Project Brief
The Inkling sales team meets onsite at the beginning of every fiscal year. During this multi-day series the team renews their goals and training. We were approached with only a few days to put together a slide deck template with a strong visual brand. We were asked to use the message "Summit To Success" as a central concept for the visuals.
I was the sole designer, with direction from a Design Manager.
Conceptual Exploration
We first brainstormed "Summit to Success" through a few collected images. A brand mark was created for the event and we paired these together with a few text options. This was iterated on until the concept was resolved.
We gathered images of mountains and climbers. Concepts branched out into topographic maps and computer-generated mesh landscapes.
![images of mountain climbing](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/656a2ef5f1342e494d73e34e/6580efa9adb01f673d110b87_inkling-sko-01-exploration-01.png)
![topography visual exploration](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/656a2ef5f1342e494d73e34e/6580efb7262f477b0b89892e_inkling-sko-02-exploration-02.png)
Iterations
I tried manipulating images with colorization and posterization effects. When converted to vectors, playing with shape and color revealed and interesting effect.
![topography colorization](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/656a2ef5f1342e494d73e34e/6580efc62cbdfa11476c3836_inkling-sko-03-iteration-01.png)
![mountain filter effects](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/656a2ef5f1342e494d73e34e/6580efed6f88091c205d4113_inkling-sko-04-iteration-02.png)
![mountain photo effects](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/656a2ef5f1342e494d73e34e/6580effa4a31f78cb2908bc5_inkling-sko-05-iteration-03.png)
![mountain photo effects](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/656a2ef5f1342e494d73e34e/6580f009b26be9dc95112474_inkling-sko-06-iteration-04.png)
For the brand mark we tried different color options and layouts. Once the more effective concepts were paired with type and color, then the better ideas started to emerge. Some of the better iterations that led to the final deck designs.
![logo iterations](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/656a2ef5f1342e494d73e34e/6580f01df8ebf2590bcbfaf9_inkling-sko-07-iteration-05.png)
Final Deck Designs
A handful of slides were created to suit various use-cases. This included intro titles and topics, bullet-points and heavy-text, figures and images, and end-cap slides. Presenters were able to use each of these as a starting point to build out their presentation content.
![final deck design slide](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/656a2ef5f1342e494d73e34e/6574ec1d743caa1e0844ac00_final-slides-01-scaled.jpeg)
![final deck design slide](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/656a2ef5f1342e494d73e34e/6574ec1d743caa1e0844abdb_final-slides-02-scaled.jpeg)
![final deck design slide](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/656a2ef5f1342e494d73e34e/6574ec1d743caa1e0844ab69_final-slides-03-scaled.jpeg)
![final deck design slide](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/656a2ef5f1342e494d73e34e/6574ec1d743caa1e0844abaa_final-slides-05-scaled.jpeg)
![final deck design slide](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/656a2ef5f1342e494d73e34e/6574ec1d743caa1e0844abb1_final-slides-04-scaled.jpeg)
![final deck design slide](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/656a2ef5f1342e494d73e34e/6574ec1d743caa1e0844ac06_final-slides-06-scaled.jpeg)
![final deck design slide](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/656a2ef5f1342e494d73e34e/6574ec1d743caa1e0844abee_final-slides-07-scaled.jpeg)
![final deck design slide](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/656a2ef5f1342e494d73e34e/6574ec1d743caa1e0844ac03_final-slides-08-scaled.jpeg)
![final deck design slide](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/656a2ef5f1342e494d73e34e/6574ec1d743caa1e0844abe1_final-slides-09-scaled.jpeg)
![final deck design slide](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/656a2ef5f1342e494d73e34e/6574ec1d743caa1e0844abd2_final-slides-10-scaled.jpeg)
![final deck design slide](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/656a2ef5f1342e494d73e34e/6574ec1d743caa1e0844abfa_final-slides-11-scaled.jpeg)
![final deck design slide](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/656a2ef5f1342e494d73e34e/6574ec1d743caa1e0844abb8_final-slides-12-scaled.jpeg)
Design Guidelines
To help ensure speakers were preparing their slides properly I created a guidelines slide to help instruct them. I also enabled some features in Google Slides (like rulers) to also help reinforce these guidelines.
![final deck slide guidelines](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/656a2ef5f1342e494d73e34e/6574ec1d743caa1e0844abce_final-slides-13-scaled.jpeg)
Conclusion
We had a tight turn-around for this project. The big idea was rough and the expectations. We were able to iterate quickly on ideas and come to a solid visual scheme which played well across various slide templates. Our sales team was absolutely thrilled with the visuals and were excited to present content using it.
![Portrait of Jacob McAdam looking into the distance with cubes of light behind him.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/656269160c4cc472bab6e273/66723ac04d4fe62124e3360d_jrm-design-headshot-4-sm.jpg)