How to Put Different Design in PowerPoint

PowerPoint is a versatile tool for presentations, offering a range of options to customize and enhance the design. When working on presentations, design is key to keeping your audience engaged and ensuring your message is clear. Incorporating different designs into your PowerPoint slides can make your presentation stand out. This article will guide you through the process of applying various design techniques in PowerPoint to create visually compelling slides that meet your presentation needs.

1. Understanding PowerPoint Themes and Templates

Before you can start adding your designs, it's essential to understand the basics of PowerPoint themes and templates. Themes consist of pre-designed color schemes, fonts, and effects that can be applied to all slides. Templates, on the other hand, come with pre-built slide layouts and designs tailored to specific types of content, such as business reports or educational presentations.

How to Apply a Theme:

• Open PowerPoint and select the “Design” tab from the toolbar.
• In the “Themes” section, you'll find a collection of pre-installed themes.
• Simply click on a theme to apply it to your slides.
• For additional customization, click the “Variants” option to adjust the color schemes, fonts, or background styles.

Applying templates: You can access PowerPoint templates in a similar way by selecting “File” > “New” and browsing the available templates.

2. Customizing Slide Layouts

A slide layout is essentially the arrangement of text, images, and other objects on a slide. While PowerPoint provides built-in layouts, you can modify them to fit your design needs.

• To change the layout of a specific slide, go to the “Home” tab and click the “Layout” drop-down menu.
• Select a pre-set layout or customize by clicking “Slide Master” in the “View” tab. This feature allows you to change fonts, backgrounds, and placeholders across multiple slides simultaneously.

Custom Layouts Example:

Layout Type	Description
Title Slide	Large title space and subtitle area, no content.
Two Content	Two content boxes side-by-side for comparisons.
Content with Caption	Content area and text caption to the side.

3. Adding Visual Elements: Images, Icons, and Shapes

Incorporating visual elements can significantly enhance your design. PowerPoint makes it easy to insert and customize images, icons, and shapes.

• Images: Go to the “Insert” tab and select “Pictures” to add an image.
• Icons: Choose “Icons” to access a library of high-quality icons that can be easily resized and customized.
• Shapes: Click “Shapes” to draw geometric shapes, arrows, or flowcharts.

Pro Tip: Use high-resolution images to maintain clarity, and ensure the icons match your presentation's theme for consistency.

4. Using PowerPoint’s Design Ideas Feature

The “Design Ideas” tool in PowerPoint provides automatic suggestions for improving the design of your slides. It analyzes the content on your slide and generates alternative layouts and designs.

• To use this tool, click on a slide, then go to the “Design” tab and click on “Design Ideas.”
• A sidebar will appear with multiple design options. Click on any of them to apply it to your slide.

This is especially helpful if you're looking for quick design improvements without manually adjusting every slide.

5. Incorporating Animations and Transitions

Animations and transitions can add movement to your slides, making them more dynamic. However, it's important to use them sparingly to avoid distracting the audience.

Adding Animations:

• Select the object you want to animate (text, image, shape).
• Go to the “Animations” tab and choose from options like “Fade,” “Fly In,” or “Zoom.”
• Customize the animation by clicking on “Animation Pane” to adjust timing, triggers, and duration.

Adding Transitions Between Slides:

• Select the slide where you want to add a transition.
• Click on the “Transitions” tab and choose from the available options, such as “Fade,” “Wipe,” or “Push.”
• Adjust the duration and whether the transition should apply automatically or on click.

6. Designing for Accessibility

Designing accessible PowerPoint presentations ensures that your content can be understood by a wider audience, including people with disabilities.

• Use contrasting colors between text and background.
• Ensure that all images and graphics have alt text for screen readers.
• Avoid flashing animations, which can be disruptive for people with epilepsy.

7. Customizing Backgrounds

Custom backgrounds can be used to add texture or branding elements to your slides. Instead of sticking to plain solid colors, you can use images or gradients to enhance the visual appeal.

Steps to Customize a Background:

• Go to the “Design” tab and click on “Format Background.”
• Choose between solid fill, gradient fill, picture, or pattern fill.
• If you opt for a picture, you can insert one from your computer or choose from PowerPoint's stock image collection.

8. Integrating Charts and Graphs

Data visualizations are crucial for certain types of presentations, particularly in business and education. PowerPoint allows you to create a variety of charts and graphs to display data effectively.

• Click on the “Insert” tab and select “Chart.”
• Choose from different chart types like bar charts, line graphs, pie charts, and more.
• Enter your data directly into the Excel sheet that appears, and the chart will update in real-time.

Example of Chart Types and Uses:

Chart Type	Best For
Bar Chart	Comparing quantities across categories
Line Chart	Showing trends over time
Pie Chart	Displaying proportions

9. Exporting and Sharing Your Design

Once your PowerPoint is designed, you may want to export or share it in different formats.

• PDF: Go to “File” > “Save As” and select PDF for easy sharing.
• Images: Each slide can be saved as a separate image. Select “File” > “Save As” and choose the image format (JPEG, PNG).

This is useful when embedding slides into other documents or websites.

10. Using PowerPoint for Interactive Designs

Interactive presentations allow your audience to engage more with the content. PowerPoint supports hyperlinks, buttons, and branching slides to create a more interactive experience.

• To add a hyperlink, select text or an object, right-click, and choose “Link.”
• You can link to external websites, another slide within the presentation, or even a different document.

Pro Tip: Use action buttons to guide users through non-linear presentations, such as quizzes or interactive walkthroughs.

Conclusion

In conclusion, PowerPoint offers numerous design features that can elevate the look and feel of your presentations. From applying themes and customizing layouts to incorporating animations and interactivity, mastering these tools will enable you to create professional and engaging presentations. Remember to keep accessibility and audience engagement in mind while designing your slides.