Presentation Design

Visual design guidance for bold, minimal presentations optimized for live presenting.

Core Style

Theme: Dark-first, high contrast, minimal (light mode supported) Feel: Modern, confident, tech-forward

Element	Specification
Background	Black (#000000) or near-black; light mode: #fafafa
Primary text	White (#FFFFFF); light mode: #09090b
Secondary text	Gray (#9CA3AF)
Accents	Section-specific colors (see below)
Typography	Sans-serif (e.g. Geist Sans), light weights at large sizes
Letter spacing	Tight (-0.035em to -0.015em)

Typography Hierarchy

Impact comes from scale, not weight. Use light/regular weights (400-600) at massive sizes.

SECTION LABEL     Small caps, section color, tracked wide
                  Example: "THE PROBLEM" | "WHAT WORKS"

Headline          Massive, primary color, light weight (400-500)
                  Fluid sizing via container queries
                  1-5 words per line typical

Subtitle          Smaller, secondary/muted color, regular weight
                  1-2 lines maximum

Body/Bullets      Medium size, primary or secondary color
                  Bold lead-ins (600 weight) when used

Text Contrast Hierarchy

Use 4 levels of contrast to create depth:

Level	Purpose	Example
Primary	Headlines, key content	White / #FFFFFF
Secondary	Subtitles, supporting text	Light gray
Muted	Labels, metadata	Medium gray
Faint	Background elements	Dark gray

Section Colors

Each major section of a presentation gets its own accent color. This reinforces structure and helps the audience track where they are.

Color	Hex (dark)	Typical use
Teal	#14b8a6	Opening, framing, recap
Red	#f87171	Problems, challenges, tension
Purple	#a78bfa	Solutions, features, tools
Amber	#fbbf24	Data, reality checks, caveats
Green	#34d399	Best practices, what works
Blue	#60a5fa	Technical, implementation
Pink	#f472b6	Highlights, special callouts

Section colors appear in: section labels, gradient backgrounds, progress bars, and accent elements.

Layout Patterns

Full Statement (most common)

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SECTION LABEL                           │
│                                         │
│ Massive                                 │
│ Headline                                │
│ Here                                    │
│                                         │
│ Subtitle text in muted color            │
│                                 [ref] ↗ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Big Statement (maximum impact)

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SECTION LABEL                           │
│                                         │
│                                         │
│       Even Bigger                       │
│       Statement                         │
│                                         │
│                                         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Split Layout

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SECTION LABEL                           │
│                                         │
│ Headline        │  • Point one          │
│ Here            │  • Point two          │
│                 │  • Point three        │
│ Subtitle        │  • Point four         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Section Divider (with gradient)

┌────────────────────┬────────────────────┐
│                    │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│
│ Section            │▓▓▓ Gradient ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│
│ Title              │▓▓▓ Background ▓▓▓▓▓│
│                    │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│
│ Subtitle           │▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│
└────────────────────┴────────────────────┘

Code Slide

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SECTION LABEL                           │
│ Headline                                │
│ Subtitle                                │
│                                         │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ // syntax-highlighted code block    │ │
│ │ const result = await generate()     │ │
│ │                                     │ │
│ └─────────────────────────────────────┘ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Data/Metrics

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│        ┌────────┐ ┌────────┐ ┌────────┐ │
│        │  $10M  │ │  ~10%  │ │  NPS   │ │
│        │  ARR   │ │ GROWTH │ │   90   │ │
│        └────────┘ └────────┘ └────────┘ │
│ SECTION LABEL                           │
│ Headline                                │
│ Subtitle                                │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

People/Photos Grid

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Headline                                │
│ Subtitle                                │
│                                         │
│ ┌─────┐ ┌─────┐ ┌─────┐ ┌─────┐        │
│ │photo│ │photo│ │photo│ │photo│        │
│ │Name │ │Name │ │Name │ │Name │        │
│ │TITLE│ │TITLE│ │TITLE│ │TITLE│        │
│ └─────┘ └─────┘ └─────┘ └─────┘        │
│                                         │
│ Photo style: Rounded, B&W or consistent │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Slide Type → Layout Mapping

Slide Type	Layout
Title	Full statement, centered
Section divider	Split with gradient, section color
Statement	Full statement, left-aligned
Big statement	Big statement, maximum scale
Question	Full statement, centered
Goals/Agenda	Split layout, bullets right
Data	Metrics boxes top
Code	Headline + syntax-highlighted block
Quote	Centered, large quotation marks
People	Photos grid
Recap	Split layout, labeled bullets
Resources	Grouped reference links by section
Next steps	Timeline or labeled bullets

Embedded Content

Slides can embed rich media alongside headlines:

• Code blocks — syntax-highlighted, dark surface background
• Terminal output — monospace with ANSI color support
• Tweet cards — styled quote cards with avatar and attribution
• Video previews — thumbnail with play button
• Article previews — link cards with title and description

Visual Elements

• Section labels: Top-left, uppercase, section color
• Progress bar: Bottom edge, section color, thin (3px)
• References: Bottom footer with clickable URLs
• Gradients: Aurora-style background effects using section color
• Icons: Simple line icons, white or accent color, used sparingly

Things to Avoid

• Dense paragraphs of text
• More than 4-5 bullet points
• Clip art or stock imagery
• Heavy font weights for headlines (use scale instead)
• Multiple competing focal points
• Animation for animation's sake