The wait is over! It was a difficult choice, but we’ve managed to select the winners of the first-ever Presentation Guild contest, “Medical Malady.”

First place goes to Jamie Garroch who leads YOUPresent Ltd. in Reading, England.
Second place goes to Alex Tomilin and team at Reprezent, a presentation design agency in Ukraine.
Third place goes to Andrew Leibrick, a “self-confessed PowerPoint geek,” also in the United Kingdom.
Congratulations to all on a job well done!

We received 22 submissions in all. They came in from the US, UK, Ukraine, South Africa, Italy, Egypt, Portugal, and the Netherlands. We were thrilled in the number, variety, and geography of entrants. (We like to think that this means very good things for the future of our organization too.)
Let’s take a closer look…
[videojs_video url=”https://www.presentationguild.com/wp-content/uploads/1st-Jamie-Garroch-YOUpresent.mp4″]
Judge Stephy Lewis had this to say about Jamie’s entry: “Jamie really thought outside of the box. He took the time to analyze the data and tell a great visual story.” Good presentation design, as we know, is more than aligning pixels and choosing colors. It’s about understanding the message first and then creating a way to communicate that message effectively. His winning entry was a good union of “pleasing to the eye” and “pleasing to the brain.”
[videojs_video url=”https://www.presentationguild.com/wp-content/uploads/2nd-Alex-Tomlin-Reprezent.mp4″]
Alex’s great-looking entry is guided by these thoughts as well. We particularly enjoyed his use of transition and animation to help us follow the subject at hand. Think of your screen as a movie director might. You can have your subject enter or exit the frame… OR you can “follow” your subject by having it “move” from one background to another. Clever, no? Bonus: no wild looping motion paths here! Simple straight lines give a feeling of grace and ease.

Still images will do just fine for our third place entry from Andrew Leibrick. We like the tasteful choices in color and artwork. Andrew knows that contrast helps an important piece of text pop. The three numbers in the first image contrast in both size and color, helping the reader know instantly what is important. (We’ll talk more about “hierarchy of information” in future offerings.)

And a special note to everyone else who submitted entries, keep at it! We look forward to having many more opportunities over the months and years ahead for you to stretch your muscles, show your stuff, and learn from your peers. It’s a win-win for everyone, really.

Oh hey, look! Contest number 002 is already in play — Makeover Makeover. Go for it!