Strengths
DIY Style
We really like the DIY style– the hand drawn font, sharpied-out pages, and sketchbook style drawings– Kleon uses throughout his deck. Kleon has done a great job of making this particular style his own. If someone had presented us with this deck sans attribution, we’d know immediately that Kleon designed it. He’s made this DIY style part of his own personal brand.
With that said, the DIY style makes the deck relatable and accessible for the average viewer. It was designed in the same style of Kleon’s book Steal Like An Artist, which is fitting, as the content is mostly the same, only here it’s with the writer in mind.
Kleon uses compelling photography to visualize his main points throughout the deck, and he does well to keep the slides simplistic, typically following our guideline of having one point on each slide. We love the hand drawn story diagram slides (“man in a hole,” “creation myth”) in particular. They get the point across quickly and in an engaging way.
Content
Kleon does an excellent job of presenting his main points in concise, brief statements (i.e. “write in your books,” and “keep a swipe file”). These pithy phrases pack a powerful punch because they’re easy to digest and easy to remember. They’re packaged takeaways, ready for application and reiteration.
And after presenting a main point, Kleon provides substantial examples as to why you should take that point to heart. For example, he follows up “write in your books” with numerous photographic examples of respected writers writing in their books. You don’t have to get fancy: Present your main point, and follow it up with supporting evidence. Kleon’s deck shows us it’s as easy as that.
Weaknesses
Length
Our main problem with Kleon’s Steal Like A Writer deck is its length. Typically, this is the last thing we’d criticize; we usually default to thinking that the more slides, the better. In this case, however, it’s not so much the number of slides (though, the whopping 118 total is enough to turn some viewers off altogether) as it is too many slides of similar evidence.
While we love how Kleon supported his main points with evidence of respected writers doing just as he advises, there’s far too many photographs of scribbled-in notebooks or books with no real supporting content. The deck would have been stronger if Kleon had taken out a few examples in each section. Seeing two or three marked-up notebooks is probably all we need to see to understand the point.
In Summary
Overall, we love Kleon’s Steal Like A Writer deck. The DIY style is executed with precision. It’s Kleon’s trademark look, and we love that he consistently delivers it so well. Our designers had a few suggestions on the design front– perhaps add color to lend more vibrancy to the deck, or maybe employ a “cut out” texture to the photos to match the DIY style– but overall, the deck delivers its main points masterfully with oodles of fascinating (and visual!) supporting evidence.
