In 2018, the TLC Creative presentation design team had a fun internal challenge developing their version of a client slide. It was our “Month of Groundhog Days.”
Here was the client-provided slide (minus their corporate template background):
And here’s TLC Creative design team makeovers of the slide:
Larger images and more details are in the originals, which start here.
Taking inspiration from our own work, over the next 2 weeks you can expect another slide makeover series, based on another client slide!
During the crazy year that was 2020, we at TLC Creative had several internal design challenges. This particular challenge was to create a dynamic PowerPoint animation – using just 40 lines. The premise was simple: take five slides, integrate exactly 40 lines, and build something visually captivating and animated – in under two hours of design time.
Making it Happen
The rules were flexible and open to interpretation to encourage lots of creativity, while keeping the focus of the slideshow on the lines themselves. Each line could vary in color, length, position, arrangement, width, etc. All that mattered was that the 40 lines were the centerpiece of the animation!
The result of the design team’s creations was a mesmerizing two-minute sequence, built entirely within PowerPoint, that showcased the power of simple design elements when thoughtfully animated.
The Update
If you go back to the original blog post, the animation from five years ago was rendered in 480p resolution (not certain why – but it was). We remastered it in full 1080p, to bring a fresh level of clarity to the line movements and transitions – along with a fun upbeat music track.
What began as a small challenge turned into a showcase of how a tool like PowerPoint can be pushed to create Adobe-style animations!
Final Thoughts
This project gave us a reminder that creativity thrives under constraints. Sometimes, setting a few boundaries can create the perfect environment for creative breakthroughs!
What a great look back for our design team! Yes, PowerPoint 7 years ago was capable of great animation and video export – as shown in this project from 2018. For our team, this project is also full of memories, as several of the marketing campaigns are no longer current. But we were there and supporting Barbie!
Sometimes a presentation project is just all about the animation. In this case, we were tasked with developing a 2+ minute motion graphics video to be used as a meeting opener. A short segment is here for preview. We developed all in PowerPoint, and then exported to video with a music track. It is not the tool that creates bad, boring and bland presentations; PowerPoint is just a canvas, and can accomplish wonderful results in the hands of professional design team.
-Troy @ TLC
This is from our Look Back series, rediscovering previous blog posts with relevant PowerPoint tips, tricks and examples. The original post from June 1st, 2018 can be viewed here.
From our design team at TLC Creative Services, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Jake on the design team had some inspired PowerPoint design with this animated GIF that is designed as a seamless loop – and created in Microsoft PowerPoint, then exported from PowerPoint to GIF format. Thanks Jake!
Mike on the TLC Creative presentation design team developed this Independence Day themed animated GIF – in PowerPoint!
The animated GIF sequence is a series of 5 slides.
Slide 1 has animation
Slides 2-5 the motion effects/animation is accomplished with the Morph transition
Because animated GIFs loop, slides 1 and 5 are setup for a seamless loop
The other unique PowerPoint setup is the page size. The animated GIF is square. To accomplish this, the PowerPoint page size has been changed from the default 16×9 aspect ratio to a square size. In this case, 6″x6″.
On this once-every-4-years event, I had to have some PowerPoint animation fun.
The behind the scenes is this animated .GIF was created with 3 slide layouts with transitions and animation, then exported from PowerPoint to animated .gif.
The only PowerPoint animation is on slide #1 for the text:
Thanks Jake for the Halloween themed animated .GIF, created entirely in PowerPoint and exported as a .GIF!
9 PowerPoint slides. All art created in PowerPoint. NO animations, but a combination of Morph and fade transitions. Exported as an animated .GIF from PowerPoint!
There were so many more fantastic slide designs that came from this internal project. A big thank you to Nolan Haims and The Better Deck Deck for the inspiration! We started with a slide design from Lori, and we are ending this series with another of the slides that Lori designed – because creativity is on display here! Using card 42 – Signpost, it takes amazing creativity to envision a signpost that not only replaces bulllets as it tells part of the story, but is a signpost underwater!
Jake on the TLC Creative design team also drew card #1 – Basic Chunking. The final slide on horror movie info not only converts the bullet points into chunks, but is an amazing visual that creates emotion and a story unto itself.
This slide inspires me on many levels. Karen drew The Better Deck Deck card 28 – Images + Text. The final design integrates the original randomly added images into a slide that uses great typography for the “+ Text” portion of the card, but also integrates the instantly recognizable Lego color scheme in the design!
