Cut the circle in half by inserting a rectangle, placing it halfway across the circle, and using the Subtract Boolean tool (find this on the left, under the Shape Format tab). This will subtract the rectangle from the circle. You should now have a semicircle.PowerPoint screenshot showing the Merge shapes tools
Copy and paste the semicircle (Crtl + C > Crtl + V) and rotate it, lining up the two straight edges.
Remove the outline colour and pick your fill colours. Colours that are one shade apart work well for this style. The icon must be clearly visible, so it needs to have a high contrast with the colours you choose. Our free add-in, BrightSlide, can help you check the colour contrast between two shapes – click here to learn more.
Finish by grouping the two semicircles together, select both, right–click then select Group > Group.
You don’t have to use circles for presentation icon holders. If there’s a particular shape associated with your brand, a hexagon perhaps, you can use that as an icon holder shape instead.
Playful shapes
Insert > Shapes > Circle. Draw a qatar mobile number format circle on your slide.
Right–click and select Edit Points. This will bring up a thin line around the circle with square black nodes.
Screenshot of the right-click menu in PowerPoint showing where the Edit Points tool is located
Right–click to view the options for each segment. For a blobby shape (that’s a technical term!), select Smooth Point for each node. You can also add or delete the black nodes by right-clicking.
Have a play and see what you can come up with! Stick to two or three shapes to give a playful, informal look to your slides without descending into blobby-shape chaos!
Shadow
This is the fiddliest custom icon holder idea I’m sharing, but it looks so good that it’s worth the effort!
Insert a shape onto your slide – whatever shape you want to use for the main holder.
Insert an icon and place it on top of the shape.
Insert a rectangle, remove the outline, and change the Fill Color to a shade slightly darker than your icon holder.
Move and resize the rectangle so it sits where a shadow would fall if your icon had one.
Screenshot of PowerPoint showing a darker shape in place making a shadow