What to Look for When Hiring a Presentation Template Designer
How professional a business’s presentations are can have a direct impact on how much business they win and how engaged their employees are. Most companies will reach a stage where they make presentations frequently. How successful they are will become more important as pitches are more lucrative and internal communications matter more.
The greater number of presentations there are being made – and by more parts of the business - the more chance there is they will become inconsistent. Some teams will build their own decks. Others will tweak slides to look how they think ‘on brand’ should look. Old PowerPoints tend to be reused, even when they don’t match current branding.
It’s often at this point companies realise they need a pre-formatted master template for their presentations. Making sure you’re using the right person for the job of creating this type of template is key. There are several things you need to look out for when hiring a presentation template designer so you can make the right decisions.
Who creates presentation templates?
You can task your internal designer with the job of creating presentation templates, but this is rarely a good idea. Alternatively, you can use a general branding agency, or someone else who understands logos and fonts and basic design. All these options have their limitations. A presentation template specialist who is also a trained graphic designer (and not all are) brings multiple, different skills.
You need someone who doesn’t just know the basics of designing in PowerPoint. It’s an incredibly useful tool, but if you don’t understand exactly what it can do and how, you’re wasting its capabilities. Choosing someone with the wrong skillset can lead to wasted time, slides that are messy or difficult to use, and inconsistent branding.
The advantages of using a specialist presentation template designer
A professionally designed PowerPoint template doesn’t just need the right colours and fonts. As it’s a functional tool your whole company depends on, you need a specialist who understands:
Slide masters and layouts – master slides mean the right fonts, colours, spacing, and so on are automatically used throughout all presentations.
Departmental needs – different departments will need different slides and layouts within one unified template. Requirements will vary depending on whether it’s sales, marketing, board presentations, or internal training, for example.
Brand consistency – the template should follow brand guidelines but still be easily usable by non-designers so it stays consistent.
The strategic value of structure – this should be the backbone of any presentation. Without a deep understanding of presentation structure you risk losing the advantage of a professional design.
.POTX vs .PPTX – a template should be supplied as a .POTX file. This means every time someone opens the master template, they start with a fresh, unsaved deck. This prevents staff accidentally overwriting the master file.
How teams use PowerPoint – a template is only useful if people can use it quickly and confidently.
Branding agencies will often supply PowerPoint presentation files. Because presentation templates are a niche skill within design, some agencies will hire a presentation design. Even so, templates may still not be their specific area of expertise.
Using the wrong designer can mean you end up with templates that look like they follow brand guidelines, but in fact don’t work like they should. This can mean it takes employees longer than it should to produce presentations, or they may avoid using the tools that should be helping them.
What a specialist freelance presentation template designer should deliver
A freelance presentation template specialist shouldn’t just deliver a cover slide with your logo and additional slides in the right colour palette. A complete template would usually include:
Vital design elements
You should receive a .POTX template (not just a .PPTX file) master slide library, preset layouts for different departments, and detailed instructions for how to use your slides.
Training elements
You should expect a short training session and documented instructions built into the slides for people to refer to when they are working on them.
Flexibility and control
Your team should be able to update things like brand colours and fonts easily but key elements should be locked in. This guarantees accessibility and consistent formatting regardless of who or which department is creating a presentation.
Workflow efficiency
Templates should enable employees who are not designers to create presentation decks quickly. They shouldn’t need reworking to maintain brand consistency.
Compatibility
You should get the formats you need, and your presentation designs should work across different software versions and devices. They need to be scalable for growth.
When is the right time to hire a template presentation designer?
When your company is growing and various teams are regularly producing presentations.
When you rebrand or refresh your brand to avoid people using old branding going forward. All your collateral matching from the outset prevents future issues.
When the quality of your presentations becomes more ‘mission critical’ for things like board meetings, investor decks, and client pitches.
When current workflows for creating presentations lead to wasted time or inconsistent results.
Getting the right PowerPoint presentation template design specialist
Make sure you find a specialist in presentation templates who is also a trained graphic designer. Getting the right master template is more than just getting some pre-formatted slides. Done properly it’s a professional business and workflow asset.
It can be difficult to know how many pre-formatted template slides youd might need, but an experienced designer will be able to advise. We also have more information in our blog How Many Different Pre-Templated PowerPoint Slides Does Your Company Need?.
The best specialist PowerPoint presentation template designer - based in London
power your point’s senior designer and creative director, Sarah is a trained graphic designer and specialist in creating powerful PowerPoint presentation templates. Get in touch to get your company presentations working harder for you.