design brief summary
To secure investment for their Venture Studio, the client needed a captivating presentation to clearly communicate their vision, connect with investors and ignite their interest, and ultimately lead to funding. However, content overload in the existing draft was a major hurdle, creating clutter and detracting from a clear storyline.
To fulfill the client's needs, a transformation was needed of the existing content into a clear, persuasive storyline with a clean, polished and impactful visual design. As a result, the presentation would help to drive engagement with investors and improve their chance to meet funding goals.
from information overload to crafting a compelling pitch
Before any design considerations, a captivating story is essential for any pitch presentation. However, my client's initial slides were overloaded with information, hindering the flow and audience engagement. I knew the content and structure needed refinement to create a presentation that would resonate.
CREATING THE STRUCTURE: As a best practice, pitch presentations follow a general framework, but adjustments are needed based on the audience and conversation goals. Building this outline helped us identify existing content and uncover gaps that needed to be filled.
REFINING THE CONTENT: Once the story flow was established, we tackled the content. Given the live presentation format, striking the right balance with on-slide information was key. The more text there is, the less the audience listens and the more they read. As a thought partner, I worked with the client to distill the content into key messages, ultimately reducing on-slide information by up to 90% in the main body of the presentation and keeping some detailed info for the appendix.
THE OUTCOME: The result? A clear storyline that would educate, engage, and drive audience buy-in, all supported by content that enhances the story, not distracts from it.
Alexandria took our overloaded presentation and crafted a compelling story. By reducing clutter and focusing on key messages, our conversations with investors are now significantly more engaging and productive.
- Giacomo Cattaneo, FOOD FOUNDERS Studio CEO
from story to style: bringing the pitch to life
With a captivating narrative locked in, I turned my focus to how we would visually present the content. The client had a starting point for the brand identity, including a logo concept, color palette, and typography, however was open to suggestions for improvement. While a full redesign wasn't on the table, I saw opportunities to refine these elements and elevate the overall brand impact.
COLOR PALETTE
The original color scheme was a deep navy and burnt orange. This is a classic, and compatible combination, however the orange was being overused and the contrast with the navy felt too intense, so I wanted to explore other options without drifting too far from the original concept.
Sample screenshots of the original slides shared by the client
After some research testing, I came up with a tweak to the color scheme, using a deep green-blue and a slightly brighter orange to keep a vibrant contrast.
Screenshot of the new Title slide and updated color palette
The new deep green color is a better connection to the topic of sustainability and environment (a key element of the company's focus), and provides a bit softer contrast against the orange. With the change to green, a slightly brighter orange hue paired better.
The green shades became the primary colors, with the orange moving into more of an accent color position, drawing the readers attention to key points. Overall, the new color scheme maintained the client's desire for energy and innovation, with an elevated feel.
TYPOGRAPHY
The initial concept for typography was Montserrat for the company name and Helvetica for all other presentation text. It was important to the client to use a font already built into MS PPTX to avoid any font challenges when sending files to others.
Montserrat was the right choice for the company name, however as a very geometric font, it is better balanced with a serif font. I really liked contrast of Montserrat with PT Serif. With this pairing, the combination looked best to use PT Serif for slide titles and headlines, and Montserrat for the body text.
Screenshot of two slides to showcase the pairing of PT Serif for headlines/titles, and Montserrat for the body text.
DESIGN TRANSFORMATION
The client's initial presentation faced a common challenge: cluttered slides with overwhelming information and a rough aesthetic. My goal was a complete transformation – a clean, polished, and engaging final product that fostered easy reading and clear understanding for the audience.
Below are some example transformations of slides:
BEFORE
AFTER
Title
Problem Statement
Solution
Process
check out the presentation
Please note, some content is redacted due to confidentiality
Working with Alexandria on my investor presentation was invaluable. She wasn't just a designer, but a true partner who helped me refine and tailor the messaging for the target audience. The final product is visually impactful and truly captures the essence of my company. I'm confident it will make a strong impression.
I highly recommend Alexandria to anyone looking for a talented and collaborative presentation designer!
- Giacomo Cattaneo, FOOD FOUNDERS Studio CEO