Create better diagrams with less effort using OmniGraffle • Produce high-quality professional-looking diagrams that communicate information much better than words • Makes diagramming fun and simple for Macintosh users • Master the art of illustrating your ideas with OmniGraffle • Learn to draw engaging charts and graphs to grasp your viewers' attention to your presentations • A hands-on guide filled with visual step-by-step examples that cover both the basics and the advanced features of OmniGraffle (For more resources on OmniGraffle, see.) Diagramming is really communication. There is a substantial field of study out there, which only deals with the psychology of communication.

May 29, 2012. Having spent the last few years as a UX designer in digital and advertising agencies, I've diagrammed, wireframed, and prototyped a lot of different experiences. During this time, Facebook has continued it's monolithic climb as the world's largest social networking site. Because of this, Facebook. Feb 20, 2006. Yet another script for OmniGraffle. This one generates a rough skeleton of a timeline, getting the items spaced out properly, but does not really do much else at the moment. With a little further modification, something like what is shown here can be made.

It is outside the scope of this article to go into the theoretical background on the best way of visually presenting an idea (consider, as an example, some of the works of Edward Tufte). What you will learn in this section are a few handy tips that you may or may not follow. If you decide to follow these tips, your visual diagramming will not go wrong. However, do not follow these tips as 'rules'.

Obey them if they make sense and disobey them when they get in your way. Most importantly, don't lose sight of, or forget what you want to communicate with your diagram. Tip 1: Do some planning before you start OmniGraffle may be the best diagramming tool on the Macintosh. Complex diagrams are still a lot of (hard) work to get right, even with the aid of a computer. OmniGraffle is still just a diagramming tool—it will not do your thinking processes for you.

For small and simple diagrams where you have full knowledge of what you want to communicate, you can start working directly in OmniGraffle. However, for bigger and more complex diagrams, it may be easier to start your thought process using a white board, or some paper and a pencil. If you still insist on using a computer for organizing your thought processes, you should take a look at OmniOutliner from the same people that make OmniGraffle.

The cool thing about using OmniOutliner is that you can import your outliner documents into OmniGraffle and then OmniGraffle will create a diagram for you. If outlining is too simple, and you are more used to mind mapping—there are some simple mind mapping stencils at Graffletopia. However, you may be better off using a specialty tool like MindManager from MindJet Corporation ().

A very good example of planning ahead is traffic signs. Designing traffic signs takes into account the driver's needs and requirements (that is, easy to understand pictograms going by in 120 km/h on the highway).

These signs may seem simple to create – but a lot of work has been put into them to make them this simple. Even if you have not seen a given sign before, there is a good chance that you will understand it's meaning without further explanation. A good diagram should be like a well designed traffic sign. Tip 2: Colorize gently The old adage that 'less is more' really applies to diagramming at large. Use light colors whenever possible when filling shapes.

Try not to mix strong and light colors on the same diagram. If want to use text in colored shapes – take into account the contrast of the background color and the text. Light colors should have black text, and strong colors should have white text. Stick to either black or white text.

Use as few colors as possible – never use yet-another-color just because you can. If you need ideas on which colors may match each other you should investigate the software tools found on the ColorJack website (). The ColorSphere and the swatches are a good starting point. Download Drivers For Hp Pavilion Zd8000. Another interesting website to get some ideas on good color combinations is the Kuler community.

In this community users are both sharing their own color swatches, and can vote on the best-looking color swatches in the community. You find Kuler community. If you need to use colored text on a colored background – and really care about the readability (contrast) of your message (which you should), then you should try the Colour Contrast Check tool from snook.ca —go to and experiment with foreground and background colors.