The Opportunity
As a consulting firm that serves independent higher education, Credo does week long conferences with their clients. Over the course of the time spent, there is a 130+ slide master presentation deck that is shown. It continually evolves and is modified for each school's needs.
As a consulting firm that serves independent higher education, Credo does week long conferences with their clients. Over the course of the time spent, there is a 130+ slide master presentation deck that is shown. It continually evolves and is modified for each school's needs.
The presentation was disjointed and visually in shambles as different contributors added content without a sense of cohesiveness and design aptitude. The goal was to remedy this problem and align it with other corporate assets, such as their website for an integrated brand experience. For that, Credo’s Brand Director turned to me to redesign the master deck and develop a consistent visual design system. It needed to be graphically rich and visually communicate what Credo does.
The Services
Creative and content strategy
Art direction
Design: Presentation
Design (not shown): Other presentations, social media graphics and advertising
Tools: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat, PowerPoint
Creative and content strategy
Art direction
Design: Presentation
Design (not shown): Other presentations, social media graphics and advertising
Tools: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat, PowerPoint
The Partnership
Part of my analysis was to take the best part of their current branding and apply it to the presentation, and then add my own creative vision to where it’s appropriate. Fortunately, Credo already had a solid and nicely designed website in place. This would serve as some of the overall creative and design direction. So some of the pressure was off for me on strategy. However, I still had to deal with over 130 slides in total disarray—AND with less than three weeks to deliver before their next conference. It was another big task that could get quite intense if it's not smartly managed.
Part of my analysis was to take the best part of their current branding and apply it to the presentation, and then add my own creative vision to where it’s appropriate. Fortunately, Credo already had a solid and nicely designed website in place. This would serve as some of the overall creative and design direction. So some of the pressure was off for me on strategy. However, I still had to deal with over 130 slides in total disarray—AND with less than three weeks to deliver before their next conference. It was another big task that could get quite intense if it's not smartly managed.
A lot of designers hate doing presentations and working with PowerPoint (or Apple Keynote, for that matter.) But I jump at the chance to do them. I believe that once you understand the software’s parameters and limitations, it can be fine if you also understand the art of presentation—both in presenting and design. Knowing how to use the toolset effectively for the solution is part of the challenge and fun.
The Result
The redesigned master presentation was a home run, and a night-and-day improvement over the old slides. I was able to successfully integrate a consistent and cohesive design system across the deck. Further, the branding was integrated with their website and other assets to deliver a unifying experience. All-in-all, it was another successful project and a very satisfied client.
The redesigned master presentation was a home run, and a night-and-day improvement over the old slides. I was able to successfully integrate a consistent and cohesive design system across the deck. Further, the branding was integrated with their website and other assets to deliver a unifying experience. All-in-all, it was another successful project and a very satisfied client.
Click here to read more in-depth about my process behind creating Credo Higher Education’s presentation.
