Inspired By Design
Inspired by Design is a long-running Presentation Guild webinar series built around the belief that learning happens when you show up, engage, reflect, and apply what you discover. Each episode is designed as a focused learning experience, turning everyday presentation challenges into practical insights and techniques you can immediately put to work. The series supports a two-way learning journey, where observation, experimentation, and shared experience strengthen both individual skills and the collective standards of our profession.
Across 36 episodes, Inspired by Design explores the foundations and finer points of presentation design and data visualization. Topics include core design principles such as contrast, alignment, hierarchy, repetition, and white space; effective use of typography, color, icons, images, and grids; and practical PowerPoint techniques like custom layouts, chart templates, vectors, drawing tools, and working with fonts across platforms. The series also takes a deep dive into data visualization, covering chart clarity, labeling, color use, alternatives to common chart types, and strategies for simplifying complex data.
The Inspired by Design series is created and presented by Julie Terberg (Terberg Design LLC) and Nolan Haims (Nolan Haims Creative).
Inspired by Design #13: Pictures & PowerPoint – Custom Picture Placeholders
Inspired by Design 13: Custom picture placeholders let you design distinctive image treatments once—then reuse them effortlessly with auto-cropping, precise framing, and consistent formatting across your entire deck or template.
Inspired by Design#14: Pictures & PowerPoint – Choosing Better Stock Images
Inspired by Design 14: Better stock images aren’t about pixels—they’re about relevance, authenticity, and choosing visuals that truly support your message and audience.
Inspired by Design #15: Working with vectors in Office 365 Windows
Inspired by Design 15: Turn PowerPoint into a real vector design tool by converting, cleaning, and editing SVG icons so they scale crisply and behave like native shapes.
Inspired by Design #16: Working with vectors in Office 365 Mac
Inspired by Design 16: Mac users can absolutely work with crisp, editable vector graphics in PowerPoint—but it takes a few smart workarounds with OpenOffice, Keynote, and Illustrator to get there.
Inspired by Design #17: Data visualization – Tables
Inspired by Design 17: Well-designed tables strip away “table junk” so your numbers—not borders and fills—become the clearest, quickest story on the slide.
Inspired by Design #18: Design Inspiration: Deconstructed Designs
Inspired by Design 18: Design inspiration isn’t about copying—it’s about collecting ideas, playing with them, and transforming them into something distinctly your own.
Inspired by Design #19: Data visualization – Chart Colors
Inspired by Design #19: Color doesn’t make a chart better—clear thinking and simple, purposeful use of color does.
Inspired by Design #20: Using Typography – Update on Safe Fonts
Inspired by Design #20: Learn how to choose fonts that won’t be substituted when files are shared with others and about Microsoft Office Cloud fonts.
Inspired by Design #21: Design Solutions for Complex Charts
Inspired by Design #21: When charts turn into “spaghetti,” the solution isn’t more decoration but smarter design choices—changing chart types, splitting views, and layering the story so audiences can grasp the data in a second.
Inspired by Design #22: Using Typography – Cloud Fonts
Inspired by Design #22: Cloud fonts in Office 365 bring a new world of typography to PowerPoint, but to use them wisely you need to understand how they’re delivered, when they’re safe, and when you should still rely on embedding or traditional “safe” fonts.
Inspired by Design #23: Data visualization – Icons and Data
Inspired by Design #23: Icons can transform data slides from dry numbers into instantly understandable stories—if you use them intentionally, sparingly, and in the right roles.
Inspired by Design #24: Using Typography – Tips Part 1
Inspired by Design #24: Good presentation typography is all about effortless readability—fixing quotes, spacing, alignment, and line breaks so your audience can understand your message at a glance.