First impression is the last impression.
Although that should not be the case, we do tend to judge a book by its cover and a presentation by its cover slide.
We are visual beings and a good design evokes a good feeling. The cover slide is a visual summary of the design applied throughout the entire presentation. Fonts and colors to be used in the entire deck are established right on the cover slide template. A visual template raises hope for visual and engaging slides ahead.
So you do not want to lose this chance to create a favorable impression on the audience and make them excited to see your deck.
In this tutorial, we will walk you through the steps to create an interesting visual PowerPoint cover slide template using just SHAPES ! No purchasing of stock photos or other visual elements. Just open your PowerPoint and work with us. A little time and effort required from your end, that’s it. It will be worth it when you will end up creating a beautiful cover slide as this:
What you will learn to create in this tutorial:
You can use this design for any corporate presentation. Replace “branding” with your title (the most important word). You can write the complete title in the corner left and your company name under it.
View the Complete PowerPoint Deck on Branding
Steps to Create Cover Slide Template in PowerPoint:
Step 1- Fill the Slide Background
Let’s add a dash of color to our slide. Of course, you would be using your brand colors. But for illustration purposes, we are choosing maroon - an energetic dark shade of red that looks modern yet professional.
Follow these steps to get a gradient background like the one below:
- Right click on the blank slide > Format Background
- A Format Background window will open on the right side of the screen
- Select the Gradient fill radio button under No Fill
- Type - Radial
- Direction - From Top Right Corner (see the screenshot below)
- Put three gradient stops
- Open the Color menu and use the Eyedropper tool to get the ditto gradient background for your presentation
Step 2- Insert Rounded Rectangle
Now, using just shapes, we will begin creating a cool design. Go to the Insert tab on the PowerPoint ribbon and locate the Shapes menu. We will be taking all shapes from this PowerPoint shapes library. Follow these steps:
- Open the Shapes menu
- Go to the Rectangles section
- Choose the second option- Rectangle: Rounded Corners and drag to draw on the slide
- Right click on the rounded rectangle > Format Shape
- A Format Shape window will open on the right side of the screen
- Fill > No Fill
- Line > Solid Line > Color - White > Width > 5.25 pt (see the screenshot below)
Step 3- Insert Doughnut
The second shape we need to add is the Doughnut shape. Follow these steps:
- Open the Shapes menu under the Insert tab once again
- Under Basic Shapes, choose the Doughnut option (see the screenshot below)
- Press Shift and drag to draw a symmetrical circle
- Move the yellow handle on the doughnut towards left (see the screenshot below) to adjust the thickness of the circle
- Right click > Format Shape
- Fill > Solid fill > Color - White
- Line > No line
So we have created 2 shapes now - rounded rectangle and the doughnut. Put the doughnut in the centre of the rounded rectangle (see the image below). Your switch on the wall is ready. As much as 25% of your design is done!
Step 4- Insert & Edit U-Turn Arrow
Next, we need to create a wire to connect the switch with our title word. This is a bit difficult as we will have to play around with shapes to create the curved look of the wire. Follow these steps:
- Go to the Shapes menu
- Under the Block Arrows section, choose the Arrow: U-Turn (see the screenshot below)
- To flip the shape, select the shape and go to the Format tab on the PowerPoint ribbon
- Locate the Rotate menu
- Select the Flip Vertical option first and Flip Horizontal next (see the screenshot below)
To customize this arrow as per our requirements, follow these steps:
- Press Shift and the Up arrow on your keyboard to increase the length of the arrow
- Move the yellow handle towards left to reduce the arrow width
- Place a rectangle over the left half of the arrow (see the screenshot below)
- Select the arrow first, then the rectangle
- Go to the Format tab on the PowerPoint ribbon
- Locate the Merge Shapes button
- Select the Subtract option
- Change the color of the arrow to white using Format Shape
- Add it to the switch created earlier (step 2 and 3)
Step 5- Add Block Arc
To give a rounded edge to the connecting wire, we will add an arc towards the end. To do that, follow these steps:
- Go to the Shapes menu > Basic Shapes
- Choose the Block Arc option (see the screenshot below)
- Use the yellow handles to adjust the length and width of the arc
- Place the arc where the straight line ends to give it a rounded edge
Step 6- Add Text
Now, simply add the title of your presentation. For illustration purposes, we chose “Branding”. Choose a handwritten font that has tails or swashes in the end so that you can connect the ending alphabet with an arc as we have done. The font we have chosen is Brush Script MT which is available in PowerPoint’s default Font library and is 138 font size.
Step 7- Copy-Paste the Shapes at Title’s End
To continue with the connecting wire, simply copy paste the shapes we created earlier. As you can see in the screenshot below, we added the block arc (created in step 5) and the circular arrow (step 4).
I have reduced the length of the arc using the yellow handles. You will have to use your creative judgement to see that the arc joins the font’s tail seamlessly. Likewise, I reduced the length of the circular arrow. Since adjusting the length via the shape handles was distorting the shape, I placed rectangles over the extra area and subtracted the same using Merge Shapes.
Step 8- Create the Bulb
Although the last portion of the diagram i.e. the bulb seems difficult to create, it is not. As you can see in the screenshot below, we need to use the earlier shapes - Rectangle, rounded rectangle and block arc to create the entire bulb.
The rounded rectangles on top have been rotated at different degrees. The block arc has been adjusted using the yellow handles. The filament inside the bulb are simple rectangles or lines joined together. Our professional PowerPoint designers edited the points to create those curved edges. We don’t have to be that perfect! Lines with straight edges look as good.
That’s it. Your cover slide template is 100% ready!
Download the Complete PowerPoint Deck on Branding
Examples of Cover Slides Created Using Just Shapes:
#1- Sales Review Cover Slide using Rectangles and Lines
Download the Complete Sales Performance Review PPT
#2- Six Sigma Cover Slide Using Circles & Rectangles
Download the Complete Six Sigma PPT
#3- Service Launch Cover Slide
Download Service Launch PowerPoint Presentation
#4- New Product Development Process Cover Slide
Download New Product Development PPT
#5- Quarterly Business Review Cover Slide
Download Quarterly Business Review PPT
In the next tutorial, we will show you how to create a visually stunning cover slide template using images and shapes. Stay tuned.
Let us know if you found this tutorial useful. Share your feedback in the comments below.