Case study
Translating agency design into everyday software
A B2B branding agency had already established the creative direction for its client. My role was to translate that approved design into PowerPoint and Google Slides templates that could be used confidently in everyday work.
Sometimes the visual direction was provided; sometimes individual layouts had already been designed and needed to be rebuilt properly as reusable templates.
I’ve followed the same process in other settings too, including consulting firms, NGOs and solopreneur businesses, adapting the level of structure and guidance to the people who will actually use the template.
The challenge
A template can look exactly like the approved design and still be difficult to use.
The real test begins after handover, when someone needs to create a new presentation, find the right layout, add content, maintain the brand and make changes without accidentally breaking the system.
The job was therefore not just to reproduce the design. It was to turn it into something other people could keep using.
My role
I worked from the agency’s approved creative direction, preserving the design while translating it into the logic and limitations of PowerPoint and Google Slides.
That meant making decisions about layouts, placeholders, defaults, assets, file size and user guidance that may not be visible in a finished screenshot but have a major effect on how well the template works.
My work included:
Rebuilding approved visual directions as practical PowerPoint and Google Slides systems
Creating enough purposeful layouts and reusable resources for the presentations people actually need to make
Setting up the less-visible details that keep new slides consistent, from placeholders and defaults to guidance and brand settings
What I consider non-negotiable in a good template
A useful template needs more than attractive master slides. These are some of the things I check before considering one ready for everyday use.
01
Give the template a proper identity.
The template itself should have a clear name so people, document systems and increasingly AI-assisted features can recognise what they are working with.
02
Build the brand into the file.
Fonts and colours should already be set up correctly. When a brand palette goes beyond the standard accent colours PowerPoint can accommodate, I also provide easy access to the additional colours people are likely to need.
03
Create enough layouts for real work
Layouts should be clearly named and cover recurring needs rather than forcing people to repeatedly dismantle or improvise from a small set of generic slides.
04
Keep placeholders predictable
Titles, footers and other recurring elements should stay in consistent positions so content does not appear to jump around as people move between layouts.
05
Set the everyday defaults
Text boxes, shapes, lines, tables, charts and other commonly inserted objects should start as close to the brand as possible.
06
Use good-quality assets without making the file unnecessarily heavy
Logos, imagery and background graphics need sufficient quality, but they should also be optimised so the template does not become bloated before users have added their own content.
07
Make the layout library easier to navigate
Divider layouts can organise larger templates into practical groups, such as icon layouts, tables, diagrams or other recurring content types.
08
Include micro brand guidance
A small number of reference slides can explain colours, fonts, visual principles and other essentials without requiring someone to find a separate brand document.
09
Put guidance where people will actually encounter it
Instructions can sit inside placeholders at template level, in example slides at presentation level, or ideally both. Not every user sees the same part of the system.
10
Show what good use looks like
Example slides make abstract layouts easier to understand and give users a practical starting point without turning the template into a rigid formula.
And these are only the more visible checks. There are additional technical details behind a reliable template that vary according to the software, organisation and way the file will be used.
The handover is not necessarily the finish line
Even a carefully planned template reveals new things once people begin using it for real work.
Where possible, I review how it performs after handover: which layouts people reach for, where they improvise, what they struggle to find and where the system could make their work easier.
A template should be able to evolve when real use shows that something could work better.
What this case shows
Templates sit between brand design and everyday behaviour.
Before building one, I consider:
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What do people create most often?
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Which decisions can the template make for them?
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Where do they need flexibility?
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What needs to remain consistent?
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What guidance will they realistically see?
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What will happen when the original designer is no longer there?
A good template does not simply preserve the design. It makes that design easier for other people, especially non-designers, to apply again and again.