Top Presentation Design Trends of 2021, According to Creative Experts

In early 2020, the world as we knew it was flipped the other way up. Companies had been compelled to pivot within the face of the pandemic, and because of this many firms adopted a distant work tradition.

Distant work modified the best way organizations and groups labored — and even how firms communicated to potential clients and bought new enterprise. Workers leaned into digital designs, displays, and occasions to speak each internally and externally.

The graphic design panorama, because of this, has modified dramatically over the previous yr.

Now, displays have to work more durable than ever to attach, have interaction, and encourage audiences into motion. In truth, over 35 million PowerPoint displays are given every day to over 500 million audiences — however 79% of these audiences consider most displays they see are boring.

That can assist you crush your subsequent presentation deck, we have rounded up the highest presentation design traits of 2021, as predicted by inventive business consultants and presentation power-users.

Right here, be taught from three inventive consultants from main firms within the tech house on the 4 largest presentation design traits that may emerge in 2021.

1. There will likely be elevated empathy present in design.

Marissa Latshaw, Founding father of Latshaw Advertising and marketing, says: “Impactful, inspiring design begins with empathy.

Empathy is among the strongest instruments within the inventive toolbox. The excellent news is that empathy — the flexibility to really feel, perceive, and reply to the emotions of others — is innate in us all. Our job as creators is to harness this empathy for higher design, advertising, and storytelling.

Empathy boosts creativity. The empathy/creativity connection is robust — as proven in lots of research over the previous decade. One research requested individuals to create and title a potato chip product for pregnant ladies. Earlier than starting the duty, half of the individuals had been advised to examine how the patron would really feel whereas consuming the snack. The opposite half had been requested to think about what the patron would assume. An impartial jury discovered the product ideas of the primary, feelings-focused, empathy-activated group to be extra unique than the management group.

Empathy can be important for inclusivity. Greater than ever, we wish to talk with others in a means that’s genuinely inclusive. An empathetic strategy ensures we perceive the objectives, wants, fears, and values of all of the folks we want to have interaction (past simply the best way they relate to our model or product). It is a name for us all to turn out to be proactive about inclusivity, and it begins with empathy.

Empathy creates connection. From in-home health large Peloton to the brand new voice-based, social community Clubhouse, we’re always discovering new and revolutionary methods to attach with each other.

Each manufacturers show empathy as they deal with the palpable and rising want for connection. They re-imagined how we work out and share conversations in a extra socially-connected means.

Designing something — from a presentation to an advert marketing campaign — is not any totally different. Every is a chance to reimagine and innovate how we have interaction and join with the world.

Empathy helps us to face out by standing in one other’s sneakers. Creating one-of-a-kind, empathy-driven experiences in the end brings us nearer collectively and conjures up motion.”

2. Designers will lean into radical simplicity.

Eliot Garcia Weisberg, Artistic Director at Airbnb, talks to us about all issues radical simplicity.

He says, “Regardless of its unimaginable energy to attach us, teleconferencing stunts viewers vitality and empathy. Consideration — already a fleeting useful resource — is additional divided between the screens, audio system, slides, and sounds of the digital panorama.

The suggestions loop from viewers to presenter is almost useless. The impression of environmental design is misplaced. In our new world, the worth of a single pixel on the cluttered screens of distant audiences is immense. And the screens themselves— their high quality and colours— range wildly from member to member.

The important thing to designing for the ‘new regular’ is embracing radical simplicity. A designer should cut back a slide to its core thought, then push to simplify even additional. They musk ask themselves — ‘Do I actually need to indicate this?’ Then problem themselves each time the reply is ‘Sure.’

Slide counts will likely be drastically decreased. Superfluous icons will fade away. Bullets will turn out to be a distant reminiscence. Delicate textures will likely be changed by strong colours. We’ll see a shift away from picture masks and daring textual content over images. As a substitute, we’ll see full-screen pictures or easy statements that make their level apparent and drive core ideas dwelling.

We’ll spend extra time on the speaker— full display— than ever earlier than. Their supply, from tone to inflection, will turn out to be a design component. Rehearsals will exchange design critiques.

The tip outcome will really feel rather more human. And, if profitable, radically easy.”

3. Nice design will maintain the viewers’ consideration.

“For many years, the job of inventive designers, writers, and videographers was to get consideration. Minimize by means of the noise. Ship advertisements that stand out. Use creativity as a hook,” Adam Morgan, Adobe’s Government Artistic Director, says about holding an viewers’s consideration.

He provides, “However in at the moment’s ultra-connected digital world, that hammer and nail strategy is not all the time the reply. Individuals select what they need. The pattern I am seeing at the moment is to carry consideration. Much less push and extra pull. Now we have to create experiences that present actual worth to a person — not simply catch their consideration with shock worth or clickbait.

“Now we have to create communities the place folks need to eat our model experiences. Now we have to know these people and teams, what they care about, and supply new data wrapped in an emotional blanket. Now we have to face for issues they worth.”

Quite than a tough promote, now we have to share a narrative that they consider in and be open and clear with why it issues to them.

What this implies for inventive groups is you could’t simply make it fairly or humorous. You must assume deeply about what your model means to clients after which create immersive experiences that join. It is not simply in regards to the inventive craft of colours and fonts and icons. It is about tales and that means and authenticity and objective. Do not simply get consideration along with your work. Maintain consideration. So to construct manufacturers that develop and final.”

4. Designers ought to use clear, minimalistic fonts and calming colours.

Lastly, we tapped into Lovely.ai’s Artistic Director Anuja Kanani’s experience to unravel yet one more presentation design pattern for 2021.

Kanani says, “Selecting the very best colours for a presentation, and good presentation fonts, are two of an important parts of deck design. Every design resolution— shapes, phrases, and pictures— have an effect on the best way your viewers feels in regards to the presentation, however colours maintain essentially the most affect.

Taking the place of daring, brilliant major colours, 2021 has warranted extra relaxed, muted colours following the chaos of 2020. Not solely are low-saturated and pastel colours extra calming, they’re extra natural and pure, maybe making audiences really feel extra comfortable and assured within the presentation in entrance of them.

Utilizing a constant, complimentary colour theme strategically will help place your model within the thoughts of your clients,” provides Kanani. She recommends limiting your presentation to 3-4 colours in your palette, with one accent colour to spotlight key factors and produce stability and concord to your presentation.

The pattern of minimalism extends to good presentation fonts, too. Seasoned presenters are choosing clear minimal fonts, similar to Open Sans or Jost, and rejecting conventional fonts like Arial or Instances New Roman in 2021.

Kanani provides, “Customized typography improves your model recognition, whereas choosing totally different weights or kinds will help management the narrative on every slide.”

Presentation Graphics

You’ve got most likely caught onto the truth that over-complicated slides are a factor of the previous. Research present that 35% of millennials say they’ll solely have interaction with content material they really feel has an amazing story or theme, so to keep away from boring them into a sleep, use visuals to regulate your narrative.

Presentation graphics, or wealthy visuals, will help you paint an image in bite-sized chunks in order that your viewers can digest the knowledge you are presenting to them.

Kanani says, “Participating, inspiring visuals in displays make your content material compelling, eye-catching, and helps convey your story superbly.”

Selecting wealthy icons, diagrams or infographics, and high quality images are highly effective instruments to assist make your presentation extra memorable and impactful.

In the end, design is an artwork, not a science. Nevertheless, ideally you need to use these traits as inspiration in your personal branded designs in 2021 and past.