Mickey’s Ten Commandments for design

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is lots of advice about storytelling and designing presentations. I found some excellent advice on page 12 of a book from 2015 by Disney construction developer Marty Sklar titled One Little Spark! – Mickey’s Ten Commandments and The Road to Imagineering, which also is previewed at Google Books. Those commandments are:

 

[ 1] KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

Identify the prime audience for your attraction or show before you begin design.

 

[ 2] WEAR YOUR GUESTS’ SHOES

Insist that your team members experience your creation just the way guests do it.

 

[ 3] ORGANIZE THE FLOW OF PEOPLE AND IDEAS

Make sure there is a logic and sequence in your stories and in the way guests experience them.

 

[ 4] CREATE A WIENIE (VISUAL MAGNET)

Create visual ‘targets’ that lead visitors clearly and logically through the experience you’ve built.

 

[ 5] COMMUNICATE WITH VISUAL LITERACY

Make good use of color, shape, form, texture – all the nonverbal ways of communication.   

 

[ 6] AVOID OVERLOAD – CREATE TURN-ONS

Resist the temptation to overload your audience with too much information and too many objects.

 

[ 7] TELL ONE STORY AT A TIME

Stick to the story line; good stories are clear, logical, and consistent.

 

[ 8] AVOID CONTRADICTIONS – MAINTAIN IDENTITY

Details in design or content that contradict one another confuse an audience about your story and its time period.

 

[ 9] FOR EVERY OUNCE OF TREATMENT, PROVIDE A TON OF TREAT

In our business, Walt Disney said, you can educate people – but don’t tell them you’re doing it! Make it fun!

 

[10] KEEP IT UP (MAINTAIN IT)

In a Disney park or resort, everything must work. Poor maintenance is poor show!

 

There is more detailed advice in a book review by Andrew Everett at THE KEY POINT on May 1, 2016 titled One Little Spark, like:

 

“[7] Tell One Story at a Time. ‘Good stories are clear, logical, and consistent… Storyboards are a must in our work, as a way to develop our story sequences. The objective is to create a story line that holds together from the first sketch to the last…A storyboard review can help reveal a key point or a weak character than can be reworked without tossing out all the good material the creators have developed.’ ”

 

This post was inspired by finding Mickey’s Ten Commandments mentioned by Bob Weis in his 2024 book Dream Chasing: my four decades of success and failure with Walt Disney Imagineering.