We begin a new occasional series on how to use original color palettes in presentations. This approach frees you from the restrictions of the colors suggested by Microsoft. It’s easy and empowering.
Susan says, “Powerpoint templates come with suggested color palettes. Because it’s easy and seems to be endorsed by Microsoft, a lot of presenters just accept and use these colors . Many corporate presenters are restricted in their choice of colors by their company style guide. If you are fortunate enough to be free to use a palette of your own choosing, think about trying this approach. We started with one of Lucia’s photos and then selected our palette colors from within the photo. Because understanding color relationships is a deep science, this is a quick way to leave the worry behind and to be guided by nature.
This is How You Do It
Once you’ve picked your colors you’ll need to get them into your powerpoint template. This is fiddly but not hard. You’ll begin by selecting a template to populate with the colors – the completely blank template works best. Open the first slide and insert the photo with the colors you want. From there you will open format – theme colors – custom colors. Using the color picker tool, mouse over the colors you want for text, background, accent 1 and 2 and you will quickly have the basis for your presentation using colors of your own choosing. Pretty neat.
This is an example of a look created from the photo above. Give it a try when you are not feeling the suggested powerpoint palette.
It Began with Color
Lucia says, “I think Susan is really on to something. It was the colors that attracted me to this scene in the first place. The composition came later. Therefore I can’t stress enough the importance of color. Although the effect may be subliminal, your choices of color can have a tremendous impact on your design. Why not take Susan’s advice and look to photos of nature for you ideas? As she demonstrated, it’s not that hard. You may come up with color combinations that are pleasantly surprising and pleasing to the eye.”
