited and you have to do multi-line titles which takes too much space from the slide. The large curvy title bar on the normal slides also does not go so well with graphics (which then cut or overlay the design).

My suggestions are: Make a design revamp. Either with small changes or complete revamp.
 * 1) reduce or change the white "lock" image on the title slide
 * 2) don't have large areas of mixed light and dark background if you have any text in front of it
 * 3) make the title slide with less contrast (either all light colour so you can use dark fonts or all dark background and light fonts)
 * 4) important: remove or reduce the wave curvy like design border on the title and all slides or make it much much smaller, e.g. instead of several cm difference, only maximum 1cm.
 * 5) change the logo on the normal slides to no longer include the OWASP text, this can save a lot of space we can use for title space of the normal slides. IMHO: we don't need the text "OWASP The Open Web Application Security Project" on every single slide we have. The normal OWASP logo is enough.

Feedback from Colin:
Other "Top 15+" comments:


 * Needs licence info on (every?) page
 * Needs copyright statement on title page
 * Needs space for author names, event name, date and location (like an older template had, but now gone)
 * Needs page numbers
 * Must not encourage corporate logo addition
 * Background "violet" on home page does not go all the way up to the swish - if kept, needs fixing
 * Not enough space for titles on normal pages (Allow for long and wrapping titles)
 * Normal pages must have a white background - not shaded at all
 * Default font sizes are scarily large, and should be smaller
 * No background images behind body text (there are none on this, but there were in a previous incarnation)
 * Consider small OWASP logo and abbreviated name in footer only of normal pages
 * Dislike "lock" images - very clichéd
 * Ensure all designs are copyright OWASP, and we have the ability to re-use/distribute etc at no cost
 * Obtain licensing details for any stock images included, and keep them for the record
 * Set default document properties
 * Ensure language (e.g. EN-GB, ES-Spain) is set consistently through document
 * Prints correctly on international (A) and US imperial paper
 * Background/embedded images optimised file sizes

Feedback from Erlend
My preference: A standardized OWASP first page for every presentation. Can simply be an image, and can be customized for conferences and chapters, but should shine through. Should allow room for title, event and speaker name. Provide watermark version of OWASP logo, to be used in the corner of content pages. No company logo on every page etc. Other than that it's, up to the speaker.