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21 April 2022

Death by PowerPoint?


The words PowerPoint and design don’t seem ideal bedfellows. Let’s face it, the popular Microsoft app isn’t renowned for engaging presentations, let alone being a catalyst for creative design.

But when American designer and educator Carl DiSalvo chose to question the validity of PowerPoint as a design tool on Twitter, he received more than 2,000 replies, many in defence of the software.

In fact, we’re finding there is an increasing demand from internal communicators for creative documents and posters to be designed in PowerPoint, rather than specific design apps such as InDesign or Illustrator.

Why? Here are some tips about the pros and cons for communicators wanting to get the best out of PowerPoint.

Pros/tips

Cons/don’ts

Sequel Business Development Director Nick Andrews says the much maligned PowerPoint gets something of an unfair press.

“Yes, it has its limitations but PowerPoint does give communicators another tool to use as and when appropriate as part of an overall channel mix. As ever, think about the audience and the content before deciding whether PowerPoint is the best option,” says Nick.

So, while PowerPoint would never be our first choice for anything other than the presentations it was designed for, we can see the benefits to communicators in some cases. While it’s never going to be the designer or internal communicator’s app of choice, it doesn’t mean we can’t use it to create brilliant results.

HOW TO GUIDE: How to deliver great comms and provide value for money