Page not found – PowerPoint templates and other visual design resources https://www.trashedgraphics.com PowerPoint templates and other visual design resources Wed, 27 Dec 2023 23:21:19 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 Fully editable org chart template in Photoshop PSD format https://www.trashedgraphics.com/editable-org-chart-template/ https://www.trashedgraphics.com/editable-org-chart-template/#respond Mon, 28 Mar 2022 19:58:21 +0000 http://www.trashedgraphics.com/?p=1108 Starting (or planning) a business is fun. But if you aren’t artistically inclined, coming up with the graphics and diagrams needed to help you present your plans can be a nightmare. That’s where this fully editable org chart template comes in.

A simple (but eye catching) editable org chart template for a wide variety of uses

The main goal of any decent org chart design is flexibility. Things change quickly in business, and you need to be able to adapt to the complexities of an ever-changing staffing situation. That’s why I designed this PSD org chart to be as simple as possible. It consists of an eye-catching background image (which you can easily replace with anything you want), with simple text boxes over top of it.

As you can see in the preview images below, this org chart is very consistent with my overall design style (simple, contrasty, and very dark). There’s no reason why an org chart needs to look boring, so that’s why I gave it the same visual punch that I applied to my Purdue PowerPoint template.

editable PSD ORG chart

Leave it to me to create an org chart template with bling-y 3d renderings. It’s what I do, ok?

editable org chart layers

An exploded view showing how editable this org chart is. All elements are on a separate layer, and the text boxes are vector smart objects for maximum flexibility. It even comes with two versions of the background image (blue and gray).


give me the psd

How this org chart template came to be

Of all the graphics I ever made in my career so far, this may have been one of the most important. A long time ago I was part of a small design department within a large corporation, and we had been given an ultimatum by the board of directors: prove your worth to the company (i.e., find something to do) or risk being cut.

Even though I was only a low level designer at the time who didn’t have much pull in the company, I did what I could to help save our department. This org chart template was something I created for the slide deck that our design director was going to pitch to the board.

Back then I only worked in Photoshop, so this is a fully editable PSD file.

It does contain vector smart objects though, it’s still somewhat scalable and flexible if you need to scale and stretch this to custom proportions – especially if you are looking for an org chart that can contain many names. If you need more room, just stretch the background container as wide as you need it to be to fit all your content.

I also updated the background image with a simple 3d rendering that I created of a push pins, which isn’t the image I used for the original design. But since this is a fully editable PSD file, you can change that image to be whatever you want it to be. If you need some inspiration, some of my smokey background images would look fantastic on this template.

So, did this org chart help to save our design department? Unfortunately, no. We were all let go from the company shortly after that big meeting, but things eventually worked out better for me and everyone else involved. That’s the way it goes sometimes!

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Vector line drawing of automotive disc brakes with slotted rotors https://www.trashedgraphics.com/brake-vector/ https://www.trashedgraphics.com/brake-vector/#respond Wed, 24 Nov 2021 15:22:47 +0000 http://www.trashedgraphics.com/?p=1283 Here’s a vector illustration of a slotted disc brake for high-performance cars. That’s it. Nothing more. I created it several years ago for some automotive illustrations I was doing, and I haven’t touched it since. I hate when that happens.

All the juicy details of this brake vector illustration

First of all, I created it in Adobe Illustrator. There are handful of open paths here and there, but I left it that way on purpose for maximum edit-ability (if that’s even a word). I normally like to make a habit of closing all paths in my vector files before releasing them into the wild (as I did with my Mustang outline drawing), but I decided against it this time.

Anyway, it’s the perfect vector file for anyone in need of a realistic / highly-detailed automotive disc brake illustration.

vector disc brake rotor and caliper

A close-up of this vector line drawing of high performance automotive brakes (aggressive-looking slotted rotors and all)


download this brake vector illustration

How easy is it to edit?

Editing this file to make it exactly how you want it is extremely easy. The native file is in Adobe Illustrator (.ai) format, but I’ve also included an EPS as well those who prefer working that way. Note that you do not need to have Adobe Illustrator to open this file. Any decent vector editing software will work.

I recommend Affinity Designer. It’s just as good as Illustrator, and it’s far cheaper since you won’t be locked into a subscription plan.

How accurate is this illustration?

When I was creating my vector R35 Nissan GT-R drawing, the brakes were the components that I started with. These are the brakes from that illustration.

Anyway, I spent several hours drawing this brake rotor, pouring over all the reference photos I could to make sure I was illustrating it as accurately as possible. The GT-R is a very high performance car, and it’s brakes are no joke – they look really awesome, but they were a complete pain-in-the-you-know-what to replicate.

They turned out so well that I thought I would offer them here as a stand alone vector file for anyone needing vector brakes (and not the whole car).

Pro tip: this illustration would work well as an underlay / reference image if you’re trying to build automotive disc brakes in 3d modeling software. Of course, I thought of this after I completed my Audi R8 3d model. Oh well.

Are all the elements on separate layers?

Yes, all of the elements in this vector illustration are on separate layers, and you can easily remove (or move) any element you want. The rotor is completely separate from the caliper (instead of being trimmed to fit the shape). The slots are separate from the caliper (instead of being cut out). The clips and the hub are completely separate as well.

brake vector exploded view

An exploded view of this illustration showing how all the major components are complete objects on separate layers. See? I was thinking ahead!

download this brake vector illustration

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Vector Super User logo concepts for various uses https://www.trashedgraphics.com/vector-superuser-logo/ https://www.trashedgraphics.com/vector-superuser-logo/#respond Tue, 23 Nov 2021 16:35:51 +0000 https://www.trashedgraphics.com/?p=1626 Several years ago, I needed to design a Super User logo that would be printed on brightly-colored t-shirts. Being the indecisive visual designer that I am, I came up with two separate concepts.

My first Super User logo concept

I created several quick options, and the one that you see here was the one that I liked the least. I think that I would have preferred the outlines of the text and the star to be thicker, since it didn’t really convey the meaning of “strength” that I was looking for. But at least it helped me to understand what a proper Super User logo should be (as you will see in my second concept below).

vector super user logo

Super User logo featuring a star


download this vector super user logo concept

If you’ve seen some of the other vector illustrations that I’ve done (such as my vector scrapbook cards), you’ll understand that this was kind of out of my wheelhouse a bit. It’s not very often I get to design fun logos like this!

My second Super User logo concept

Instead of using thin strokes like I did for the previous version, I decided to go bold and heavy with this one. It’s based loosely on the Superman logo – which I thought was totally appropriate for what this design was supposed to represent.

red and white super user logo vector

Red and white super user logo vector

download this red and white vector super user logo concept

I wanted to create a logo that looked tough and would stand out well printed on a shirt. At the end of the day I thought this one did both remarkably well. Unfortunately, conveying a feeling of strength and power is purely subjective, so you may not totally agree with me on this one. That’s ok.

I have still found it useful though. I used this logo as a placeholder when I was designing my smart TV UI, and worked well to make that concept more realistic as I was tinkering around with the layout.

Final thoughts

On a side note, I had a lot of other ideas for this logo which I thought would have worked pretty well. A lack of time prevented me from doing more concepts, but some of the things I wanted to try included:

  • Super hero silhouettes
  • Clenched fists
  • Some cool 1960’s hippie art

Vector illustration is not my strength anyway, so perhaps it’s best that I didn’t try and frustrate myself trying to create complex art like that…

Anyway, if by off-chance that you find yourself on a corporate sporting team of UX designers named “Super User” – and you are without a logo for your uniform, either of these two Super User logos should have you covered. Pun intended (of course).

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An ultra clean 4K smart TV UI template https://www.trashedgraphics.com/smart-tv-ui-template/ https://www.trashedgraphics.com/smart-tv-ui-template/#respond Sun, 21 Nov 2021 21:42:55 +0000 https://www.trashedgraphics.com/?p=1384 Connected homes are the way of the future, and I’ve been working on a variety of smart TV UI templates over the past six months or so. This particular one was for demo purposes only (it wouldn’t be a commercial release), but it still needed to look and work like a real TV interface. Basically, it’s all smoke and mirrors.

My smart TV UI template concept

Even though this design concept was never going into production, I spent a lot of time hashing out the design language.

  • It needed to be simple and clean. The design language had to be extremely simple and flat for easy modification (in other words, using obnoxiously-detailed 3d Photoshop buttons was out of the question).
  • It also needed to work as a generic wireframe template that other visual designers could apply their own visual design to. Generic / wireframe storyboarding elements (such as my hands holding mobile phone drawings) are a valuable asset in the world of UX design.
  • It needed to provide quick links to things like VR and gaming apps.
  • And most importantly, it needed to be simple to build. The development team didn’t have a lot of time to build the working prototype.

Anyway, here are the screenshots:

tv ui concept home

Homescreen showing a grid of 10 panels with large icons (yes, these icons can be replaced by images / thumbnails if that’s what you prefer)

tv ui home screen concept 6 icons

Another version of the home screen with just six icons (for an alternate demo that was planned).

tv ui main menu wireframe

Main menu screen showing large and small panels for the main categories (music, movies, games, and VR)

movies screen tv ui menu

This is the menu for the Movies screen – with a transparent slide out menu from the right

tv ui movies details screen

Finally, here is the movies details screen. You could easily reuse this screen for gaming and music content. Go wild!


download this smart tv ui template

What format is this smart TV user interface template in?

I originally created these templates in Sketch, but I also exported versions of it to Adobe XD as well. These are the most common tools that User Experience designers are using these days, so I needed to ensure that I created something that was actually useable.

What’s the file size?

  • The file size, as you might expect, is minimal. Everything was created in vector format, so there’s very little bloat in these templates. Both versions (Sketch and Adobe XD) are about 0.5 MB each.
  • The resolution of all these templates are 4k, but since everything is vector, you can scale up and down accordingly.

How easy is it to modify and customize?

Extremely easy! Adding a vibrant background image will spice things up quite a bit. Not only that, the simple grid layout means that it’ll be easy to rearrange and restructure the grid to fit the exact number of options that you need.

Keep in mind that smart TV UIs need to be relatively simple. It’s all about presenting the information cleanly as possible, so resist the urge to add complex icons and graphics if you can.

  • Speaking of icons, another way to spice up the visual design of this TV UI is to replace them with thumbnail images of the content that you’re linking to. Or even logos. A heavy logo style (such as what I used for my Super User logo concepts would work well here).
  • Oh – the layer structure of these templates are very simple, and it’ll be easy to edit images wherever you want them. Basically, I made these templates as easy to modify as my set of vector scrapbook cards.

Download and enjoy!

Feel free to download these and modify these smart TV UI templates to your specific needs. Remember: you’ll need Sketch or Adobe XD to modify these templates – Photoshop or Illustrator won’t work.

download this smart tv ui template

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Mid 1980’s 14″ aluminum Pontiac wheel 3d model https://www.trashedgraphics.com/pontiac-wheel-3d-model/ https://www.trashedgraphics.com/pontiac-wheel-3d-model/#respond Tue, 09 Nov 2021 00:59:10 +0000 https://www.trashedgraphics.com/?p=2288 My first car was a 1983 Pontiac 6000 LE. It had 14-inch aluminum wheels on it, which at the time, were about as faded and scratched up as the body of the car. Now that I’m older (with decent 3D modeling skills) I thought it might be fun to create a 3D model of those exact wheels.

Actually, I’m eventually going to build a 3D model of the entire car. But I figured that I would start with wheels first.

Renderings of the final model

This was a far more complicated 3D model than I thought it was going to be (pretty much the same thing I thought when I created my 3D watch model). Pontiac had some very interesting wheel designs in the mid-1980s, and this one was one of my favorites.

The following screenshots are the result of about 15 hours of head scratching (and cursing) in Maya:

1980's Pontiac wheel 3d model front 3/4 view

1980's Pontiac wheel 3d model front

1980's Pontiac wheel 3d model close up detail

1980's Pontiac wheel 3d model ambient occlusion no texture

1980's Pontiac wheel 3d model ambient occlusion no texture side view

1980's Pontiac wheel 3d model wireframe

Once I finished building this, I figured that I couldn’t possibly be the only person in the world who needed an accurate 3D model of these mid-1980’s Pontiac wheels. Therefore, I am offering them for a purchase as a digital download, which you can access via the button below.


purchase this mid-1980's Pontiac wheel 3d model

4 things to note about this Pontiac aluminum wheel 3D model

More than anything else, you have to know that I am not an engineer. The only reference material I had for these wheels was a mid-1980s Pontiac brochure and a handful of pictures of my old car.

1983 Pontiac 6000 LE wheels

This is a picture of what my 1983 Pontiac 6000 LE looked like with these wheels. Sexy beast, eh?

I took every effort to ensure that this model is as accurate as possible. However, because I was working from old and grainy reference photos, the dimensions may not be 100% exact. It’s awfully close though. Anyway, here are 4 other things worth noting about it:

1. It was built in Maya

These wheels were built entirely in Maya using polygons. This is not a solid model, and it would be difficult to convert into a format suitable for 3D printing.

While far from being the most complicated 3D model that I’ve ever built (my Audi R8 3D model was a bugger), the hard geometric shapes of this one made it challenging to build using polygons. I had to go heavy on the edge loops in the corners, so the poly count on this wheel is a bit high.

2. It comes in several formats

Although it was built in Maya, I exported it to several other formats without any issues. Those included formats are:

  • .ma (Maya)
  • .blend (Blender)
  • .obj
  • .fbx

It’s important to note that the renderings that you see above were created in Maya using the Arnold render plug-in.

3. No texture maps were needed to create the renderings you see above

Mid-1980s Pontiac wheels were relatively simple. They all had brushed aluminum faces, with dark cast aluminum inner sections. These are standard materials easily replicated in any 3D modeling program. Therefore, no textures were needed to re-create the materials of these wheels.

However, if you really want to get accurate, you could UV map a textured brushed aluminum material onto the face of this wheel. I wouldn’t do that unless you absolutely need this model for ultra realistic close-up renderings.

4. It’s high-poly

As I already mentioned, this was a challenging model to build using polygons. In order to get the tight corners (and creases) necessary to replicate this wheel design, I had to use a lot of edge loops. And as we all know, and loops create excess geometry.

The poly count (and other data for this 3D model) is as follows:

  • Verts: 132631
  • Edges: 254560
  • Faces: 131920
  • Tris: 263840
  • UV’s: 156519

Just as you saw with my Michelin Pilot Super Sport tire 3D model, I aim for realism in my 3D models over efficiency.

This particular model is not one that you would want to use for anything where performance has the highest priority. This is the model to use if you’re looking for an ultra-realistic representation of this ultra-cool Pontiac wheel from the mid-1980s.

purchase this mid-1980's Pontiac wheel 3d model

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Michelin Pilot Super Sport tire 3d model https://www.trashedgraphics.com/michelin-pilot-super-sport-tire-3d-model/ https://www.trashedgraphics.com/michelin-pilot-super-sport-tire-3d-model/#respond Thu, 26 Aug 2021 00:34:01 +0000 https://www.trashedgraphics.com/?p=2262 I built this highly-detailed 3d model of a Michelin Pilot Super Sport tire several years ago. I’m fairly obsessive when it comes to my 3d models, and for me, the more detail the better.

For the record, I’m not a fan of low-poly modeling at all. While I understand the importance of it for situations like gaming and real-time rendering, I go for a realism every time. This Michelin Pilot Super Sport tire model is no exception.

High-resolution screenshots of this Michelin Pilot Super Sport 3d model

The following is a handful of high-resolution renderings of this automotive tire 3d model. The Michelin Pilot Super Sport was not an easy tire to build using polygons, but it was a fun challenge nonetheless.

Michelin Pilot Super Sport tire top down view

Rendered top down view

Michelin Pilot Super Sport tire front 3/4 view

Rendered front 3/4 view (looks cool IMHO, but come on – it’s nowhere near as sexy as the model of the 3D watch I built a while back).

Michelin Pilot Super Sport tire tread

Close up of the tread

Michelin Pilot Super Sport tire 3-d model

Lying flat on a surface

Michelin Pilot Super Sport tire ambient occlusion model

Ambient occlusion rendering showing the model surface

Michelin Pilot Super Sport tire wireframe model

The wireframe


purchase this michelin pilot super sport tire 3d model

A few things to note about this 3d model

If you haven’t already noticed, this was the tire that I created for my Audi R8 3d model several years ago. I built it not only because of the aggressive tread pattern, but also because I would need it for some future projects. Long story short, I’ve found it to be incredibly useful over the years. I even had fun wrapping around my 3d model of a mid-1980s 14″ Pontiac wheel once (it looked as hilarious as it sounds). Anyway, here are some things you need to know about this tire model:

It was built in Maya

Maya is the 3d modeling software that I know the best, so that’s what I chose to build this with. However, also included in this package are the following formats:

  • FBX
  • Blend
  • OBJ

High-resolution sidewall texture map source files are included

Also included in this package is a high-resolution sidewall texture featuring highly-accurate Michelin Pilot Super Sport graphics (3000×3000 pixels each). I created these from scratch. The .png and .tx versions are included.

michelin pilot super sport tire 3d model sidewall texture

A low-resolution preview of the sidewall texture included with this 3d model. The ones included in the package are 3000×3000 pixels each.

Note that you might have to fine-tune the placement of this texture depending on which modeling software you’re using. If you’re using Maya or Blender, it’ll be placed perfectly (exactly where it needs to be).

The treads are modeled (not textured)

Remember what I just said about how I prefer I realism over anything else in my 3d models?  Instead of using a bump map for the textures, I chose to model the tread in it’s entirety. Yes, this results in a larger file size, but the accuracy and realism is far better than what you could get with a bump map.

Double-check the file size

Because the tread pattern on this tire 3d model is fully modeled and not textured, the file size may be an issue for performance-sensitive applications. I don’t recommend this 3d model for game developers.

For your reference, here are some of the most important attributes of this wireframe:

  • Verts: 652550
  • Edges: 1303130
  • Faces: 650580
  • Tris: 1301160
  • UVs: 679601

The file sizes of each format are as follows:

  • Maya (.ma): 3.1 MB
  • FBX (.fbx): 2.9 MB
  • Blend (.blend): 9 MB
  • OBJ (.obj): 6.6 MB

As you can see, this model is best suited for situations where you need close-up realism. It likely won’t perform well in situations where real-time rendering is required.

purchase this michelin pilot super sport tire 3d model

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Drawings of hands holding phones (great for storyboarding) https://www.trashedgraphics.com/hands-holding-phone-drawing/ https://www.trashedgraphics.com/hands-holding-phone-drawing/#respond Thu, 21 Jan 2021 23:45:22 +0000 https://www.trashedgraphics.com/?p=2567 Thinking back on my career as a visual designer, I’ve had more “hands holding phone drawing” requests more than any other. Seriously – I probably could have made an entire career drawing hands with mobile phones.

Anyway, here are some of those illustrations that I never ended up using for anything.

Drawings of hands holding phones in various positions

Perfect for storyboarding mobile and wireless concepts, these two vector illustrations depict a hand holding a touch screen mobile phone. The illustrations are left intentionally simple, which allows for easy integration into your concepts and layouts:

hands holding phone drawing

Are those sexy hands, or what? lease say yes, because they’re mine!

Next, here are a few basic illustrations of a hand holding a generic touch screen phone in portrait (vertical) format. These kinds of illustrations are perfect for storyboard generation, or just adding a bit of visual flair to your wireframe mockups (such as my smart TV UI template). The handset is completely generic.

hands holding and touching phone drawing

Hands holding a phone in vertical format

The final illustration is one of my leftovers from a recent set of storyboard graphics I was creating for a fellow UX designer. The gesture (single finger press) is completely valid, but the way I drew it wasn’t exactly the best way to show it for the documentation we were producing. But I suspect it’ll be useful for somebody…

hands holding and touching horizontal phone drawing

Hands holding (and touching) a horizontal mobile phone


download the vector source files

How did I create these drawings of hands holding mobile phones?

I get a lot of questions from people asking me how I create graphics like this. I will tell you that drawing any sort of human anatomy isn’t easy. Faces are hard, but hands are the absolute worst!

I have never been able to draw hands correctly either, so let me give you a little secret: tracing photos works really well. Yup – tracing photos is how I create a lot of my storyboard elements (even my Nissan GT-R line drawing).

It’s that simple! Depending on the gesture that I was trying to illustrate, I took pictures of my own hands holding a mobile phone and just traced it in Adobe Illustrator.

  • Sometimes the gesture was complicated enough that I couldn’t hold the device and take a picture at the same time so I had to ask for help.
  • Since I needed all the hands to look the same, I was always the model while someone else took the picture.
  • Adding in a bit of line-weight variance helps to make the illustrations look better. Use thick lines for the outer edges, and thin lines for the interior details.
  • It’s not necessary to get really crazy with the details. As you can see here, these are simple line drawings and all the little details are not required to make them look exactly like hands.
  • Finally, adding a light gray background (while keeping the hands and the device white) helps to make the illustration pop of the page. Easy stuff!

However, even if that sounds like too much work (and I totally understand), you can take the easy route and download the source files via the button below.

download the vector source files

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Purdue PowerPoint template featuring stunning 3d logos https://www.trashedgraphics.com/purdue-powerpoint-template/ https://www.trashedgraphics.com/purdue-powerpoint-template/#respond Tue, 05 Jan 2021 22:58:56 +0000 https://www.trashedgraphics.com/?p=2205 Of all the presentation themes that I’ve done over the years, this Purdue PowerPoint template just might be one of my favorites. It’s a 6-page slide deck with a large gold Purdue logo prominently displayed (loud and proud!) in a variety of locations. It’s versatile. Clean. And most importantly, it satisfied my itch to pay tribute to my favorite college football team of all time.

A detailed summary of this 6-slide Purdue PowerPoint template

As I’ve already mentioned, this Purdue University-themed slide deck is a 6-page “starting point” which will allow you to build out a stunning slide deck just the way you want it.

Purdue PowerPoint template

Preview of this fully-customizable 6-slide Purdue PowerPoint theme


purchase this fully editable Purdue PowerPoint template

It’s important to note that all slides are highly customizable. All of the elements that you see (except for the logo renderings themselves) are layered elements that you can modify however you wish (or even remove). After all, nobody likes PowerPoint templates that don’t allow for personal modification!

The cover slide

The cover page of this deck features a very large gold and silver Purdue logo placed over a metallic gold surface. As a matter fact, that gold surface is actually another Purdue logo laid down horizontally. It was a nice way to add some detail and texture to the surface IMHO.

The background is a simple gradient fading from black to gold. I chose to keep the background on all slides as simple as possible, because it allows for easier placement of text and other graphics.

The text slide

Easily the simplest slide in this entire deck, the text slide was purposely left clean and white in order for it to display content as clearly as possible.

There is a area dedicated for a secondary graphic (or a quote) on the left, but you can eliminate that space if you deem it to be unnecessary. If so, just pull the entire text block over to extend the entire width of the slide.

The data slide

Slides that show a collection of data in the form of charts and graphs can be very difficult to create “generic” templates for (it’s why my editable org chart template was so challenging). Because of that, I decided to place some simple data-specific graphic elements over top of the gold 3-D Purdue logo in a somewhat simplified manner.

Because I understand that nearly everyone who uses this slide will need to modify it in some way, I made sure to leave all of these elements 100% customizable. The entire page is built with graphical blocks, and you can rearrange it however you like.

Section title pages

Section title pages are extremely important when it comes to having a clean and easy to follow slide deck. That’s why I created two.

The first version features a large transparent glass 3-D Purdue logo laid down over a white surface. The space below it is reserved for a large quote or text block.

The second version features a metallic gold logo element placed in the bottom right hand corner. The entire slide is dark and heavy, which allows for the text content to be placed cleanly over top of it.

The table slide

In an effort to keep things as simple as possible (are you sensing a pattern here?), the table slide features a transparent black 4-column table over top of a black and gold logo element.

Again, just like most of the elements in this entire Purdue PowerPoint template, this table is highly customizable and you can modify it however you wish. You can change colors, add and remove rows and columns, etc.

What makes this template so great?

Even before sitting down and starting the design for this Purdue PPT theme, I knew that it had to feature three things:

1. Heavy metallic textures

Those of you who know me understand my love of using heavy metallic textures in my 3d renderings and templates (even my Cloud Computing PowerPoint template has a heavy metallic theme). I spent 20 years in the corporate world making graphics for presentations of all kinds, and if there’s one thing that I learned, it’s that metallic textures and glossy services get lots of attention.

These metallic textures are something that I include in all of my PowerPoint templates. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I especially liked the textures I used in my Supplier Chain Management PPT template.

2. Loads of contrast

Contrast is extremely important as well. Especially when it comes to presentation themes! After all, the projectors and video screens in most conference rooms these days are of very low quality, and there’s nothing more embarrassing than showing up with a slide deck that is difficult to read.

Contrast will allow your audience to scan the pages quickly and easily, and this Purdue-themed slide deck has loads of it. It’s basically an “grown up” version my obnoxiously-colored brain PowerPoint template.

3. Flexibility

Flexibility is important! After all, themes such as this are designed to be a basic framework for an unlimited number of uses. As a PowerPoint designer, it’s important for me to understand that I really have no idea how my templates going to be used. Therefore, this slide deck was built to be taken apart, modified, and rebuilt per your needs.

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7 of the coolest smokey background images you’ll ever see https://www.trashedgraphics.com/smokey-background/ https://www.trashedgraphics.com/smokey-background/#respond Sun, 25 Oct 2020 19:37:21 +0000 https://www.trashedgraphics.com/?p=1589 I’ll admit it. I love smokey background images. As a matter fact, I’ve been creating smoky backgrounds for years, since it’s a quick and easy way to add a dark and mysterious texture to things like websites, banners, and posters.

The following is a collection of some of my most favorite smokey background graphics that I’ve ever created. Feel free to use the lower resolution versions however you wish (but there’s a link to purchase the full resolution set if you need them).

7 smokey background images for a wide variety of uses

The smoke texture that I used for the following background images was actually created in 3d. I used a plug-in for Maya that was actually built for creating hair and water, but it turns out that it did smoke really well too. Here’s the full set:

Pink Smoke Background

3d illustration of a transparent white horizontal card over top of a smokey pink background (I actually used this as a base for my Virus PowerPoint template)

Glowing Yellow Smoke Background

3d illustration of illuminated smoke over a yellow and black background

Teal Smoke Background

3d illustration of transparent white smoke over top of a texured teal and gray background pattern

Red Smoke Background

3d illustration of a transparent bar pattern over top of a red and orange smoke texture background

Blue Smoke Background With Globe

3d illustration of a transparent globe over top of a blue smoke texture (I used this one as a base for my baseball PowerPoint template)

Red Smokey Globe Background

3d illustration of a transparent globe over top of a translucent smoke texture on a red and black background (this would look fantastic as the background image for my editable org chart PSD template btw)

Green Swirl Background With Horizontal Lines

3d illustration of a transparent globe over top of an abstract green swirl smoke background with horizontal white lines

Get the high resolution versions of these background images

If you need them, click on the link below to get all of these image in very high resolution. Most are 5000 x 3000 pixels wide, but one is slightly lower (3333 by 2300 pixels wide). Either way, all of them are suitable for printing at up to 32 inches wide with no loss of quality.

Note that there is no watermark on the high-resolution versions.


download the full set in high resolution

What are these images best suited for?

As of already mentioned, I’ve use these smoky background images for a wide variety of different things. Back in my corporate days, I used them a lot for the backgrounds of flyers and posters. We were always printing flyers and posters!

I’ve also used them for web banners. The soft smoke texture in these images is incredibly versatile, and cropping into anyone of these very tightly can give you nearly any kind of pattern or texture that you’re looking for.

Other possible uses:

  • You can use these in marketing materials for a smoke shop
  • They would make a for a really awesome background texture for a book cover
  • Use them as wrapping paper. I credit this idea to one of my customers who did just that. The results looked amazing!
  • Create stationary (or postcards) out of them

A few final thoughts about this collection of smokey backgrounds

Long story short, I’m not always comfortable doing these kinds of “loose” illustrations. My comfort zone is most definitely within the bounds of straight edges and geometric patterns. For example, my vector line background illustration is a perfect example of my everyday style.

Do you like these? I’ll admit that I do, thank you very much. Perhaps I’ll do more if I get enough requests…

download the full set in high resolution

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Feature-rich cloud computing PPT for IT professionals https://www.trashedgraphics.com/cloud-computing-ppt/ https://www.trashedgraphics.com/cloud-computing-ppt/#respond Wed, 17 Jun 2020 18:03:44 +0000 https://www.trashedgraphics.com/?p=2194 Oh man. I’m having all sorts of crazy corporate flashbacks now. In the first half of my career (which ended two years ago), I worked for a handful of very large tech companies here in the US. My role in each, of course, was “visual designer” for UX teams. However, despite being fully integrated into large user experience teams, I always found myself putting together cloud computing PPT‘s for the IT department. It’s amazing (and a bit funny) how deeply-entrenched corporate culture is on this whole “cloud computing” thing.

Anyway, creating the images needed for this cloud computing PowerPoint template brought back a wave of memories for me. These memories were both good and bad.

On one hand, I never much liked working on projects for other people. Even though they were paying me handsomely for my time, the selfish part of me was never satisfied. On the other hand, I had the opportunity to work with some amazing people in the corporate world over the past 20 years. But I’m getting off track here. Let’s focus on the slide deck and what it can do for you.

A brief summary of this six page cloud computing PPT

I’ve never been shy about admitting that I’ve got a thing for glossy and metallic textures in all of the illustrations that I create. Heck – I even managed to integrate shiny metallic objects into my brain PowerPoint template that I uploaded just last week. It’s a sickness, but I’m totally OK with that.

This cloud computing PowerPoint template consists of six pages:

  1. Cover slide
  2. Text slide
  3. Data visualization slide
  4. Section tile slide A
  5. Section tile slide B
  6. Table slide

The entire slide deck is based around a 3-D model of a cloud computing icon I built several years ago. Just as I do with all of the PowerPoint templates that I create, I like to reuse the same object in different ways on every slide.

From my baseball PowerPoint template to my virus PowerPoint template (and everything in between) I like to work with one 3-D model and see what I can do to create a variety of different illustrations from it.

6-page Cloud Computing PowerPoint Template

6-page cloud computing PowerPoint template preview

6-page Cloud Computing PowerPoint Template alternate colors

Also included is this alternate-color version. You’ll get both the blue and pink versions with your purchase!


purchase this fully editable cloud computing PPT

Every page in this slide deck features that 3-D cloud in some form or another. Even in the data visualization and table slides, the background element features a dark image with a watermarked version the cloud. It’s hard to see it at first, but it’s there. It helps to officially tie his entire PowerPoint template together IMHO.

How easy is it to change the colors in this template?

Extremely easy! All of the renderings that I created for it are grayscale, and the color elements that you’re seeing (such as text and color blocks) were created within PowerPoint. These particular elements are fully edible and you can change them to whatever color you want.

The first version of this cloud computing PPT that I created was the pink version. This is because I used my brain PPT as a starting point, and I liked the way that the pink accent colors worked with my grayscale renderings. However, as a veteran of the corporate world, I know for a fact that there are very few IT departments in this world that would be comfortable using a slide deck with so much pink in it.

That’s one of the reasons why I also created the blue version that you also see above. The other reason that I created it was to show you how easy it is to change the colors to whatever you want.

What version of PowerPoint is this cloud computing slide deck compatible with?

It’s fully compatible with them all versions of PowerPoint. I make it a point to keep my slide decks as simple as possible. Because of the fact that I’m not using any version-specific graphic elements, this template will open in nearly any version of PowerPoint.

Despite what you may be thinking as you examine the preview images above, this PowerPoint template consists of four basic kinds of elements:

  1. Background images
  2. Text blocks
  3. Basic shapes (rectangles) without any special effects like gradients and drop shadows
  4. Basic tables

Cloud computing is a fairly dry topic anyway, so there was no legitimate need for me to go crazy with unnecessary special effects. Sometimes it’s better to keep it as simple as possible!

What are the fonts used in this cloud computing PowerPoint template?

Again, I’m trying to stay as simple as possible. Therefore, the only fonts used in this template are Arial and Helvetica Neue. Most any computer operating system built in the last 30 years will have aerial pre-installed, but you may have to purchase Helvetica Neue if you don’t have a subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud (which comes with a large font catalog).

I should mention that Helvetica Neue is a fairly simple font anyway, so if you don’t have it (and you don’t want to purchase it), you certainly don’t have to. Any thin sans-serif font that you have preinstalled on your computer will work just fine. Don’t be afraid to get creative and experiment with different styles that you like.

In my opinion, a thicker font such as Impact would work very well for a cloud computing slide deck such as this. That’s the font that I used in my Army PowerPoint template, and I quite like the way that turned out.

What’s the overall size?

This is one of my smallest PowerPoint templates yet! I worked really hard to optimize the images in this one, and the final size comes in at a paltry 593 KB.

How easy is the slide deck to edit?

It’s extremely easy. The only elements created outside with PowerPoint are the renderings of the clouds themselves. All of the other graphics (such as text, tables, charts, graphs, etc) are native PowerPoint objects. All of these objects can be easily edited and positioned wherever you want.

Master slides are included, and were purposefully left as basic as possible so as not to make this template too difficult to edit.

purchase this fully editable cloud computing PPT

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