How to Design a Clean Icons and Text Slide

Creating a presentation slide that successfully balances multiple pieces of information without feeling cluttered is a common challenge. The "Icons and Text Slide" featured here is a perfect example of how to present a list of features, services, or key takeaways cleanly. By utilizing a strong grid system and high-contrast colors, this layout turns a standard bulleted list into an engaging visual experience.

In this tutorial, we will break down exactly how to recreate this modern, professional slide from scratch in your preferred presentation software.

Understanding the Slide Layout

The Power of the 3x3 Grid

The core of this slide's success is its rigid structural grid. Instead of listing nine points in a long, unreadable column, the information is broken up into a 3x3 matrix. This makes the content highly scannable. The human eye can easily jump from one icon to the next, digesting the small chunks of text accompanying them.

The Split Background Strategy

Notice how the slide isn't just one solid color. It uses a "split background" technique. The top 20-25% of the slide is plain white, serving as a clean canvas for the main header. The bottom 75-80% is anchored by a large, solid blue rectangle. This framing technique separates the overarching slide topic from the detailed content below.

Setting Up the Background and Shapes

Creating the Main Container

Let us start by setting up the foundation of the slide.

• Open a blank presentation slide (standard 16:9 widescreen format).
• Leave the base slide background color as solid white.
• Select the Rectangle shape tool.
• Draw a large rectangle that covers the bottom 75% to 80% of your slide, stretching from the far left edge to the far right edge.
• Remove the outline from the shape.
• Change the fill color to a deep, professional blue (Hex code roughly #3A56C4).

Choosing Fonts and Typography

Establishing Visual Hierarchy

Typography plays a massive role in making this slide readable. The text needs to pop against the blue background while clearly indicating what is a title and what is body copy.

• Main Slide Header: Use a bold, dark grey (almost black) sans-serif font. Place this in the white space at the top left.
• Block Titles ("Your Title Here"): Use the exact same sans-serif font, but set the color to pure white. Make it bold to ensure it stands out.
• Body Text ("Lorem ipsum..."): Use a lighter weight (Regular or Light) of the same font. Keep it white, but drop the size down a few points from the block title.

Building the Content Structure

Designing the First Content Block

Instead of trying to build the whole grid at once, focus on creating one perfect content block first.

• Insert a small text box for your title and type "Your Title Here". Make it white and bold.
• Insert a second text box directly below it for the body copy. Add your two lines of description.
• Select both text boxes and align them to the left.
• Group these two text boxes together.

Duplicating for the Grid

Now that you have your master text block, it is time to build the matrix.

• Duplicate your grouped text block eight times so you have nine blocks total.
• Roughly arrange them into three rows and three columns over the blue rectangle.
• Do not worry about perfect alignment just yet; we will handle that in a later step.

Using Icons and Visual Elements

Selecting Consistent Line Icons

The visual hook of each content block is the icon. In this specific design, the icons are thin, minimalist white line drawings. This uniformity is crucial for a professional look.

• Find nine icons that match your specific talking points. Ensure they all share the same design style (e.g., all line art with the same line thickness, no filled icons mixed with outlined ones).
• Resize all icons so they occupy the exact same physical footprint (around 0.5 to 0.75 inches square).
• Change the color of all icons to pure white.
• Place one icon to the immediate left of each text block group.

Balancing White Space and Alignment

Mastering Distribution Tools

This is where the slide goes from looking amateur to professional. The spacing must be mathematically perfect.

• First, group each icon with its corresponding text block. You should now have nine distinct "modules".
• Select the top row of three modules. Use your software's Align Top tool to make sure they are perfectly level. Then use Distribute Horizontally to ensure the gaps between them are identical.
• Repeat this process for the middle row and the bottom row.
• Next, select the first column of three modules. Use Align Left and then Distribute Vertically.
• Repeat for the second and third columns.
• Finally, select all nine modules and center the entire grid perfectly inside the blue rectangle, ensuring equal padding on the top, bottom, left, and right.

Final Design Polish

Adding Footer Details

To finish the slide, add any necessary footer information. In the example image, there is a small website URL at the very bottom center.

• Add a small text box at the bottom center of the blue rectangle.
• Type your website or presentation date.
• Use a smaller font size and set the color to a slightly transparent white or light grey. This ensures it is readable but does not distract from the main grid content.

By strictly following these structural rules, aligning your elements perfectly, and keeping your color palette highly contrasted, you can easily adapt this layout for almost any business presentation need.