For my first slide, I wanted to keep the outcome clean and minimal. I decided to only include the product name and slogan however after consideration I felt the outcome was a little bare. I experimented with text size and including the icon found in the logo but felt the outcomes lacked a clear intention. I then decided to include an image.

I created the donation point mock-up by combining the card section of a cash machine taken for a stock image and a sign mock-up image. I combined the two and added design to the sign and the SpareChange logo in place of the Halifax logo as well as removing the background. I was really pleased with the outcome as I feel it clearly demonstrates what I want to achieve with the product. While in reality this would most likely be placed at a building front I still feel it is a close enough representation. I decided to layer the mock-up image with the icon taken from the logo to add a little balance to the cover slide and incorporate more colour. Overall I am very pleased with the outcome.

Before presenting my vision I wanted to build up to the point by presenting the statistics on homelessness in Northern Ireland as well as a pretty daunting statistic about potential homelessness across the UK. I felt this would set the scene in providing context for my vision.

After receiving feedback in a tutorial I removed the section header I had included at the top of each slide and colour coded the sections instead, as advised resulting in a much cleaner outcome. For the Problem section colour coded the slides grey. In this section I highlighted statistics on the state of cashlessness in our current society (2021) as well as in 2018, there was a sizable drop in cashless transactions between the two. I then read a quote taken from a young woman who had experienced homelessness in 2018 for the second time, she notes a massive difference in what people were able to give. I was then able to refer back to the previous slides statistics and predict that the situation would now be far worse. I then moved on to looking at the problems involved with providing the homeless with card machines. I was happy with this content as while the problem I am ultimately trying to address is homeless my approach is more specific as it deals with the current lack of spare change the general public now carry. I, therefore, want to keep my focus on providing the homeless with that ‘income’ again.

For my solution slides, I colour coded them white. Here I have used a blend of icons and imagery to display how the donation and distribution system would work as well as who it involves and the products positive impact.

I created the above icon set using illustrator. I want to create a consistent look and feel across icons. To achieve this I stuck to brand colours and included a light colour fill and a thick stroke outlining each one. I was very pleased with the set however as they appear on two slides I was concerned that their similar look and feel may have made the slide appear too similar. However, I decided to keep the structure as I felt they both presented the points I was trying to make in the clearest way.

For my Market Research slides, I selected a dark grey background. Here I present results taken from a survey I sent out on giving and successful examples of card donations and card distributions, i.e. what I am trying to achieve in my new approach to giving to the homeless. As I do not have a team I also outlined the charity organisation that I would like to work with. Had this been an actual funding pitch I would have continued to pursue trying to speak to someone in these organisations in order to get an endorsement. Had that not been possible I would have broadened my search.

To create the above don’t charts I used a blend of drop shadows and glow effects. While this was not an overly important element of the slide design I was very pleased with the outcome and felt it added to the statistics slide making the results appear slightly more visually interesting.

My final slides include the ask, this slide also includes how the money will be used, and current statistics on households in temporary accommodation and children in temporary accommodation across Northern Ireland. I wanted to finish strong and leave a takeaway message that would stick with the audience. I felt finishing with a 10-year-old boys experience of lockdown while in temporary accommodation would have a strong impact in encouraging the audience to consider that homelessness affects families and children too. I closed by restating that fact and highlighting the positive impact the card system could have on the lives of families and children affected by homelessness as well as individuals.

Final Outcome: SpareChange

Feedback

The feedback on my presentation was really positive. It was noted that the mock-up image of the donation point in the oping slide gave a clear indication of the type of product/ service I was pitching. This was great as I was concerned that due to the fact that what I am suggesting is not something people are likely to have come across that they might not understand exactly what I was referring to. It was also noted that this type of pitch would be more aimed at government funding rather than investment. However, I am happy that I was able to get across my primary points in this pitch which were:

• To demonstrate how cashlessness is impacting the homeless
• To show how quickly we are moving towards a cashless society
• To demonstrate peoples willingness to give to the homeless if it were an option
• To show how my solution helps the homeless, businesses and society
• To demonstrate the broad demographics of people that can fall into the homeless

For me the aim of this pitch was to find the right balance of presenting the need, the problem and how helpful and effective my solution could potentially be. Something to consider was that I was overtime in my presentation. I rehearsed my presentation several times and was aware that this was going to be a problem for me. However, I took this calculated risk as I felt none of the content should be removed in this instance. Overall, I was very pleased with the end result of my pitch deck and how my presentation went ingenerall. I was nervous but did my best not to rush through which I think had a positive impact on the overall presentation.