Microsoft PowerPoint MVP Nolan Haims has created a fun and clever way to break away from bullet points on your slides and spark creativity.

Nolan’s The Better Deck Deck is a set of 52 cards with proven design alternatives to text heavy slides. The cards are color-coded to represent four graphic categories: Text, Shapes, Images, and Diagrams.

Text cards provide ideas for chunking and laying out text in unique ways with graphic elements. Shapes cards give you ways to anchor and organize your information or show connections between concepts. Images cards challenge you to uncover a visual to replace your text or consider how an icon or logo might communicate your ideas better than words alone. Diagrams cards showcase interesting designs for pie charts, mindmaps, timelines, and other diagrams to suggest creative ways to repackage your standard charts.

This deck is a fun way to brainstorm with your team when creating new presentations and graphics. I shuffle through the cards when looking for new layout ideas or when I don’t know how to show a concept. It’s easy to get stuck in a design rut when working with the same information again and again.

Although Nolan’s deck is available as a PDF, I enjoy the physical cards. Having a deck of colorful cards set next to my computer gives me an excuse to take a break from the screen. Shuffling the cards in my hands and flipping through the deck, makes me feel like I’m playing a game and unlocks my creativity instantly!

You can purchase and download Nolan’s The Better Deck Deck on his website.