Draw circles around boring bullets with new SmartArt graphics

This is the second in our series of blog posts discussing 10 new SmartArt graphics that are now available, for free. Today's post was written by Craig Church, Senior Test Lead.

Bulleted lists have been around for a long time and are used every day in presentations, documents, and web pages. But bulleted text is boring and uninteresting to look at.

Two cool new SmartArt diagrams available for Office 2010 help take your bullets to the next level. The Radial Picture List and Circle Process SmartArt graphics use circles to convert your bulleted lists into flowing graphics, to give your message greater visual impact.

Radial Picture List

I'm sure you've heard the old saying "a picture is worth a thousand words". Images affect us on a completely different level than words and can quickly evoke memories or an emotional response. One of the new SmartArt graphics available in Office is the Radial Picture List SmartArt graphic. This layout allows you to combine images and words that show related list items around a central topic.

Circle Process

Vertical bulleted lists have always been useful for grouping related items or process steps into categories, but in the world of "Wide Screen" presentations, horizontal content often seems more appealing and natural. The new Circle Process SmartArt layout available in Office is a great way to convert vertical lists into a horizontal graphic that looks professional and can be styled to match your document theme.

In Office 2010, you'll see these new SmartArt graphics automatically in the Office.com layout type of the Choose a SmartArt Graphic gallery. (To get to the gallery, on the Insert tab, in the Illustrations group, click SmartArt).

If your connection to Office.com is turned off, you can turn it back on by going to the Privacy Options in the Trust Center, and then selecting the Connect to Office.com for updated content when I'm connected to the Internet check box.

I've shown you two of the many ways you can use these SmartArt graphics. Let us know how you use SmartArt graphics in the Comments.

For more about other newly released SmartArt graphics, see the following:

• 10 new SmartArt graphics available for Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Word
• More new, free SmartArt graphics: Hexagon Radial and Picture Frame
• Travel away with new SmartArt graphics
• The right SmartArt graphics for the job

-- Craig Church