In the field of data visualization, The Economist is regarded for its clear and insightful presentations. Their focus on simplicity ensures that each chart or graph conveys a story that is easy to understand, thanks to their careful design choices. They turn complex data into visual stories that speak to the viewer. There’s much to learn from their approach to charts, providing valuable lessons for those interested in data visualization.
Why The Economist?
For much of its history, The Economist relied on data to communicate news, with tables and statistics appearing in print as early as 1847. Over many years, their graphs evolved and became a weekly staple, adapting to different mediums and data visualization styles. Their reliable and engaging graphs remained grounded in one main principle: the viewer should learn the primary message of the chart after only a few seconds. Afterward, as they examine and explore even further, they will gain more information, just like reading a full page of text.
Use a simple design approach
A standout feature of this publication’s graphs is their commitment to the design’s simplicity. They regularly use basic line charts or bar charts complemented by straightforward, yet descriptive, titles in a sans-serif font that’s easy to read. These kinds of choices ensure that the data visualization is understood at a glance and keeps the focus on the information. Another method they use to maintain simplicity is sticking with a simple color palette that detracts from any distractions that can undermine the original goal of readability.
The chart matches the message
Following a vital principle in data visualization, The Economist tries to match the chart with the main message. Selecting the appropriate type of chart to communicate the data emphasizes the main message, and allows the viewer to grasp the information more easily and intuitively. For example, a line chart helps visualize changes over time, while a bar chart helps highlight the differences in comparisons. Similarly, combined charts like a stacked area chart offer a comparative view of different data sets, allowing for a more layered understanding.
Guide the viewer to the insight
One of the most helpful approaches utilized by The Economist is how they guide the viewer to the heart of a chart’s insight. Throughout the entire graph, the elements work together to move the viewer to the main idea, starting with the title that spells out exactly what you should walk away with. Then there’s the strategic use of color that highlights the pivotal data points and the bolded text and numbers to emphasize their importance. The overall design choices work together to create harmony with all the elements and reinforce the central message.
Use consistent, unified data visualization
The Economist notably manages a unified, consistent presence across all their platforms, whether on social media, print, or their website. They maintain a seamless visual language wherever you may encounter them. This uniformity is created through a singular color scheme, design style, and foundational principles that minimize clutter and distractions. By embracing consistent design elements, they enhance their data visualization’s legibility and reinforce their brand identity.
Implement strategic use of color
Color plays a large role in creating clarity in data visualization. For example, a chart that aims to compare between two variables across different regions. Initially, contrasting colors would imply that the categories are unrelated, so to avoid this, The Economist will use a more refined strategy that uses consistent color schemes, playing around with opacity levels to highlight specific points. Furthermore, using typography can assist in emphasizing the key findings and main differences without misleading viewers.
Break the Y-axis scale
Adjusting the Y-axis scale on charts can be a testy decision, especially when it doesn’t start at zero. This practice is often criticized and avoided due to potentially misleading viewers. But, as we see in The Economist, there are instances where emphasizing minor variations is crucial for highlighting the story in the data. In these cases, limiting the chart’s ranges becomes necessary to highlight these nuances. However, it is important to clearly identify when the scale has been adjusted for transparency’s sake. It is also important to note that breaking the axis in a bar chart is generally not advised, as it can misrepresent the proportional relationship between the data and its representation.
Integrate the text and graph in the data visualization
Effectively integrating the text and visual elements in a report is crucial for clear communication, but in many instances, they fail due to the “slideshow effect.” This is when the narrative only repeats what is shown in the graph. The publication implements a more impactful approach by creating visuals that complement that narrative but are informative enough to stand on their own. This means leveraging legends (which explain the symbols in a chart) that are positioned close to the data they are describing could greatly enhance readability.
In conclusion, a harmonious blend of simplicity, guidance, and consistency are the pillars that make The Economist’s graphs stand out thanks to thoughtful data visualizations. We can learn from their approach how to leverage design principles in data visualization to prioritize the reader’s understanding. And of course, if you have any data that could benefit from elevated design and storytelling, you could always contact our team at Prezlab to learn more about our information design and infographic design services!
When preparing for a consulting presentation, one term you must know is MECE. The MECE principle is a strategic problem-solving tool that helps organize ideas clearly to ensure that they are both distinct and comprehensive. It is a way of thinking that enables consultants to structure their solutions so that no possibility is overlooked. MECE is essential not only as a way to frame problems but also in crafting powerful and persuasive storytelling in presentations.
What is the MECE principle?
The MECE principle, standing for “mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive,” is a framework used in consulting to group ideas effectively to cover all options without overlapping. It lets the user structure their ideas and solutions to avoid double-counting potential solutions and ensure a comprehensive probe into each idea. Mutually exclusive refers to options that each fall into one different category, while collectively exhaustive refers to when each option is represented.
The MECE principle is an indispensable tool for brainstorming, problem-solving, and planning and helps consultants frame their solutions clearly and effectively. When used in a PowerPoint presentation, it allows professionals to smoothly navigate through tricky problems and guide their clients toward informed and clear-headed decision-making.
The origin of the MECE Principle
Barbara Minto, who created the pyramid principle, was a strategy consultant at McKinsey when she also invented the MECE principle. Although she credits Aristotle with the original idea due to his view on logic and categorization, MECE is a fundamental concept that underlies the original pyramid principle by helping group ideas logically to let consultants organize their communications.
How is MECE used with the pyramid principle?
The MECE principle and pyramid principle complement each other in practice when it comes to structuring ideas and their communication. MECE ensures that the information is categorized without overlap, covering all possibilities, to form the basis of a solid argument. The pyramid principle then takes each of these categories and arranges them into a hierarchy to create a logical flow of ideas from most to least important. Together, both of these methodologies work together to facilitate clear and impactful communication, allowing professionals to present complex information in an organized and persuasive manner.
Breaking down the MECE principle
To ensure comprehensive and efficient analysis, the MECE principle approaches information through two main lenses, mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive:
Mutually exclusive
The first part of the MECE principle is the concept of mutual exclusivity, whose purpose is to ensure efficiency and clarity in problem-solving. It aims to categorize topics as distinct with no overlaps, like non-intersecting circles in a Venn diagram. For example, an efficient mutually exclusive approach would categorize each idea into distinct groups to guarantee separation. This then allows you to explore each idea or dataset in a way that avoids redundancy and optimizes your time.
Collectively exhaustive
The collectively exhaustive concept is a vital counterpart in the MECE approach that ensures comprehensiveness in the problem-solving process. This part attempts to cover the problem’s full spectrum and leaves no stone unturned. In practice, this means categorizing issues to encompass the entire problem without omitting any details. Through a collective exhaustive approach, you reevaluate what is missing from the mutually exclusive approach and integrate it into a more comprehensive analysis. The MECE approach must be both mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive to ensure that all possible solutions are addressed and explored.
MECE in practice
The MECE framework is a super useful tool for making vital business decisions, offering a structured and segmented approach that clarifies different business areas. For example, regarding consumer targets, MECE allows an in-depth analysis of customer groups by separating them into profitable segments to help shape targeting strategies. Product targeting is also an area that benefits from MECE, as it facilitates cost allocation for different products and highlights the most lucrative ones for increased promotional efforts. Unfortunately, many companies underestimate MECE’s potential for streamlining focus and decision-making. But for consultants, coming from an external point of view that is divorced from the daily operations, allows for a more intentional application of MECE.
Why is MECE important?
Being able to deconstruct and dissect complex issues into compartmentalized segments allows consultants to pinpoint critical factors that drive impactful results. Breaking down a problem into segments allows for a more structured approach to analysis and resolution. While both parts of the MECE principle are essential, a collectively exhaustive analysis in the initial stages of a project ensures that the analysis is thorough. This kind of exhaustive exploration would guarantee that the solution to the dilemma is automatically embedded in the overall strategic framework.
How can I use MECE in a consulting presentation?
In a consulting presentation, the MECE principle plays a role across several stages, from the case opening to the recommendations. Initially, it will help in defining and segmenting the problem, and during framework development, it provides a structured approach to problem-solving. MECE is also an important tool for data analysis and hypothesis testing, as it keeps the process focused. Ultimately, aligning recommendations with the MECE framework is a thorough and comprehensive problem-solving strategy. Within consulting presentations, the MECE principle allows consultants to tackle any tricky challenges methodically and strategically.
Moving through the tricky landscape of problem-solving and decision-making, MECE emerges as a compass to guide us through. This framework sharpens our analytical skills and strategic thinking, and by working through the MECE structure, we move towards more efficient and comprehensive solutions. Whether consulting slides or otherwise, here at Prezlab, we create presentations that prioritize clarity and success in all cases.
What makes McKinsey presentations so compelling and persuasive? Beyond mere narration, storytelling is an art, and it’s an art that McKinsey presentations have mastered thanks to their genius framework. Through McKinsey’s storytelling approach, we will understand how to weave complex information into persuasive stories to resonate with audiences.
Why Stories? The Power of Narrative in Presentations:
Within professional communication, storytelling allows presenters to forge meaningful connections and lasting influence. Aside from tale-telling, storytelling is a strategic form of communication that, when used well, can amplify the impact of your message. Stories craft a compelling journey for the audience to follow, one that conveys information while also inspiring action and driving change. Leveraging narratives can ensure that your message is not only heard but also felt and remembered.
Mastering the McKinsey Storytelling Approach:
The McKinsey approach to storytelling requires rethinking your professional communications for the best. This renowned method emphasizes clarity and precision, offering a structured framework for creating compelling narratives out of complex information. Through the McKinsey approach of the SCQA method, you can transform your messaging into persuasive stories that accurately outline the problems and solutions in a way that is engaging for an audience.
The SCQA Framework:
Using tried-and-true storytelling frameworks can help you follow a structured path to creating effective narratives. The foundational framework embraced by McKinsey’s consultants is the SCQA framework. This method, which stands for Situation, Complication, Question, and Answer, is a cornerstone for constructing a story that resonates. Each step plays a role in breaking down and outlining the problem at hand and turning them into persuasive journeys that compel the audience.
The Situation
In the initial phases of the SCQA framework, you need to set the scene to provide them with the necessary context. The “situation” offers a detailed background on the current scenario you are dealing with; for example, it can outline the business landscape and market dynamics. This helps ground the audience in the reality of the circumstances but also highlights the importance of the matter.
The Complication
The “complication” is where “the plot thickens.” This is where you bring attention to the challenge or hurdle you are facing in your situation. Here, you pinpoint the issues and obstacles and offer a clear exposition of what went wrong and its effects on the project. It is about stating the problem but also making clear what the impact has been. Being detailed and explicit here helps emphasize the need for a resolution and engages the audience further in the narrative.
The Question
Even though the “question” is a section within this framework, it is actually often an implied question. It steers the narrative towards the key issues or decisions that await resolution. This step is really about framing the problem and leading the listener towards striving for a solution. In a McKinsey-style presentation, this is a strategic pivot that engages the audience’s problem-solving skills by highlighting the challenge at hand.
The Resolution
Just as the climax of any compelling narrative, the “resolution” presents the solutions to the challenges. The presenter here would unveil the proposed course of action along with the steps and strategies to overcome the main obstacle. Clarity and conciseness are essential here as the solution is articulated, ensuring it addresses all the issues highlighted in earlier phases. The “resolution” is where the narrative culminates, persuading the audience of the effectiveness of your plan.
How does the McKinsey presentation style help?
Every presentation is meant to answer a question or concern. All in all, the SCQA is a framework that helps craft a persuasive McKinsey-style story and presentation around the information you want to present.
Think of the SCQA framework as a tool to organize thoughts into a streamlined guide to reach a useful solution or recommendation. Not only does this tool lay the foundation for a narrative, but it also allows you to explore different pathways for reaching your resolution. The challenge with the SCQA approach is decision-making, yet it still provides an outline for making informed decisions.
The McKinsey approach to presentation storytelling provides an outline for organizing thoughts into impactful narratives. Aside from structuring your information, they help craft and frame messages that are relatable and profound to your audience. By setting the stage, addressing complications, posing questions, and sharing resolutions, you can create presentation journeys that lead to informed decisions. Mark a new era with impactful professional communications, with Prezlab, we can help you shape your presentation to reach audiences’ hearts and minds.
Information overload in consulting presentations has become the norm, so standing out as a presenter isn’t so much about your data as it is about how you share it. The crown jewel of any presentation is storytelling. The power to weave information into engaging narratives is what sets the strongest presenters apart. Here, we will explore storytelling frameworks that help consultants work into their presentations and learn what it takes to turn data into captivating, and more importantly, persuasive, stories.
Why is consulting presentation storytelling prevalent now?
Storytelling is a crucial skill to have as a presenter and as a consultant. Shaping raw statistics, figures, revenue streams, and other forms of data requires narrative skills for proper business decisions. Effective business communication has evolved beyond analytical analysis and into creative storytelling. This is a shift that has called for consultants to both understand their data and transform it into compelling narratives. The ability to communicate a story that resonates and persuades sets a presenter apart from the rest, meaning that mastering storytelling has become an essential part of any consultant’s toolkit.
Consulting storytelling flows in PowerPoint
To craft a more fluid narrative, there are two main concepts for storytelling flows to apply to a consulting presentation: horizontal flow and vertical flow. These two structures can help consultants organize their ideas to reach their audience through a coherent flow.
Horizontal flow
In a horizontal flow, the headers for each slide communicate the different points of a storyline. The logic of the flow is that it moves across slides. Often in consulting presentations, each slide would require a “lead-in,” usually the header, to share the main takeaway. The header or lead-in should communicate the slide’s idea without reading the rest of the content. That way, when you read the outline of a presentation, you can spot the overall storyline.
A good way to recognize if your presentation has a horizontal flow is to revisit all of the headers. Are you still able to identify the story by only reading the titles? If not, then you might need to rethink the logic of your slides.
Vertical flow
In a vertical flow, the header or lead-in should be supported by further data and context in the slide’s body. The slide’s body in this case should have insights expanding on the header, but it should also try and maintain simplicity to not overwhelm the viewer. There must be a balance that takes the audience into account.
Yes, you want to provide evidence for your claim, but you also need to be mindful of how you support your main message, so only include information that reinforces your point. The vertical flow is also a matter of coordinating the titles with the content for clarity.
The purpose behind horizontal and vertical flows
Approaching consulting presentation storytelling through horizontal and vertical flows is useful for two main reasons. The first is that it becomes easier to identify gaps in your story’s logic when it is outlined within this framework. The second reason is to ensure that each argument you make is supported with data at every stop within your storyline. These flows help keep the story within a situation, complication, and resolution structure that maintains a logical storyline.
The tenets of persuasive consulting presentations
If you’re facing an upcoming presentation where you are trying to persuade, consider including the following tenets. These are the aspects that make a presentation persuasive to any audience:
The informational tenet
If your data isn’t strong enough, your message loses its credibility. No one will trust the message if there isn’t information powerful enough to back it up. Including relevant and factual information bolsters your credentials and helps build trust with the audience. Plus, it gives the audience a deeper context for your main message. Usually in business, this tenet is a given, what truly creates a persuasive presentation relies on the next two tenets.
The conceptual tenet
Relying on a primary concept guides your audience as they navigate your information. More specifically, this is the story that frames your information, helping listeners make sense of the information and engage with it. Grounding your presentation’s message and supporting arguments in a narrative gives it direction; the arc keeps your audience interested.
The emotional tenet
Emotion is an underrated but crucial factor in crafting a persuasive message. Although it is tricky to include, the impact it has can channel an audience into action. One way to incorporate emotion is through the “character” of your story, making the audience care about them. As they listen to the character’s conflict, their emotions will be engaged. Using emotion is how stories bring a touch of humanity to your data.
By constructing a narrative that effectively fuses your information into the story, you create a compelling and convincing perspective that no audience can resist. Integrating storytelling into a consulting presentation is an indispensable part of presenting in a data-heavy world. Remember, the most memorable and impactful stories are the ones that relate to listeners on a personal level.
In the whirlwind of business landscapes, decisions are made at lightning speed, and the ability of consultants to communicate clearly is a required superpower. Enter the pyramid principle, a strategic approach that redefines persuasive storytelling in professional settings. This blog explores what the pyramid principle is and how it offers a framework for effective communication in consulting presentations.
What is the pyramid principle?
The pyramid principle is a communication tool developed by Barbara Minto where the argument is presented at the very beginning, in other words: you start with the answer.
Business presentations don’t need you to build suspense, and by presenting the conclusion first, you can use the rest of the presentation to support your idea with arguments, data, and facts. A pyramid’s hierarchical structure maps out how a presenter can build their argument at each level, increasing the detail at every step.
The pyramid principle structure
Key elements of the structure
The pyramid principle is an excellent tool for navigating complicated discussions with stakeholders and executives, facilitating efficient communication. It helps organize your presentation to provide more clarity and accuracy, allowing decision-makers to pick up your primary message more swiftly, ensuring their interest and engagement. The core elements of the pyramid principle are the top-level message, the supporting points, and the sub-points or evidence.
Top-level message
A presentation following the pyramid principle always starts with the conclusion and recommendations right away. On the pyramid, this is called the top-level message: the idea that represents the key takeaway you want your audience to walk away with. This apex summarizes the essence of your speech and provides a clear direction for it.
Supporting points
The secondary points bolster the central message by supporting and elaborating on it. These points offer further insights and analysis that strengthen the overall theme of the presentation as they provide deeper context and information.
Sub-points and evidence
Finally, back up key insights with details and evidence. The bottom of the pyramid is for the subpoints that represent more specific details that corroborate the supporting points. These include the analyses and summaries of the evidence you gather. These are also the data points that help your audience understand the context more clearly and how it relates to your main argument or recommendation.
The focus on the outcome
In the consulting world, you may be familiar with the ways information overload completely overwhelms listeners. One of the main obstacles for consulting audiences is the massive flood of information being dumped on them and the lack of clarity. Here, the pyramid principle slides in to save the day by offering a structure to present findings succinctly and clearly.
Arranging ideas based on recommendations first also provides a focus and tether so there is no need to wade through murky details before you get to the main takeaway. The pyramid principle breaks down a presentation into results-oriented formulas, for example:
The top-level message: Encouraging user-generated content (UGC) on social media increases website traffic and brand engagement.
Supporting point: Studies tell us that UGC can increase website traffic by up to 35% and brand engagement by up to 22%.
Sub-point and evidence: UGC leverages authentic content around your brand and builds trust with potential customers, driving organic traffic and fostering community around your brand.
What are the advantages of the pyramid principle?
The pyramid principles maintain a presentation’s clarity by presenting the recommendations upfront, ensuring that the main message is immediately clear to the audience. It streamlines and enhances the effectiveness of communication by structuring the information to lead to the core message. Not only does this approach facilitate better absorption of the message, but it also allows the listeners to evaluate how relevant each detail is to the central theme.
The hierarchical structure aligns with the listeners’ expectations and provides the answers upfront. The pyramid principle maps out the connection between different points, making it an impactful tool for communication.
In conclusion, the pyramid principles provide a more comfortable and structured approach to communication for presentations. By arranging information according to the pyramid principle, you can support your main argument by gradually building it up with evidence. Through this framework, you can embrace this approach to make your next presentation understood and remembered. With Prezlab’s presentation design services, we focus on telling stories that leave an impact on the audience. This makes it easier for decision-makers to understand and act on the information being presented.
Effective data visualization has become more important than ever in the data-driven landscape. Data visualization is the primary tool for transforming raw data into meaningful insights that relate to your audience. Choosing the right chart is necessary for how you convey this data. Each data type has its own characteristics and benefits from a thoughtful approach to showcasing it to ensure its impact.
Understanding the data visualization landscape
By understanding the terrain of the data landscape, you can begin to navigate the datasets and gain insights.
Categorical vs. quantitative data
One fundamental aspect of data visualization is distinguishing between different data types, including categorical and quantitative. The categorical data sets deal with distinct groups (or categories), while the quantitative data deals with numerical values. The disparity in data types calls for different techniques for visualizing them, and by understanding these differences, you can then effectively and accurately communicate information.
Identifying trends vs. relationships
When it comes to data analysis, the distinction between identifying trends and revealing relationships impacts the goals and outcomes of the analysis. While both are useful for extracting insights from data, they still serve specific purposes. Consultants in particular are often tasked with spotting trends and patterns in a dataset is valuable for understanding developments while differentiating between trends and relationships allows you to explore connections and how various factors influence each other.
Data volume and complexity
One critical point usually overlooked in data visualization is the amount of data involved. Understanding how the size and complexity of the data can impact a chart’s effectiveness is necessary to create meaningful and insightful presentations. When dealing with intricate datasets, how the information is conveyed visually can make or break its message.
Choosing the right type of data visualization
Knowing when to use the right chart is the key to effective data communication. Each chart type serves a different purpose and highlights different aspects of a dataset.
The Bar Chart
Bar graphs help communicate clear comparisons. When handling extensive data and lengthy labels, a bar chart prevents clutter, especially when making comparisons of more than 10 items. They can be either horizontal or vertical, making them a versatile graph type that facilitates comparisons and tracks changes over time.
The Line Chart
Line graphs offer a way to showcase trends across various data categories, making them the preferred option for tracking long-term or short-term changes in data. They can accommodate multiple groups within the same period to reveal effective comparisons and insights. Businesses can use line graphs to show sales rates, monitor performance, and dissect data trends and relationships.
The Pie Chart
Pie charts are a more dynamic way of illustrating data that also represents various categories as the sum of a whole. In the context of customer roles in a company, pie charts can showcase the composition. For a more interesting visual representation, you can also use donut charts to display that same information in a more exciting way. Ideally, this type of chart is best for demonstrating percentages and proportions, showing the relationship between categories and the dataset.
The Scatter Plot Chart
A scatter plot identifies the relationships between two distinct variables and reveals the distribution patterns within a dataset. They are particularly useful when handling a large variety of data points and need to highlight their similarities. Scatter plots bring numbers to life by plotting them along two axes, one for each variable. They are ideal for highlighting patterns between variables and showing trends, correlations, and clusters.
The Area Chart
Area charts are versatile due to their ability to showcase cumulative data and highlight data often communicated through line charts. Area charts offer insights into trends and patterns by depicting the progression of data over some time or across categories. Their ability to convey complicated data in a visually appealing way makes them a useful tool for analyzing data.
The Gantt Chart
A Gantt chart is often used as a project management tool to illustrate the work completed over a time period in comparison to the total project timeline. Usually, Gantt charts include two sections, one to outline the lists of tasks, and another to showcase the timeline with the schedule bars to visualize the amount of work.
Combining different types of data visualization
When it comes to data visualization, combining different charts can certainly enhance a presentation’s clarity and depth. For example, you can combine data visualization by merging bar charts that depict monthly sales figures with a line graph that charts its growth trends over time. This juxtaposition not only allows a comprehensive overview of the data but also enables a viewer to grasp the correlations more naturally.
Data visualization is an indispensable tool for transforming data into insights and understanding how your data needs to be represented ensures that it remains an effective tool in your arsenal. Utilizing data visualization tools in the right way not only does your data justice but is also key for bringing about valuable insights that lead to action.
Data storytelling has emerged as a vital tool for transforming complex data into actionable and relatable narratives. It is a process that combines data, narrative, and visual elements to put insights into context and leverage them to be better understood and acted upon. It takes a clever eye to create a compelling narrative out of chunks of lifeless data, but in this guide, we will break down the process to turn any information into an engaging story that captivates audiences.
What is data storytelling?
Data storytelling is the process of communicating ideas and insights from data using narratives to put insights into context and encourage action from your audience. The three main components of data storytelling are data, narrative, and visualization. Data is the foundation of the story, with all the numbers, insights, and analysis that enable you to understand the full picture. The narrative or storyline communicates these insights acquired from the data, as well as the context and recommendations. Finally, data visualization is needed to represent the data story visually through graphs, charts, or images for clarity.
Why is data storytelling important?
Data storytelling turns complex data into compelling narratives that help audiences retain information in a way that resonates with them. It allows raw data to transcend and offer insightful narratives that are relevant to the audience. Combining numbers and narratives is an effective approach on two fronts: the numbers assure credibility and data storytelling helps make the numbers stand out. This way, there isn’t a surplus of overwhelming numbers, and every piece of data is intentional and purposeful.
Data storytelling also democratizes data, making it accessible to audiences from a variety of backgrounds. Using the visual aids and narratives that make data storytelling possible ensures that anyone can grasp the data’s implications and how it connects to other business objectives.
Data storytelling vs. data visualizations
Although data storytelling and data visualization can be used interchangeably, they play different roles in communicating information. Data visualizations are often a piece in a larger narrative, a tool used to illustrate a single point or concept within a story. Meanwhile, data storytelling is about infusing different visual elements with expertise to highlight trends within an industry. For visualizations, they could show trends over time, while data storytelling provides background and ties it to a broader context.
How to tell a story with data
Data storytelling is a broad process that can be approached in several days due to its technical and versatile natures, there are key components that can be applied anytime:
Find the story within the data
The first step in determining the pieces of a data story begins with understanding the narratives that lie within the data. Discern what the data is saying; are there any correlations, links, or patterns? Your understanding of the data forms the foundation for a resonant story. Data storytelling is not always a clear-cut process; sometimes the story stands out, and other times it requires deeper discernment to uncover any meaningful insights. The insights that you catch shape the data story’s overarching themes and ideas, creating an engaging narrative from the raw data.
Determine what data matters
There is a high chance you might get swept up by the sheer volume of available content, which is why selective focus becomes vital. Begin by pinpointing which data directly informs the story; that way, you can start to prioritize which data sets are relevant and weave together narratives. Using a targeted approach maintains clarity and keeps you focused on the essential points without getting sidetracked by extra data.
Identify the most effective data visualizations
Using data visualizations plays a huge role in conveying data in a simplified manner, and with the variety of visualization types available, choosing one that complements your data is essential. Let’s say you would like to show trends changing over time, that would mean that a chart that incorporates time series is the ideal format for sharing it. Choosing a data visualization tool is less about aesthetic appeal and more about ensuring that the data is comprehensible and accessible to the audience.
Assess how the data are calculated
An important step in data storytelling is analyzing how the data is calculated. Determining how numbers are calculated impacts how you choose to tell the story; depending on the calculation approach, the data’s message can either be misrepresented or amplified. Unless you clearly lay out how the calculations were made, the story will get muddled along the way.
Lay out simple data points
As with all forms of data communication, less is more. Overloading your audience is inadvisable, so it’s crucial to identify the key points of your data findings and highlight them. For example, instead of listing all the responses to a survey, it is much more impactful to highlight how 80% of respondents gave the same response. Not only does this approach simplify how you present data, but it also compels you to be more thoughtful about your narrative. The points you decide to highlight should always align with the overarching narratives you are sharing.
Organize the data thematically
When working with data, organizing the data based on sequence can feel like a natural step; however, it often results in a disjointed narrative that fails to convey the central message. Instead, focus on organizing the data based on a theme, which can also involve gathering correlating information across data sections. The idea is to focus on the overarching question that is being answered, and by aligning each statistic with the relevant argument, the data story becomes more coherent and effective.
Provide context
Data alone does not create a data story; providing a background and foundation for an audience to fall back on is an essential part of crafting an effective narrative. This requires continuously framing your insights within the realities and context to communicate the full picture. For an audience to comprehend the complete narrative, a comprehensive context is needed for a deeper understanding.
Structure your story
Data storytelling is still storytelling, and it benefits greatly from incorporating traditional storytelling structures to enhance its impact. Setting up the story with an introduction, followed by rising action, climax, and resolution, culminates in a thoughtful presentation of the data. Creating a storyboard and utilizing this familiar formula creates a flow that captures the audience’s attention and gives them a comfortable format to follow and process.
Data storytelling is more than just a way of presenting information; it is an art form in itself. The process of discerning insights, structuring data, and shaping a narrative is satisfying to ensure clarity and engagement. In an increasingly data-driven world, effective data storytelling is a vital skill that allows us to communicate data clearly and meaningfully.
Interactive presentations provide us with a whole realm of engaging, dynamic, and entertaining slide decks that capture the audience’s attention. With pictures and videos that spark interest and polls and questions that invite dialogue, interactive presentations are conversation starters. Using interactive elements could make a presentation more immersive, even encouraging active participation from your audience.
What is an interactive presentation?
Interactive presentations are exactly what the name suggests; they are presentations with an engaging format that interact with the audience. Interactivity is powered by features such as hyperlinks and navigation tools that allow the presenter to play a video, showcase information with animation, or display pop-ups. Using these features is not only about the extra pizzazz; it’s about their function in creating audience engagement.
Going beyond the traditional formats for presentations, interactive technologies allow for a more organic experience—a presentation that feels more like a dialogue. Presenters in this case are no longer chained to a particular layout; instead, they can adapt their presentation as they see fit based on the audience. This flexibility allows for a deeper connection between the presenter and the audience, which is essential for an impactful and memorable experience.
How is an interactive presentation different from interactive content?
Interactive content refers to videos, animations, polls, games, or other features that engage an audience. An interactive presentation combines these features intentionally and meaningfully to share them with the audience. Through an interactive presentation, a presenter embeds interactive content into their storytelling.
Why do you need interactive presentations?
Audiences have different expectations now; they are no longer interested in static monologues. Viewers expect engaging multimedia to be a given in a presentation, so presenters should adapt to align with their interests.
They encourage team-building.
Not only do interactive presentations let the presenter engage the audience, but they also let the audience engage with each other. Breaking away from a traditional monologue is a welcome change for any audience, and features such as polls and games encourage team-building and create a collaborative environment. This is particularly beneficial for team dynamics, as it encourages breaking the ice and promotes camaraderie.
They make learning easier.
Interactive presentations transform passive audience members into active participants in the learning process. Instead of reading or listening to the explanation of a concept, they get to engage in an exercise that puts it into practice, including links to explore, questions to consider, and props to handle, which invites the audience to interact directly with the presentation. This approach makes the content more memorable, practical, and easier for the audience to retain.
They allow for personalized delivery.
Incorporating interactive elements into your slides will make them more personalized and thoughtful for your audience. Tailoring a presentation to include interactive features customized to your audience encourages them to participate by asking questions and offering feedback, keeping them interested.
How do I make a presentation interactive?
To create an interactive presentation, you must seek ways to actively engage your audience. The growth of interactive presentations correlates with the emergence of new technologies and software tools, simplifying dynamic content creation for all skill levels. Various techniques and tools help turn conventional presentations into dynamic conversations.
Real-time polls
Polls can feel like an almost cliche tool for interactive presentations, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be used for an original, refreshing approach. PowerPoint add-in tools such as ClassPoint help you create real-time polls that can be adapted live based on the audience’s perceptions. Imagine proposing a question at the beginning of your presentation, playing on the audience’s misconceptions. Here, you can gather insight into the audience’s biases. Once you’ve disproved their misconceptions, you can review the poll again and revise any changes in the respondents’ viewpoints.
Navigation slide
An effective technique to make a PowerPoint interactive is by incorporating a “navigation slide.” This slide serves to provide a visual roadmap for an audience and allows them to easily jump from section to section. With clear links and buttons in the navigation slide, viewers are able to browse through a presentation to reach the content they are most interested in. Plus, it allows the presenter to navigate their content quickly, whether it is revisiting a certain point or jumping ahead to a specific topic, keeping them in control.
Clickable buttons
Adding clickable buttons to slides greatly increases the interactivity and personalization of a presentation. Using buttons gives the audience a sense of autonomy and allows them to navigate through the slides at their own pace and explore different sections. It enables them to have a unique experience of self-learning. Clickable buttons can also link to other reading materials or relevant social media accounts. Not only does this make learning more enjoyable for an audience, it is also tailored to individual preferences.
Interactive infographics
Interactive infographics are emerging as a game-changer in the world of data visualization; they bring a whole new level of interactivity and dynamism to your traditional infographic. They can be animated in order to bring life to the data, or they can include clickable elements that invite the user to engage with them. Each type works by gradually revealing data, which maintains the viewer’s curiosity and focus and also avoids overwhelming them. The format communicates data in an easily digestible narrative that is accessible and effective.
Incorporating different media
A surefire way to make a presentation more interactive and engaging for an audience is to incorporate multimedia. Images, videos, and audio all break the monotony of tedious text-heavy slides and also cater to different learning styles. It allows the visual learners in the audience to resonate with vibrant images and infographics, while the auditory learners retain concepts through audio clips or voiceovers. These multimedia elements transform a presentation into a more immersive experience that fosters better retention among the audience.
Interactive presentations are an exciting leap in communication, revolutionizing it by building an effective bridge between a presenter and their audience. By integrating features such as clickable buttons, animated infographics, and interactive charts into presentations, audiences become active participants in the conversation. The beauty of interactive presentations lies in how personalized and flexible they are, giving presenters the freedom to adapt their content in real-time to resonate with their audience. Embracing this new wave of presentation technology is key to creating impactful messages and lasting connections.
As web design continues to evolve, new exciting developments have made their way into the digital landscape. Creating an intuitive and seamless experience for website visitors is now an essential part of website design and has a profound impact on how users perceive your business or establishment. In this blog, we explore the new trends expected to take center stage this year. But one thing will continue to be true: web design is all about impressions!
UX-Focused Design
One of the most important and transformative aspects of web design is integrating UX-focused design. You might notice the emphasis on user experience on many websites, and there’s a good reason for that: crafting an immersive, user-friendly web experience leaves a lasting impression on site visitors. Plus, it can more easily lead users to create traffic and conversions. From the navigation bar, hero image, buttons, or text, structuring them clearly and concisely to serve the user engages them.
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Vibrant Gradients
Gradients are making a comeback in the design world, and web design is no exception. Making their way into backgrounds, typography, and even logos, enhancing the visual appeal of these elements. In web design, they are versatile and can be used across different elements, making them stand out when infused with gradient accents. They can also be used to highlight essential messages, which can help drive engagement.
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Clear or Visible Borders
One standout development is the use of clear and visible borders. This trend adds structural clarity to a web page by implementing well-defined borders around different sections or images. Borders are an easy and elegant way to simplify navigation and also draw attention to certain parts of a webpage. This is especially true for websites regarding e-commerce, portfolios, or business pages, as they can elevate the web design with a symmetrical and balanced touch.
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Micro-Animations
Micro-animations, unlike micro-interactions, do not require the user to interact with the webpage to prompt them. They are small, impactful animations that ensure a seamless interaction by guiding the user through a website. They create a charming element in an online space and implement it organically by considering the natural motion and flow.
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Nostalgic Web Design
Nostalgia is always a powerful emotion to revisit, and it brings a sense of familiarity to the viewer whenever it is used. Embracing the aestheticsof a bygone era adds a sentimental and familiar touch to a website, so implementing elements from the 1990s or early 2000s Internet can add an exciting edge. It is delightfully unpredictable, but always welcome.
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Large Typographic Hero Images
In website design, the “hero image” is the central image or banner that is in the page’s header, and it’s an essential staple of any homepage. It is an opportunity to grab the viewer’s attention with a single visual. Using typography in the hero image is a break from the typical standard, and it’s an opportunity to share your website’s message and personality directly. A hero image with bold, extra-large typography is a sure way to make an impression on every website visitor and is a testament to the impact of typography on the current digital realm.
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Use of Artificial Intelligence
Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into web design has been a game-changer for any website. Of course, the development of AI is constantly changing, but its impact on the digital space is undeniable. One example of incorporating AI into website design is through additional features such as chatbots, where visitors interact with the website to facilitate simpler navigation. AI can also appear on e-commerce websites by guiding users to similar products and other aspects they may be looking for.
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Micro-Interactions
Micro-interactions add vitality and dynamism to a user’s experience. They are these tiny animations that respond to the user’s interaction with the website. For example, micro-interactions can look like buttons changing color when a cursor hovers over them or a scissors icon doing a snipping motion when clicked. Using these small animations makes the visitor’s experience more enjoyable and interactive, and are bound to make waves in the next era of web design.
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The digital landscape is constantly evolving, and in recent years, there has been a clear shift toward a more user-centric design that makes a user’s visit simpler. Bold, eye-catching gradients and typographic hero images also play a role in grabbing the user’s attention and leaving them with a strong impression. In this ever-changing digital landscape, where captivating user experiences are essential, we, as a presentation design agency, understand the importance of blending aesthetics and functionality to leave a lasting impression.
Investor presentations are a narrative of a business’s journey and potential, the purpose of which is to build confidence in your venture. Capturing stakeholders’ interests requires a strong vision on your part, from a solid mission statement to highlighting the market opportunity. In this blog, we will cover all the essential elements needed to make a thorough pitch that can sell your idea.
The checklist for an unforgettable investor presentation
For a well-crafted pitch, you need all the right facts and figures to support your venture. But before that, you must consider how you frame your ideas to tell their story effectively, mainly using the following sections:
Your mission or vision
For a pitch deck, it is important to clarify what the purpose and mission of your venture are. Include a mission statement that outlines your vision for your initiative to gain the confidence of potential investors. This mission statement acts as a guidepost for your company’s path, assuring stakeholders by sharing your core values and overall aspirations. In this section, however, it is important to maintain being ambitious and realistic so as not to oversell yourself and make promises that you cannot keep. By capturing your company’s vision, you can then build on this mission statement to communicate the planned trajectory with your investors on board.
The problem
One of the most attractive selling points for any business is how it addresses a specific issue and fills a gap in the market. Articulating the problem you are trying to solve through your initiative is crucial when trying to seek investments. Many investors treat their contributions as investments in long-term solutions. So when you are presenting your venture, frame the problem to relate to the audience by highlighting its significance. For your pitch to make an impression, you should aim to frame the issue by presenting its relevance in the current context.
The solution
Once you have identified a problem, the next step is to present a solution that addresses it. The solution you share (i.e., your product or service) should demonstrate what distinguishes it from other solutions in the market. This is often the section of the investor presentations that stakeholders are most interested in, so when describing the solution, make sure to be comprehensive but concise because this is where your audience decides whether or not to consider your proposition. Here, they need to grasp the distinctiveness of the solution and also the value that it offers to the marketplace.
The business model
In a pitch deck, explaining your business model is necessary to offer investors reassurance and knowledge. The business and revenue models are the backbone of an enterprise; they show investors the potential and capacity of your business. Here, you showcase how your business is meant to generate revenue, but it also presents a strategy for how you plan to achieve it. Breaking down revenue streams and their contributions to a business’s overall growth equips stakeholders with an understanding of the venture’s projected trajectory. Offering transparency with your plans fosters trust with your stakeholders, plus it shows the thought and planning that went into your business operations.
The product
The central objective of creating a pitch deck is to showcase your product or service. A product demonstration or a detailed overview can give the audience a palpable understanding of what you are offering. And these demonstrations usually paint a more vivid picture than words and statistics ever could. An engaging product demonstration offers a window into your product’s features and benefits in a more tangible way. However, it is important to remember that a product demonstration is not only about showing the product; it is also about highlighting its unique attributes and how it addresses certain challenges. The demonstration should ensure the product makes a solid impression and stays at the forefront of your stakeholder’s minds.
Your traction to date
Showing off your momentum enhances your credibility and adds a larger appeal to your venture when stakeholders can see the potential. Adding your traction to date solidifies all the progress you’ve made so far. Illustrate the journey through tangible metrics such as revenue, user growth, and other KPIs to build confidence in your enterprise. Moreover, if your business has received accolades or been highlighted in case studies, then show those off as well. Positive feedback and word of mouth speak volumes and are usually influential factors for persuading stakeholders.
Market opportunity
In business, investors are most interested in a venture’s potential within the market. Effectively identifying and presenting your business’s market opportunities in a compelling way is key to attracting stakeholders. To ensure that you have a persuasive presentation, build a case by doing thorough market research, digging through the size of the target market, and examining where it presents opportunities for business growth. Evidence is crucial in these discussions; data is needed to emphasize the market size and potential growth and to support your argument and become a promising contender.
Your target customers
Understanding your target customers is a key step in ensuring a venture’s success, and it’s important to communicate this to potential investors. When you define who your target market is, you can tailor your venture to address them directly. Plus, it also helps build confidence with your investors. By helping investors envision the demographic you are catering to, they develop a clearer image of your business. Moreover, considering the competitive landscape, awareness regarding the key players in the industry is essential, especially as you should strive to differentiate yourself from these competitors by highlighting your unique selling points.
The next steps
When wrapping up an investor presentation, present a clear roadmap that outlines the following steps for your business. Not only does this offer an idea of what the future holds, but it also demonstrates the strategies you have to proceed into the next stage. You can include investors in your plans by keeping them informed; this also helps them imagine their position in the upcoming phases of your business journey. This forward-looking perspective is what builds a partnership.
In the dynamic business world, having a clear vision is paramount. Using your investor presentation to outline your vision with all the nitty-gritty details makes it resonate with the stakeholders. As you create an investor deck, remember that every slide and every fact should reflect your brand’s potential. Through this presentation, you are building relationships and setting the stage for your brand’s prosperous future.
Presentation design is an ever-evolving field of design that continues to grow more innovative and exciting every year. In a world saturated with data, messages, and information, effective communication is paramount. The interesting dynamic between design and technology continues to inspire new ways of sharing information visually. Here, we discuss eight new presentation design trends that we predict are going to be influential in 2024.
If you want to learn more, you can check out our video on YouTube about the latest presentation trends:
Simplicity and minimalist design
Despite the new trends that flow in and out every year, simplicity still reigns supreme. The allure of minimalist design still grabs viewers with its clean, uncluttered frames that are organized well enough to follow the content easily. The appeal of minimalism comes from the way it draws attention to the most fundamental elements and ensures that they are the focus of a design. It also offers a subtle way to be bold by making the primary visual the center of attention. For presentations, simplicity can help emphasize your message and ensure it resonates with the audience effectively with clarity.
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Interactive charts
Data visualization stands as an art form within the realm of visual communication, particularly presentations, as it can simplify intricate data into captivating visuals. Going into the new year, the power of data visualization stands strong, and the value it offers is as important as ever. Interactive charts breathe life into data by bringing the viewer closer to the data being presented. For example, animated charts and dynamic graphs invite the audience to observe patterns of change and highlight key insights while allowing them to explore the information at their own pace.
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Infographics as presentation design
Another popular and timeless form of data visualization is infographics. In the digital era, they have become a primary form of visual communication utilized across different fields and industries, from finance presentations to public service announcements. Infographics transcend language and can attract and educate viewers from diverse backgrounds with clarity and straightforwardness. In presentations, infographics are some of your best allies, bringing together visual communication and informative data to craft a compelling narrative for your audience.
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Dot display graphics
Using dot-display graphics is an emerging trend in graphic design that blends modern and retro aesthetics for fun technology-inspired visuals. This style merges dots into typography or incorporates them into backgrounds and images to add a high-tech appeal to your slides. The style of monochrome dots is also heavily featured in more modern or minimalist presentation styles. They are a super versatile trend that adds a unique touch; depending on how they’re used, they can lend a futuristic or nostalgic feel to your overall presentation.
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Pixels in presentations
Another trend that balances between the past and present is using pixelated visuals in presentation design. This style is inspired by the early internet days, which lacked high-resolution images and is now repurposed to create a retro yet contemporary aesthetic. The pixels aesthetic incorporates 8-bit pixel elements such as typography and graphics and contrasts it with modern visuals. This nostalgic approach creates a compelling touch that highlights innovation, futurism, and possibilities.
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Freehand sketches
Freehand sketches add a spontaneous and eccentric touch to any slide, whether with simple accents or central illustrations. They add a handcrafted charm that is easily adaptable to the context, especially considering the contrast with often-digital designs. Scribbles show us that presentation design does not need to be rigid; it can be fluid, free-spirited, and unpretentious. Moreover, they give off a sense of authenticity, which can sometimes feel needed in a professional setting. Adding endearing doodles throughout your slides expresses personality, highlights ideas, and simplifies concepts.
Expressive typography
Typography is a staple in every presentation design and has long transcended traditional fonts as the main means of expression. Now, designers infuse personality into their typography to reflect the style of their message as well as their brands. Mastering typography with innovative letterforms makes your message stand out even more and allows it to take center stage. Fonts are not just about the text; they make a statement in and of themselves by conveying their prominence, boldness, elegance, or whatever other feeling they’re meant to showcase. Using expressive typography contributes to a visual narrative that enhances the impact of a presentation by ensuring that the message sticks with your audience.
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AI-generated images
As coding becomes a creative asset, creating mesmerizing visuals to incorporate into your presentation becomes easier than ever. Generative or AI art is a useful tool for creating visuals that represent your ideas and brand identity once you’re able to crack the right code and share the right prompt. This provides you with an art style that reflects the role of technology in design and enriches your slides. With tools like ChatGPT’s DALL·E, Midjourney, and Adobe Firefly, and some adventurous experimentation, you can join the wave of this new art form.
As we look through different artistic directions for presentation design trends in 2024, we have a peek into the future of visual communication. The core principles of presentation design remain the same with its objectives of clarity, but embellishing it with unique styles makes it a more engaging visual experience for audiences. Whether you’re sticking to the classic minimal styles or open to experimenting with AI art, there are endless ways to share your ideas in a presentation that can leave your audience impressed.
Graphic design is an industry that has grown and evolved so much over time that it seems hard to believe that it has only been around since the 1950s. Although we typically associate graphic design with logos and websites, the contributions of several designers over the years have exemplified the importance and complexity of design as a factor that influences and inspires consumers.
In learning about the history of graphic design, there are names of famous graphic designers that you should know. These designers are thinkers and pioneers who adventured with the tools they had to push forward the field of graphic design.
Who is the most famous graphic designer?
Saul Bass is thought to be the most famous graphic designer. If you don’t recognize his name, you will certainly recognize his work. Saul Bass designed several iconic logos, such as the logos of Quaker Oats, Kleenex, Minolta, and AT&T, as well as the movie posters for many beloved films like Psycho and West Side Story.
Who was the first graphic designer?
Considered the father of graphic design, Paul Rand was the first to separate fine art from graphic design by emphasizing accessibility alongside aesthetics.
How do graphic designers become famous?
Simply put, it is networking and making connections. Putting yourself out there as a designer is the best way to create awareness about yourself and your work; build a portfolio, work on your interview skills, and take the first step to reach out to clients.
Other methods for getting exposure are building a strong website that showcases your work and getting your work published in relevant publications.
Who is the richest graphic designer?
It’s not clear who is the richest graphic designer since designs may vary in price depending on the commissioner. But looking at their net worths, Chipp Kidd and Michael Bierut have high net worths of $16 million and $1.4 million, respectively.
The importance of graphic designers
In our digital age, visuals have become an indispensable part of a brand. They make the necessary first impression on a consumer and need to grab their attention long enough for them to make a decision.
Taking ideas and translating them into reality, graphic designers use typography and illustration to breathe life into a client’s vision. They are an essential asset to any content creation team.
Most famous graphic designers & artists
Whether you’re a designer looking for inspiration or an amateur who wants to get started, these are 54 graphic designers you should know. These are designers who made an impact in the field of graphic design and inspired their successors.
1 – Saul Bass
Saul Bass got his start working in advertising, but after designing the film poster and film credits for Carmen Jones (1954), he became a graphic designer.
Bass distinguished himself by incorporating kinetic typography, or animated text, into title sequences and end credits of films; notable examples include his work for Psycho, Vertigo, West Side Story, The Man with the Golden Arm, and The Shining.
Aside from film posters and credits, he also designed logos for Quacker Oats, Kleenex, and several other brands. And though these logos have evolved since, they have retained their roots as Saul Bass designs.
2 – Stefan Sagmeister
One-half of the design partnership Sagmeister & Walsh, Austrian designer Stefan Sagmeister is known for his minimalist and neutral aesthetic for several acclaimed clients. He is most known for his work on album cover art for bands and musicians like Lou Reed, The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Jay-Z, and David Byrne.
3 – Chip Kidd
Currently, the art director for Random House, Chip Kidd started at Knopf Publishing House and has designed nearly 75 covers a year for over 30 years. He’s designed book covers for Haruki Murakami, Donna Tartt, Oliver Sacks, David Sedaris, and Bret Easton Ellis. He’s also a regular contributor to The New Yorker.
4 – Massimo Vignelli
When designing logos and assets for Bloomingdale’s, American Airlines, and Ford, Vignelli borrowed from modernist tradition to incorporate it into his designs for different industries.
As a self-proclaimed “information architect,” Vignelli aimed to condense big ideas into digestible bits for users. His philosophy and legacy are palpable in New York City, as evidenced by his work on the New York City subway map and signage he designed in 1972, which are still used daily by thousands of New Yorkers.
5 – Michael Bierut
A Pentagram partner since 1990, Michael Beirut designed pieces for clients across all disciplines. From the Hillary Clinton campaign logo, branding for Saks, The Atlantic Magazine, the New York Jets, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, his work can be found all around New York City. He’s also a lecturer, critic, and writer for the New York Times.
6 – Milton Glaser
The mind behind the iconic “I Heart NY” logo, Milton Glaser knows what it takes to create a powerful, timeless design. Presented with the National Medal of Arts by the US Government in 2010, Glaser is also a lecturer and the founder of New York Magazine.
7 – Paula Scher
To grasp Paula Scher’s influence, you only need to take a look at some of her clients: Microsoft, New York City Ballet, the Museum of Modern Art, Shake Shack, the Sundance Institute, and New York City’s Public Theater, to name a few.
She is the first female principal at the Pentagram firm. Her innovative use of type as a visual image in her work is deemed to have a lasting impact on the world of design.
8 – Peter Saville
Responsible for one of the most reproduced designs ever, Peter Saville is behind the famous album art of Joy Division’s “Unknown Pleasures.” He has created album covers for artists such as New Order, Wham!, and Peter Gabriel. His vivid and expressive style set a new standard for album covers.
9 – Jessica Walsh
The other half of Sagmeister & Walsh and later the founder of &Walsh, Jessica Walsh’s colorful and retro vision made her a regular collaborator for clients like Jay-Z and Levi’s. She also teaches at the School of Visual Arts in New York.
10 – Aries Moross
Aries Moross (previously Kate Moross) founded their studio in 2012 working on branding and commercial projects for brands like Nike and Ray-Ban. Yet, with their starkly original, bright, and chaotic typography, the studio found itself focused on music-related projects. Notably, they have created designs and artwork for One Direction and the Spice Girls’ comeback tour.
11 – April Greiman
Greiman was among the first to use technology for graphic design in the 1980s, embracing digitization and even finding ways to incorporate glitches into her work. Influenced by Wolfgang Weingart, April Greiman also introduced his new wave style to the United States scene with her own colorful and acid-laced twist.
12 – David Carson
Largely self-taught, Carson’s style is unconventional, edgy, and grungy. His experimental techniques solidified him as a star in the design world in his role as the art director for the magazine ‘Ray Gun.’
13 – Herb Lubalin
Lubalin’s typographic design, or “typographics,” picked up where copywriting lacked and enhanced written text. His cleverness allowed him to adeptly visually convey language and know when to embellish the text. He is also the typographer behind the ITC Avant-Garde family of fonts.
14 – Paul Rand
In Paul Rand’s 1947 book Thoughts on Design, he wrote about his ideology on design, primarily his belief that design should be functional as well as aesthetic. His theories have shaped what we now know as graphic design.
He also pioneered the modernist Swiss Style of design, which focused on legibility and visual hierarchy.
15 – Max Miedinger
Miedinger’s contribution as a successor of Paul Rand’s Swiss Style movement was the Swiss typeface, a minimalist typeface otherwise known as Helvetica. It was a perfect reflection of the Swiss style captured in a font, clean and flexible, and it helped shape the movement later on.
16 – Wolfgang Weingart
Weingart offered an antithesis to clean, minimalist styles with his spontaneous and chaotic designs. His designs were experimental and chaotic, imagining a new-wave approach to graphic design that includes a more instinctive way of creating.
17 – Alex Trochut
Inspired by street fashion and pop culture, Alex Trochut uses a visual language that is extravagant and eye-catching, creating designs with overlapping styles and genres. His clientele includes brands and musicians like Nike, Vampire Weekend, Arcade Fire, Coco-Cola, Apple, Mac, and more.
18 – Dana Tanamachi
Tanamachi famously got her start through a chalk illustration at a housewarming party. Her intricate artworks then made their way into redesigned book covers for classics like Peter Pan and The Wizard of Oz and brand campaigns for Nike and Penguin. She specializes in typography, lettering, and detailed illustrations, both of which have contributed to her success.
Influenced by her work, Prezlab’s designers use her as an inspiration when creating book and report designs.
19 – Louise Fili
Louise Fili specializes in branding for food products and restaurants. Her work borrows from modernism and her Italian-American heritage and focuses on typography. She was also an art director for Pantheon Books and designed over 2,000 book covers.
20 – Morag Myerscough
Known as the queen of color, Myerscough is a designer whose studio and projects focus on environmental graphic design, creating large and lively 3D pieces for schools, offices, and exhibitions. She uses bright and vibrant colors to make spaces more exciting.
21 – Adrian Frutiger
Frutiger advanced and adapted typography for the digital realm by developing several digital typefaces, including popular typefaces such as Président, Univers, Frutiger, and Méridien. His work of legible and beautiful typefaces can be seen on signs in London and Disney World.
22 – Alan Fletcher
The British “father” of graphic design, Fletcher’s use of typography and visual language solidified graphic design as an essential element for businesses and not only a decorative embellishment. He is known for designing logos for the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Institute of Directors.
23 – Bradbury Thompson
Thompson was known for his incessant experimentation with styles and methods. By mixing surrealist, traditional, and postmodern styles by layering and incorporating photography, he created inspiring works that challenged tradition.
24 – Ivan Chermayeff
Using abstract shapes instead of letterforms for his logos, Chermayeff and his design firm are responsible for dozens of memorable and iconic logos, including those for National Geographic, the Smithsonian, PBS, and NBC.
25 – Jan Tschichold
Tschichold’s book Die Neue Typographie set new standards and guidelines for typography and typographical hierarchy that are still referenced today. He created many typefaces and is known for creating the classic orange Penguin covers, for which he designed over 500 covers.
26 – Neville Brody
Inspired by punk culture in the 1980s, Neville Brody created edgy and experimental designs for several album covers, magazine covers, and advertisements. Including his work as art director for The Face magazine.
27 – Otl Aicher
Otl Aicher is best known for creating the 1972 Summer Olympics logo, which is also a perfect representation of his minimalist approach, bold colors, and pictograms that he also adapted for several signage systems.
28 – Susan Kare
You might not recognize the name, but you certainly recognize her work. She is the designer behind many of the original Apple’s Mac interface elements like the trash, paint bucket, lasso, floppy disk, etc, that were the base for much of the designs we’re familiar with today. She is also behind the typefaces Geneva and Monaco.
29 – Alex Center
The mind behind several ad campaigns for Coca-Cola, Vitamin Water, and Smartwater. He eventually founded his own design company, CENTER, which focuses on packaging design.
30 – Carolyn Davidson
When the founder of Nike approached Davidson, he asked for a logo that could represent movement. The result was the ever-memorable and iconic Nike checkmark, for which she was paid $35. After Nike went public, she was compensated for the difference in 500 shares of stock.
31 – George Lois
Over his 10 years at Esquire magazine, George Lois challenged the status quo with his memorable, and occasionally controversial, magazine covers. His 1968 Muhammad Ali cover, for example, depicted the boxer with arrows through him to evoke themes of martyrdom for his identity and beliefs.
32 – Jonathan Barnbrook
Barnbrook designed influential and contemporary typefaces such as Bastard and Tourette. Later on, he became David Bowie’s go-to designer in his later career, designing album covers for Heather, The Next Day, and Black Star.
33 – Lauren Hom
Creating work for Google and Starbucks, Lauren Hom’s career in graphic design was initially unplanned, but her whimsical and intricate typography gave her work a shareable quality that brands strive for.
34 – Leta Sobierajski
This designer is an eclectic in every sense of the word. Working with photography, art, graphic design, and fashion and working across disciplines, her quirky and colorful style has been useful for her wide range of clients, including Tate Britain and Gucci.
35 – Lindon Leader
His FedEx logo solidified him as a leader in graphic design, his subtlety and cleverness made the logo the icon that it is. Alongside FedEx, he also designed assets for Hawaiian Airlines, DoubleTree Hotels, and CIGNA.
36 – Luke Choice
Hailing from Australia, Choice borrows from comic books and cartoons to create art that tells effective stories through visual design. His dreamy and colorful style can be seen in his work for Samsung and Adobe Max.
37 – Abram Games
Games was a WWII artist who created hundreds of political poster designs. Following his motto of “maximum meaning, maximum means,” his style is simple and direct to highlight core messages.
38 – Alexey Brodovich
His interdisciplinary and experimental approach to design during his term as an art director at Harper’s Bazaar made him an instrumental graphic designer. Constantly playing with trends, his modern and stylish taste informed his work in textiles, posters, magazine layouts, illustrations, and more.
39 – Alvin Lustig
Lustig’s approach suggested that instead of representing the content of the book, a cover should convey the tone and style. This approach to book cover design was an original method that has now become standard practice.
40 – Armin Hofman
A pioneer in Swiss design, Hofman’s clean and powerful designs represent the Swiss movement’s core ideals. He aimed for effective design with a meaningful purpose to create something timeless.
41 – Cipe Pineles
Cipe Pineles’ career is full of firsts: she was the first female designer member of the Art Director’s Club in New York, the first female art director for a magazine, and the first designer to hire fine artists to create mass-market covers. Her work is featured across diverse magazines, including Vogue, Seventeen, and Glamour.
42 – Claude Garamond
You might recognize the name Garamond from the font. Born in 1505, he was the first person to specialize in type design, paving the initial road to type design and graphic design as a whole. In addition to Garamond, he also created the fonts Sabon and Granjon.
43 – El Lissitzky
Lissitzky’s strong visual language in Russian propaganda posters used stylized shapes and bold colors. A pioneer of the Bauhaus movement, his work influenced the next generation of contemporary graphic designers.
44 – Erik Nitsche
Throughout his 60-year-long career in design, he added his modernist touch to everything he worked on. His emphasis on design being a tool extended beyond the commercial meaning to include an industrial one.
45 – Hermann Zapf
Hermann Zapf pioneered the move from press printing to computerized typography. And in addition to creating a typesetting program that offered a blueprint for many current softwares, he also created many typefaces such as Palatino, Optima, and Zapf Dingbats.
46 – Jacqueline Casey
Casey’s work introduced Swiss typography and design to the United States, a marriage of modes that shaped contemporary design. Her work featured Swiss-inspired cleanness with poignant messages.
47 – John Maeda
Maeda pushed boundaries in every medium he worked in, including digital and analog mediums. His exploratory use of computerized media helped develop motion graphics as we know them today.
48 – Josef Muller-Brockmann
Another proponent of the Swiss movement, Muller-Brockmann’s work emphasized what he called “radical minimalism,” which used geometric shapes and clean fonts with touches of bold color. His legacy in the Swiss movement lies in his use of grid systems, a widely useful tool for designers today.
49 – Ladislav Sutnar
Specializing in information design, Sutnar used design to make sense out of nonsense. To aid his aim of creating clarity, he used a notable technique of dialing back the color and type palettes.
50 – Lester Beall
Beall is remembered for his transformative attitude toward graphic design; he treated designers as problem solvers with the potential to add value to the marketing world. His avant-garde and uplifting work set a standard for designers to imagine timeless pieces.
51 – Lucian Bernhard
In the era of art nouveau, Bernhard embraced his own version of minimalism. As an art director for advertisements, he used flat colors and no slogans, relying instead on a plain illustration and a logo for a clean, dialed-back look.
52 – Muriel Cooper
Cooper was a graphic designer who started using computers in her work before they were commonplace. Her use of movement, visual depth, and 3D shapes was groundbreaking and pioneered the development of computerized graphic design.
53 – Seymour Chwast
Contrary to the Swiss movement, Chwast’s expressive style involved fusing design and illustration in original, playful ways. His novel approach was able to repurpose past design trends into fresh and interesting new iterations.
54 – William Golden
Golden was a pioneer in the post-WWII era who was to mold the field of graphic design. His spirited designs pushed design into new territory. His work helped define what graphic design is as a field and emphasized differentiating between artists and graphic designers.
Dozens of designers with unique visions have added to graphic design as a field and bettered it as a craft, so you can see how graphic design became the ever-expanding field we now know it to be. It is forever changing and evolving thanks to the fearless experimentation and relentless creativity of different designers. Overlapping personalities and clashing ideas have granted endless possibilities for the imagination to wander.
Drawing inspiration from the legacies of renowned graphic designers, Prezlab harnesses the power of visual storytelling and innovative design to craft compelling presentations that leave a lasting impact on audiences, bridging creativity and functionality seamlessly. Get in touch for presentation design services in Abu Dhabi and Dubai!
When pitching and presenting big ideas, it’s important to consider the structure of your presentation from the very beginning. In this blog post about presentation design, we will lay out a pitch structure you can use when presenting an idea for a new project. We’ll call this presentation approach “The Big Thing,” a six-step method for winning the hearts and minds of your audience.
The structure for a powerful pitch presentation includes the following:
Step 1: The Primer
Take your audience back to a time before a certain technology existed, one similar to yours but not quite what you are pitching. Here is where you set up the context of your “big pitch.” For instance, let’s go back to the beginning of cloud computing. Before the cloud existed, did you ever think that Dropbox could grow into a company with over 400 million users? The “big thing” in this scenario is pointing out the potential growth of cloud computing and how it will substantially change the business landscape.
Step 2: The Ups & Downs
Once you’ve established that the cloud is a big deal, use this section to talk about how some current companies are doing well by embracing it while others completely ignore it. Since your idea is to create a storage platform in the cloud, this section sets you up nicely for your next step: suggesting all the good things to come for those who have embraced the new technology. The key here is to try to drive your point home by indicating how things will improve even more in the future. The more you emphasize this idea, the better you will do in the rest of the presentation.
Step 3: The Benefits
Next, hint at the idea of a happy ending without going into details about your company yet (Dropbox). You’ll want to make sure that your audience is aware that happiness is not a guarantee unless they take part in or support your new project. This is where you capitalize on their FOMO (fear of missing out).
Step 4: The Specifics
Now that you have laid down a solid foundation, the next step is to get into the crude details of the project. The trick here is to package everything into 3 memorable talking points – no more, no less. These three talking points should address how the company will deal with current and future challenges and maximize the next great opportunity.
Step 5: The Proof
If you have proof of success, such as early customer beta data, customer testing that you have conducted, peer reviews, or anything else that would showcase your project as primed for success, then this is the step where you put it on display. The idea here is to show data-driven evidence to prove that success is just a matter of time.
Step 6: The Ask
Once you have gone through all the previous steps correctly and compellingly, the final step is almost natural—The Ask. Lay out your request clearly and concisely while briefly going over how you will use the money (or any other resource being requested) to take the project over the finish line.
And lastly, a quote from Albert Einstein that we think is fitting when it comes to pitching big ideas: “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”
As a presentation design company in Dubai, we love sharing our knowledge of what works and what doesn’t. If you have enjoyed this post then you might also like to read:
There is more to PowerPoint than text boxes and “image insertion”; this blog pulls back the curtain on some of the best ones we love to use as a professional presentation design agency in Dubai!
If you’re like most people, you probably use PowerPoint for work or school presentations. But did you know that there are features in PowerPoint that can help you design better presentations? Here are a few presentation design features in PowerPoint that you may not have known about.
There are three stages to designing a presentation: planning, designing, and delivering.
Each stage requires its own set of skills and knowledge. Presentation designers must be able to understand the needs of the audience and communicate with them. They also need to have a strong understanding of the latest PowerPoint features and how to use them effectively. PPT designers must be able to create visually appealing presentations that engage the audience and deliver the desired message.
There are a few PowerPoint presentation features that can help you create better presentations, no matter your skill level in design.
Here are six features you can use to improve your PowerPoint presentations:
01 Presenter View
This view allows you to see your presentation on one screen while your audience sees something different on another. This is handy if you want to include notes or additional information that you don’t want your audience to see. To enable Presenter View, go to the Slide Show tab and click on Set Up Slide Show. Under Show Type, select Presenter View and click OK.
02 Custom Shows
This feature allows you to create a presentation within a presentation. For example, if you’re giving a presentation on marketing tips, you could create a custom show that contains only the marketing slides. To create a custom show, go to the Slide Show tab and click on Custom Shows. Now click New, give your custom show a name, and select the slides you want to include. When you’re finished, click OK.
03 Action Buttons
You can add action buttons to your slides to allow your audience to take action during your presentation. For example, you could add a button to allow the audience to send an email or visit your website.
To add an action button, go to the Insert tab, click on Images, and find the Action Button. Choose the button type, and then click OK. Add whatever text or image you want to appear on the button, and then position it where you want it on your slide. Then click on Apply when you’re finished.
04 Built-in themes and templates
PowerPoint comes with a variety of built-in themes and templates that you can use to create professional-looking presentations. To access them, click on the “Design” tab at the top of the PowerPoint window.
05 Use custom fonts
If you want to add a bit of personality to your presentation, try using a custom font. To do this, click on the “Format” tab and select “Fonts.” From there, you can browse through the different fonts and choose the one that you want to use.
06 Add multimedia
Adding multimedia elements such as images, videos, and audio can help make your presentation more engaging. To add multimedia elements, click on the “Insert” tab and select the appropriate option.
All in all, PowerPoint is a powerful presentation tool that can help you create presentations that are both professional and engaging. There is a range of other features that liven up a dull presentation, such as slideshows with text, images, and videos, and you can also add interactive elements like quizzes and polls. You can also create slideshows that are responsive to changes in the screen size, so they will look great no matter what device they’re being viewed on.
And finally – your delivery is key. Make eye contact with your audience and speak clearly and confidently. Pace yourself so that you do not lose your audience’s attention.
If you want Prezlab’s PowerPoint experts to work on your next presentation, then hit us up!
Selecting a color scheme that stirs the desired reaction in your audience is a tricky and challenging process. Unfortunately, picking out an appropriate color scheme isn’t as simple as putting together the colors you like. The color choices used in a PowerPoint presentation reflect the character and personality of your business. When the color wheel offers itself to your imagination, how do you know how to use it correctly?
We cannot underestimate the power of color. It’s a language of its own, influencing emotions and setting the mood for your presentation before you even begin to speak. Presentation slides can convey a relaxed, professional, or confident persona based on the color scheme alone.
What do colors mean?
Starting off with the tough question: what is color?
All that color comes down to is perception. When an object reflects light, it reflects different combinations of wavelengths that our brains interpret as color. And once we begin to understand color theory, we start to have a better understanding of how we perceive colors.
What is color theory?
Color theory offers a foundation for understanding the rules around color and color schemes. It is a basic guideline for mixing colors and analyzes the visual effects of how colors mix or contrast with each other.
Once you understand the logic of color, you can create and use color palettes more effectively and confidently.
Primary colors
Primary colors are colors that cannot be created by mixing colors and they are yellow, red, and blue. When it comes to creating a color palette, the primary colors anchor the color scheme. Meaning that using any one or any combination of the primary colors will place limits on your color scheme when you decide to select other colors.
Secondary colors
The secondary colors are created by mixing the purest form of any two primary colors. The three secondary colors are orange, purple, and green.
Tertiary colors
Tertiary colors take things a step further. They are created by mixing a primary color with a secondary color, making them a mix of several colors. But unlike secondary colors, they are not mixed in equal amounts.
For example, red-purple, or magenta, is a mix of red and purple, meaning it is two parts red and one part blue.
The six tertiary colors are red-purple (magenta), red-orange (vermillion), blue-purple (violet), blue-green (teal), yellow-orange (amber), and yellow-green (chartreuse).
The color theory wheel
The color wheel is a chart that organizes colors in a circle to showcase the relationships between the primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. From the mind of Isaac Newton, a color wheel is a tool used to visualize colors to help facilitate the creation of color schemes.
What are the additive and subtractive color theories?
The additive and subtractive color models are systems of color reproduction related to how the eye receives light to produce colors.
The additive colors are red, green, and blue, or RGB. The RGB color models are for electronic screens like computers or TVs. It begins with black and then adds red, green, and blue light to convey a spectrum of colors. When more colors are added, the result is lighter and closer to white. With the three colors combined in equal amounts, you get white light.
Meanwhile, the subtractive color model applies to any color typically seen on a physical surface, namely paper. In this model, you subtract colors to get closer to white. The subtractive colors are cyan, magenta, yellow, and key/black (CYMK), and these are usually the colors listed on printer cartridges. When these colors are printed, they absorb the light and appear black.
How to combine colors?
Using the color wheel, we can experiment with color combinations to create original and effective color schemes. There are seven major color schemes in graphic design that designers regularly use and return to.
Warm colors
If you draw a line through the color wheel, it cleanly separates the warm and cool colors. The warm colors are reds, yellows, and oranges, and they are hues associated with energy, brightness, and action.
Cool colors
Cool colors are blues, greens, and purples, and they often connote feelings of peace, calm, and serenity.
Complementary colors
A complementary color scheme comes from combining colors that stand directly opposite each other on the color wheel (such as purple and green, orange and blue) and their respective tints.
Since this color scheme offers a strong contrast, it’s best to use one color as a dominant color and use the second color as an accent in designs. Use contrast to highlight important points in your presentation.
Split complementary colors
A split complementary color scheme features a selected base color and the two colors that neighbor that base color’s complement. The result is a versatile and nuanced color palette that is more diverse than a complementary color scheme while still maintaining a healthy and interesting contrast.
Although this color scheme is easy to achieve, it can be tricky to maintain. A split complementary scheme offers more color combinations, but it takes a bit of experimenting to find a good balance.
Triads and tetradic color combinations
A triadic color combination creates a balanced contrast by featuring three colors at an equal distance from each other on the color wheel, forming a triangle. However, it can feel overwhelming when the colors selected are bold. This can be handled by choosing one color to be the dominant one and using the others sparingly or by selecting a softer tint.
A tetradic color scheme is achieved by drawing a rectangle on the color wheel, resulting in a vibrant color scheme.
Analogous colors
Analogous colors sit next to each other on the color wheel and together create a soothing color scheme. When using analogous colors like red, yellow, and orange together, it’s best to have one color dominate, the second color support, and a third color accent.
Monochromatic colors
With a monochromatic color scheme, you choose one color and support it with its varying shades and tints. The result is a calm and consistent feel that looks polished and professional. This type of color scheme is easy to use since you only need to select one color and then use black, white, or grey to change it.
How to choose a color scheme?
These formulas for putting together color combinations are easy to pick up with enough practice. Yet, the challenge lies in the other factors you must consider when choosing colors for your color palette, which affect the impact and effectiveness of your color scheme.
Consider the user experience
When creating a presentation, consider the audience and the purpose. For example, using a monochromatic color palette is appropriate for a professional presentation, while complementary palettes are versatile for different types of occasions.
But also remember the details; for example, a bright background could be distracting and make it hard to read the text.
Set a mood for your color scheme
What is the mood you want to convey? If you want an energetic presentation, you’re better off using brighter colors like reds and yellows. While shades of blue are great for creating a peaceful and serene mood. Or you could tone down the clutter by creating negative space in black or white.
Working with high contrast
Be clever with your use of contrast. If you’re using a dark background, use light text that your audience can read, and vice versa. It’s important to use high contrast in more professional presentations to draw the audience’s attention to the contents. Draw attention to your important points with accent colors.
Follow the 60-30-10 rule
Originally an interior design rule, the 60-30-10 principle has proved to be a great tip for graphic design. It adheres to a balance of 60% of the main color (for backgrounds), 30% of the secondary color (filling in shapes or images), and 10% for the accent colors in outlines and text.
Refer to your color wheel
Use the color wheel to your advantage. Refer to it constantly to select color combinations of different color schemes. Sometimes, a color scheme that may look good in theory might not work with your presentation. It takes several tests to find a scheme that resonates with your personality and serves your presentation.
Draft multiple designs
As with any creative endeavor, there is no way to find out how your ideas will work without drafting and experimenting. In your quest of finding the appropriate color scheme, you need to create multiple drafts with your palette suggestions and see which works best. It’s good to step away from your work and sleep on it to refresh your perspective.
Keep it simple
Don’t overthink it. Keep your color scheme simple. A monochromatic palette is a great starting point for beginners since you’d only be working with one color. For more advanced users, try not to work with more than four colors; anchor your design in one dominant color and use the others for support.
Avoid unnecessary usage of color
Exercise restraint. Not every instance will need an explosion of color. For example, in a chart with only two variables, heights, and length suffice as differentiating factors. But when a third or fourth variable is introduced, then the color becomes necessary to emphasize or highlight differences.
Be consistent with color across charts
When using multiple charts and graphs, make sure to be consistent throughout the presentation when referring to the same groups. It keeps the document neat and organized and helps the reader follow along.
Leverage the meaningfulness of color
Different colors hold different meanings and symbolism. If you’re using color in graphs to represent certain groups, then keep in mind the colors they are typically associated with to make it easier for a reader to follow.
A general rule to follow is avoiding high color brightness and saturation or at least keeping them to highlight a particular element.
Attend to color blindness
Be inclusive of those with color blindness. The most common form of color blindness causes those afflicted to confuse red and green, and less commonly the confusion between yellow and blue. So use variety in the lightness and saturation to differentiate between colors rather than relying only on hue.
Sites like Coblis have color blindness simulators to help you get an idea of how your visuals will look and if there are potential ambiguities.
Types of color palettes
When it comes to data visualization, color is a necessary component in visual aids such as charts and elements. Misusing color could be distracting or confusing, but using color productively helps you tell the story you want to tell. Depending on the data you want to convey, there are different types of color palettes to consider.
Qualitative palette
A qualitative palette is used when the information presented deals with categorical variables such as age groups, countries, race, etc. In a qualitative palette, a distinct color is assigned to each variable or group.
A qualitative palette relies on the colors to differentiate between several variables, so try to limit the palette to no more than ten colors. Any more would create confusion in distinguishing between groups. Play around with hues, lightness, and saturation to create distinctiveness between colors.
It’s also important to maintain overall cohesion to not create unintentional bias by highlighting certain variables more than others.
Sequential palette
A sequential palette is used when the variables are numeric and typically portrayed sequentially. Often in a sequential palette, the lightness or hues are the distinguishing factors between variables.
The use of lightness is the most recognizable form of a sequential palette, which is why a single hue could be used. Low values are connoted with lighter colors, while darker colors are used for higher values. Otherwise, it is recommended to use two adjacent colors from a warm or cool palette.
Diverging palette
A diverging palette is applied when numeric variables have a central value (like zero). It’s useful to think of a diverging palette as two sequential palettes meeting at a middle point. The two sides are assigned two distinctive colors, and as with sequential palettes, lightness is used to portray distance from the central value.
Discrete vs. continuous palette
Sequential and diverging color palettes interact with data values with either discrete colors akin to a numerical value or through a continuous fading function between the variable and color.
Often, the process of creating color palettes follows the first method of using discrete or distinct colors, even though it would make sense to use a continuous color function to communicate the relationship between values.
However, people distinguish details such as length or position more quickly than they do color differences. So discrete palettes highlight patterns in the data, and we can set a clearer range within a discrete palette. While on a continuous palette, data would be pushed into a narrower range.
How to create a color scheme for your presentation
With the variety of color schemes and color palettes possible, where do you even begin creating your own? There are many variables involved in building a color scheme for your presentation, so start at the root and select colors appropriate for your goal. You can also reach out to our team for their presentation design (and palette-making) expertise.
Building a color scheme begins with selecting colors that fit your purpose and mood. The process of picking colors is simplified once you can select a base color to build on.
The dominant color
Visual language is very effective in creating a subconscious connection and resonating with your audience. So begin by selecting a dominant color that encapsulates your beliefs and best represents your topic and niche to create the base for your color palette.
The secondary color
A secondary color supports your scheme’s dominant color and makes it stand out more.
The accent color
Accent colors are used to contrast and emphasize points in a presentation. Complementary colors make for perfect accent colors as they offer a bold contrast that attracts the eye. Accent colors are meant to be used sparingly to not overwhelm the viewer.
Keep colors in balance
Maintain a balance with your color palette and diversify the use of colors in highlighting text or brightening slides. Apply the 60-30-10 rule to your dominant, secondary, and accent colors.
Use the theme color palette
When creating your presentation, take advantage of the theme palette feature in PowerPoint and Google Slides. This tool allows you easy access to your color palette and lets you quickly change the colors of text and elements in your presentation at once without having to do them individually.
Use the tools at your disposal
There are several tools available for building a color scheme and using color palettes in presentation and design software. Use them to create a cohesive and engaging color scheme to be used in your presentations.
Tools and resources for using colors
By now, you should have a pretty good idea of color theory and how to build a color scheme. However, that shouldn’t discourage you from using tools and resources that help you speed up the process of selecting the perfect color scheme for your presentation.
Data Color Picker
Data Color Picker is a great tool for generating color schemes for sequential and diverging palettes. Often, some hues are left out between the two endpoints of a sequential palette, but Data Color Picker has a default tab for palettes that is perfect for generating multi-hued palettes.
Chroma.js Color Palette Helper
This tool has detailed options for crafting a color palette, with options for the type of palette desired (sequential, diverging), correcting lightness, and a color blindness simulator. These features of the chroma.js Color Palette Helper allow for more refined and cohesive palettes.
Color Thief
Since there aren’t many tools for creating qualitative palettes, you could extract potential color palettes from images with colors that resemble your intended mood. Color Thief is a tool that lets you generate a color palette from your own uploaded pictures. Although you would need to tweak your options to create an appropriate palette, Color Thief is a great starting point.
Viz Palette
Similar to Coblis, Viz Palette is a color palette tool that allows you to see how your palettes are perceived by individuals with different color perception deficiencies and color contexts. Furthermore, you can alter the color palette instantly in the tool.
Adobe Color
Adobe Color is a free Adobe tool for building color palettes based on different schemes and combinations. Moreover, it offers premade color schemes to play around with, use in your presentation, and even save if you’re an Adobe user.
Illustrator Color Guide
In the Illustrator Color Guide, you could generate a 5-color scheme along with its tints and shades based on the one color you select. And with preset modes, you could select the type of color scheme you want to create. You can save your color palettes to return to them in future presentations.
Preset Color Guides
Chances are, you’re familiar with Microsoft Office products. Well, did you know that all of the Office softwares have preset color schemes that you can use for your projects? In PowerPoint, you can find the color schemes in the Colors menu in the Slide Master view. You could select an option or customize your own.
We all know that presentation design plays a vital role in any business presentation, which is why it is important to be aware of the current presentation trends. Since great sales presentations or pitch decks can win and retain clients and help get that much-needed round of funding, all the details will matter.
In this blog, we will cover some of the most popular presentation trends you can use for your next presentation.
So let’s jump right into it.
Flat Design
Flat design is one of the most popular trends in modern presentation design. It has been around for some time now, and it has become increasingly popular over the years. This trend is characterized by its simplicity and minimalism, making it very appealing to designers looking for something clean and fresh with a minimalistic approach to content layout.
Minimalist Presentation Design
The minimalist trend is also very popular among designers these days, as it offers a similar approach to flat style but with a more modern twist. This trend focuses on simplicity, cleanliness, and ease of use all of which are qualities that have made this style so popular among users today.
Colorful, Bright, and Bold Styles
Designers are looking for more creative ways to attract audiences. A popular trend in presentations is using colorful and bold colors to make presentations more engaging and eye-catching.
Infographic-Style Slides in Presentations
Infographics are a great way to present data in an interesting and engaging way. They are a type of visual representation created to be both informative and interactive.
Some of the best infographics have been made by designers who have not only mastered their skills, but also understand how to make their work as user-friendly as possible. This means that they need to know how to use color, font size, layout, and other elements to create an infographic that will be easy for the audience to read and understand.
Bold Typography
Designers are increasingly paying attention to typography as a focal point of their work. We are seeing more styles where typography is at the center of presentations.
Custom typography fonts are very beneficial when the goal is to create a professional and unique presentation. They allow for the customization of layouts, text formatting, layering, and line spacing to control the content accurately.
Bonus Tip
Shorter Presentations
With the prevalence of TikTok, Twitter, Instagram Reels, Stories, etc., audiences are now accustomed to content that is short, sweet, and packed with value. This also means that attention spans are extremely short nowadays, and this also applies to presentations. If you can eliminate redundant slides and join different points into one slide, then definitely do it. A short presentation with around ten slides is, by no means, something unusual.
Look at each slide in your presentation and ask yourself, “Can this slide be merged into other slides?” or “Is this really required?”
In conclusion, you could merge your company’s guidelines with current presentation design styles to create eye-catching and trendy slides. If you need help building great presentations without losing control of your brand identity, then speak to our presentation experts at Prezlab.
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