PowerPoint Custom Color Schemes and “Beetle Juice”
Part 3 of our internal design exercise is the classic movie Beetle Juice. The PowerPoint slide shows the reference image, the color chips, and you will need to download the PowerPoint file to enjoy the creative color naming.
Beetle Juice: A mixture of muted and bright colors. Greens and purple taken from the main character and background objects. Other colors are not pulled directly from the image but are complimentary to the movie’s aesthetic and undertone.
Download the PowerPoint deck with preset color scheme here.
PowerPoint Custom Color Schemes and “Splash”
Part 2 of our internal design exercise is the classic movie Splash. The PowerPoint slide shows the reference image, the color chips, and you will need to download the PowerPoint file to enjoy the creative color naming.
Splash: Vintage, warm rainbow tones. Inspiration from reds and yellows of the fin and tan of the sand. The cool tones taken from the different hues of the ocean.
Download the PowerPoint deck with preset color scheme here.
PowerPoint Custom Color Schemes and the Movies
As an internal design project we explored creating custom PowerPoint color schemes (that can also be applied to other Office apps such as Excel and Word). A custom color scheme (this is not a full tutorial) is created by selecting a master slide (if there are multiple master slides in a presentation, each can have their own preset color scheme) and going to DESIGN > VARIANTS > COLORS > CUSTOMIZE COLOR.
For this internal exercise, the design team picked a “classic movie”, found a reference image, and assembled a color scheme that they felt aligned with the movie. The results were so good, we had to share a few of the creations! This is a 6 part blog series, highlighting 6 classic movies (note, “classic movie” as interpreted by our design team!) and the corresponding custom PowerPoint color schemes. And, each will be downloadable 🙂
To start things off, from Christie, is a true classic – the original Wizard of Oz.
Wizard of Oz: warm saturated tones. Greens and yellow taken from the main focal point of the emerald city and yellow brick road. The reds, blue and brown mainly from Dorothy’s aesthetic, hair, dress, and shoes.
Download the PowerPoint deck with preset color scheme here.
Presentation Podcast – New Episode Releases Today!
Join Troy, Nolan and Sandy as they talk about icons; how they use icons in presentation design, how they see others using icons, where to source icons, and when icons should be used – and not used. Join a very geeky designer conversation about what makes design, design! Episode 127 of The Presentation Podcast.
Create a Custom Puzzle Image for Your Presentation
Puzzles are a great visual metaphor for presentations. We are sharing our process for creating a custom image for a presentation, with a puzzle piece theme. We do not want a single, flat image as that limits our presentation design options. But rather than create dozens of custom puzzle piece images in Illustrator or Photoshop, we prep a few images in these programs and let PowerPoint do most of the work.
1. Using Adobe Illustrator we created a image of 5 connecting puzzle piece shapes. These were exported as .SVG (vector) images.
2. Next we created a library of flag images that would be used in the puzzle pieces. These could be PNG or SVG format. We like the scalable nature of vector .svg images, and flags work well in this format. Here is an example of one flag image:
3. Insert the puzzle piece INSERT tab >> PICTURES tab >> FROM THIS DEVICE. From the dialog find the puzzle piece file.
4. Right click the puzzle piece and select FORMAT PICTURE.
5. On the left pane select FILL. In the right pane select PICTURE OR TEXTURE FILL.
6. Click FILE and from the dialog find the American Flag image.
7. Check the box to TILE the picture as texture and UNCHECK the box at the bottom “ROTATE WITH SHAPE”.
9. However, if you uncheck the TILE picture as texture box, select CROP and then use the outer dots (not crop bars) to adjust the flag image size and position.
10. Have fun with formatting your shape! All PowerPoint style effects are available: bevel, drop shadow, reflection, etc. Because the ROTATE WITH SHAPE option is turned off the puzzle piece shape rotates, but the flag stays in the same orientation!
Download the PowerPoint slide of the puzzle piece American flag HERE.
Sara @ TLC
Do We Need a Blob Generator? Yes!!
In designing a slide if you find yourself in need of a formless random blob during your creative endeavors, blobs.app has you covered. Shout out to Nolan Haims for cluing us in on this cool tool during a tech tips discussion at The Presentation Podcast!
You can generate blobs of different complexities and randomness, as outlines, color filled, gradients, patterns, even images, and save them as SVG files, or copy the SVG or Flutter code after you’ve created a blob. Modify the variables on the right and click the “Change Blog” button on the left for endless options.
To get this blob into PowerPoint, simply add it as an image, selecting the .svg file you downloaded. Like any .SVG the shape fill, outline, transparency, and styling effects like drop shadow or 3D Rotation can be applied. Further, the blob is a vector shape. Select, ungroup and then right-click and choose Edit Points to modify the shape in any way.
Whether you need some amorphous shapes for buttons, or photos, or something to frame some text, this tool will quickly get you the random shapes you need, and thanks to saving as an SVG file, PowerPoint will let you further modify or format these shapes to meet any of your design needs!
Create your own blobs here.
Josh @ TLC
Microsoft has 5 New Fonts!
Microsoft is rolling out 5 new fonts and we couldn’t be more excited! All 5 are Microsoft Cloud Fonts, meaning they are available on every endpoint with Microsoft Office. These are available now and we do not have to worry that a client will not have them and fonts will default to some other randomly assigned font. Windows, Mac, IOS, Android, PowerPoint for the web – these fonts will work for everyone.
Besides showcasing 5 great new options to incorporate into our designs and templates, Microsoft is making waves with news of replacing its long-standing default font, Calibri. Since 2007, Calibri has been the default font for all Microsoft programs including PowerPoint. At its inception, Calibri was designed to perform on lower resolution displays to optimize legibility, using technology that the company no longer uses.
Sample images of each font is below. Each uses the default kerning (space between letters). The top line is with Bold applied, and the lower line with the name of the font is in the standard weight.
Up first on the list is TENORITE, by Erin McLaughlin and Wei Huang. A personal favorite, this font is round and wide, with narrow kerning, making it great for all caps headlines and titles.
Then there is BIERSTADT, by Steve Matteson. A modern take on the mechanical, grid-based style stemming from swiss typography. Tenorite incorporates some organic elements that really makes it stand apart from its institutional roots.
Next up is SKEENA, by John Hudson and Paul Hanslow. With a emphasize on contrast, the font’s distinct variations between thick and thin add a stand-out contender to the list, great for presentations with a lot of copy.
That brings us to SEAFORD, by Tobias Frere-Jones, Nina Stössinger, and Fred Shallcrass. While this the most old-school font of the bunch, there is nothing old about the approach they took designing this font face. Inspired by armchairs, this font is sturdy and worth sitting with for some time.
And last but not least GRANDVIEW, by Aaron Bell. This highly mechanical, German-derived option, is the most rigid of the additions. Grandview retains readability exceptionally compared to it’s ancestors and will be a great option especially when it comes to data visualization.
These fonts are available now and according to the Microsoft press releases, by the end of 2022 one of them will become the default option across all Microsoft programs.
Sara @ TLC