Bento Layouts for cool summary slides

This grid style has a name!

The tile-based layout ​made popular by Apple​ for their summary slides is known as Bento Layouts. These grids are great for summarising product features or key takeaways in a visual and easy-to-consume way.

Even Google was spotted using them in the presentation that we’re unpacking later in this newsletter 👇👇👇

So how can you build something similar in PowerPoint?

How to:

When creating a Bento Layout, I like to keep things simple and follow these 3 steps:

1. Find layout inspiration and create the main structure from shapes to match the chosen template
2. Build each tile element which includes the shape colour, text and images or icons
3. Edit and rework the tiles to fit the layout

Step 1:

• I’m no graphic designer, so I rarely start from a blank slide. I found ​this awesome site​ that has a collection of bento layouts that you can steal get inspired by
• Take a screenshot of the layout you like and place it on your slide
• Create shapes over the screenshot to match the arrangement and fit the template

Step 2:

• Chose a colour for the tile background (in Apple’s example above, they use a grey tile on their white slide template). You can go wild here and even add accent colours for some of the tiles to stand out
• Set the text box size for the main callouts, by either adding an individual text box over each tile or by typing directly into the shape
• Chose images or icons for each tile and begin populating your content
• Group elements per tile and align to both the centre and/or middle of the tile. Your original template layout is a great guide for you on what can work
• Make sure your spacing between tiles is consistent

Step 3:

• It’s usually at this point that you abandon the template and may need to reorder or rearrange the shape layout to match your content
• Play around with different size combinations on the grid until you find something that works. It’s this iterative step that creates something unique

That’s it! You now have a pretty slick slide to show off at your next big meeting.

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