Do not use clip art in your PowerPoint, please. Wait. Not strong enough. Do NOT use clip art in your PowerPoint, OKAY?! I am not sure what happens when someone is putting together a presentation. Do YOU like to look at those dinky, poorly drawn drawings? No? Well then, why would you think that someone else would want to do so? Clipart immediately brings down the professional level of your presentation. There are a ton of wonderful illustrations out there, for sale, that are not that pricey, but add a much better level of understanding. And they are not that hard to find – or that expensive! (iStock is one that comes to mind). And then there is custom designed icons or illustrations that help convey your theme exactly. When I bring that level of detail to a presentation, it transcends the minutia and brings class and excitement to your piece. Here are a few examples of some lovely illustrations within a PowerPoint. Some purchased, some hand-drawn.
This first one shows how a doctor’s office works for a local Corporation. Some of the icons are purchased, but the overall house and buildings were hand-drawn.
Custom-drawn icons that explain what the concept of this presentation is all about.
Photography is a whole different animal. Typically, companies have their “type” of photography style delineated and put together in some form of guidelines for external contractors to follow. The most important element to consider is resolution and size. If you are presenting to a group and no one will be receiving this presentation, keep your resolution around 150-DPI. But, if you are emailing this file, keep them at 72-DPI so that your over-all file size is smaller. Below are some successful images that have impact and tell a story.
