How to make a modern background for your presentation

Finding the right background for your presentation is often a challenge. The slide's content does not look great on every background: either the text will appear crooked, or the picture will not fit.

The best thing you can do is keep the background in sync throughout your presentation. But, depending on the content on the slide, you can also change it a little: add plates, make it darker or blurry.

We will show you various presentation background options that will highlight the slide's content and not distract the viewer's attention.

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White background

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Use a white background for your presentation if you don't have time for complex designs. The white background is universal, and everything looks great on it. Therefore, it is the most basic and good-looking solution.

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If you have a white background, pay attention to the layout because the eye immediately catches elements' placement.

Accents are essential in design, and the white background is great for focusing audiences' attention on the graphics.

With the right color combination and typography, a white background helps products look stylish.

It is good to show processes on a white background. It works well for slides where there is a lot of content.

The white background looks clean and neat.

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If you need to create a color palette, use dedicated resources like coolors.co or color.adobe.com for easy color matching in your presentation.

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Black or dark background

Black or dark background is best used in cases when you are preparing a presentation for performance with a projector in a darkened room.

The screen will not project light at you. Moreover, it will be more comfortable for viewers to take pictures or videos. At most of the major conferences, the room is well equipped for presentations, and the slides are projected onto a dark background, so the light elements look great.

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Apple has long used white font and dark background in its presentations.

PrivatBank used this technique in its latest advertisement. In the video, a woman on stage presents a new service.

Colored elements are more eye-catching on the dark backgrounds.

Colored elements are more eye-catching on the dark backgrounds.

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Please note that thin white fonts and lines will be lost on the dark background if presented with a low-quality projector. It is better to use large black elements on a white background for the higher contrast.

Also, do not forget to select a font size of 28 and increase the line spacing to 1.3 to make the text easier to read on the dark background.

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Gradient

If you are bored by a monotonous background, you can use a gradient instead. The built-in presentation tools allow you to make interesting gradient variations.

To make a gradient as a background for your presentation, go to the Design tab → Background Format → Gradient Fill. The program has predefined gradients, but you can make your own by choosing the desired colors in the palette.

Besides, you can get inspiration for modern gradients by using online resources, for example, webgradients.com, uigradients.com. On these platforms, you can find the gradient you need, copy the color code, or simply save it and copy the color with the Eyedropper tool in PowerPoint.

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The light part of the gradient highlights the main subject on the slide and draws attention to it.

The gradient can be a transition from one color to another.

It can also be built on the tones of the same color.

The gradient can be either linear or radial.

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Picture background

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‍Photos evoke an emotional response from the audience, so we recommend using them for your title slide.

You can find the picture you need on free stocks such as unsplash.com, pixabay.com, and paid resources - depositphotos.com, shutterstock.com. Furthermore, you can search for it in Google, but do not forget to go to advanced settings and select "With a license for use and modification for commercial purposes." That means that there will be only images in the search results that you can use, distribute, and change for free.

Also, choose only a FullHD photo resolution - 1920 × 1080 or more to prevent your slide from going all-in pixels on the big screen.

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If you need to place text on the photo, it is better to do this on a separate layout - it can be made in a contrasting color or blurred.

The text doesn't always have to be placed on top of the photo. You can coherently combine illustration and text.

The text doesn't always have to be placed on top of the photo. You can coherently combine illustration and text.

Headings in contrasting colors are eye-catching.

Headings in contrasting colors are eye-catching.

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Textures and patterns

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‍Textures and patterns are great to use when you want to immerse your audience in a particular style or era. For example, you can use an aged paper texture for the background of a scholarly presentation.

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Patterns are a collection of elements that repeat in a specific order to create a unique decoration. There are many Internet resources to make your pattern for presentation - flaticon.com/pattern-generator, Plain Pattern, trianglify.io.

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Patterns perfectly stylize your presentation.

Not quite a pattern, but the maps have a repeating structure - a grid of streets, and you can use them as a decorative element. If the topic of the presentation is somehow connected with locations, it will also be illustrative.

Patterns help to create the right mood for your design.

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The mockup is a way to place a screenshot nicely on the presentation background.

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A mockup is a cool option for anyone who has to present their apps, programs, or platforms. If you need to show the program interface, personal account, or site layout, it is better to immediately insert the screenshot into the phone or laptop screen's mockup.

You can search for mockups on the following online resources - mockuphone.com, smartmockups.com, magicmockups.com, mockuper.net. The mockup making process is very simple. Firstly, you need to take a screenshot of your phone or website, then select the device you need for a mockup on the service, upload a screenshot, and generate a mockup. The free versions' functionality is enough to make a phone, tablet, or laptop mockup.

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The function is the same — to show a screenshot so that it doesn't look like it was just pasted onto the background.

Apple's mockups at the last presentation showed the chips of the new iOS 14

We use several mockups at the same time if we need to show cross-platform.

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Geometric figures

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Lines and arrows are one of the main trends of 2020. Such a background can be developed by a designer on your demand or simply found on stocks.

If you have graphic editors, you can add trend lines to the background yourself.

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The technique is best used when you need to show connections between objects - geometric shapes and lines are tools for storytelling in your presentation.

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Don't forget that the background should not distract the audience from the primary information. You can easily highlight the main points, engage the audience in the story, or show how the product looks like with its help.

The built-in tools and online resources are enough to create a modern background for your presentation. Just mix a little creativity with trends, and your presentation will not be missed!

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Ideas and Inspiration from Reprezent Team

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