Portfolio:
Mark Ralston
With more than two decades of experience in the graphic design industry, my work transforms complex information into visually compelling and easy-to-understand formats. I pride myself on delivering innovative, user-friendly solutions designed for maximum functionality and impact.
Scroll down to browse samples of my infographics, data visualizations, animations, presentations, templates, and interactive PDFs.
Infographics and data visualization
My designs breathe life into data by turning it into dynamic, scroll-stopping infographics and visualizations using Adobe Creative Cloud, Figma, Flourish, and Power BI. For me, it’s not just about making charts, it’s about telling meaningful stories with the data.
From raw source to multi-device scrollers…
Each piece is tailored to fit every format, from web and social platforms to print. Click any image below to view it full screen.
Animated and live action video
Taking storytelling a step further, I bring product overviews, study results, and more to life through motion using Adobe After Effects, Character Animator, and Audition. These brief excerpts feature an app explainer, a snippet of a character walking through study results, a fun animated leaving card (which I’ve sped up for this example), and a short intro to a light-hearted documentary-style interview that I filmed and then edited using Adobe Premiere Pro.
Innovative presentations
I specialize in creating bespoke, persuasive PowerPoint and Keynote presentations tailored to your needs, whether from scratch or refined under tight deadlines. I focus on delivering interactive, dynamic content that enhances audience engagement, incorporating features like clickable areas and navigation with smooth zoom in/out or ‘glide around’ transitions. The goal is to craft an experience that feel seamless and immersive.
From any source to eye-catching layouts…
When I’m designing content from scratch, I often receive the initial material in Excel or Word. I have a knack for making sense of the data and turning it into clear, engaging visual stories, pulling out key messages and organizing complex info so it’s easy to understand.
Below are some video snapshots, created in PowerPoint, showing examples of an interactive navigation menu with zoom-in/out transitions, engaging animations for two seminar presentations I designed, and a longer sales presentation utilizing one of my templates.
The following examples offer a glimpse of some of my varied presentation design work and there’s plenty more! If you’re looking for a specific style or type of content, feel free to get in touch. I’d be happy to share something from my library, which includes nearly 6,500 decks. Click the arrows to scroll through additional slides.
PowerPoint and Word templates
Creating clean, modern, and highly usable templates is definitely my thing. My approach is strongly focused on building a solid structure, behind the scenes, before I even open PowerPoint.
I like to start by sketching out my wireframe on paper, sometimes taking it through to Figma to share with stakeholders, and setting out all of the styles to ensure they align to corporate identity and brand guidelines.
In addition to the theme set-up and master layouts, I frequently code custom extensions onto the built-in colour menus using OOXML for secondary palettes, pre-defined shades, or indicators. This helps users to avoid going accidentally off-brand as the colours are all baked in and ready to go.
To wrap it all up, I create template guidelines, instructions, helpful tips, and can even run an introductory workshop to get users up to speed on best practices with their new template. Ultimately, I’m always aiming to balance brand control with user flexibility, creating templates that look great, behave well, and make life easier for anyone using them.
From wireframe sketch to master layout…
For Word templates, I take a similar approach: setting up full style hierarchies (not just headings, but everything from tables and quotes to captions and lists). I code custom OOXML colour palettes into the drop down menu, so everything aligns perfectly with the visual identity.
I can also create pop-up user forms to automatically populate text and graphic/logo elements of the document (see Bird & Bird examples) and add custom buttons to insert sections or pages that may be too complex or time-consuming for users to complete on their own, like the banner header sections and final page in the Incite examples.
Click the arrows to scroll through the pages.
Interactive PDFs
In addition to designing a wide range of brochures, reports, and other PDF-based materials, I’m often asked to create interactive PDFs. These combine the stability of a traditional PDF with the dynamic features of digital media, resulting in a more engaging and user-friendly experience.
In this example, I needed to include a significant amount of descriptive text without overwhelming my design. To solve this, I added pop-up boxes over the timelines, along with hover dots on the charts to reveal additional information. A simple solution, but highly effective!
For this interactive PDF, I added pop-up boxes that appear when readers want to explore more information on sectors, office locations, clients, and past events.
Want to see more?
If this has sparked your interest and you’d like to see more, feel free to get in touch, I’d be happy to share examples that are more tailored to your needs. I have far more work than I could fit on this page!
Beyond what’s shown in this portfolio, I also create social media templates, as well as event materials like booth graphics and roller banners.
“There is a difference between a great designer and an amazing designer. Mark thinks with us and for us! He pro-actively suggests new ideas based on his knowledge about our company. We can trust him with all sorts of design activities and know he will deliver the perfect work. He always comes up with even better ideas that make the final outcome ‘amazing’. Great to work with you, Mark!”