Partner Ecosystem Slide [Designing relationships visually]
- Ink Narrates | The Presentation Design Agency
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
While building a partner ecosystem slide for our client Liam, he paused mid-call and asked,
“How do you show mutual value in a slide without making it look like a forced marriage?”
Our Creative Director replied,
“You don’t show mutual value with logos. You show it with structure.”
We’ve designed countless partner ecosystem slides for clients across industries—tech, logistics, consumer brands, you name it. And if there’s one problem we keep seeing, it’s this: people treat these slides like a badge collection. One big wall of logos slapped on a background, hoping the sheer volume will do the storytelling.
It doesn’t.
In this blog, we’ll break down how to actually design a partner ecosystem slide that reflects relationships; visually, strategically, and intentionally.
In case you didn't know, we specialize in only one thing: making presentations. We can help you by designing your slides and writing your content too.
The logo dilemma in partner ecosystem slide
Most partner ecosystem slides are just lazy!
What you typically see is a slide overloaded with partner logos, arranged in no particular order, with no context, no hierarchy, and no clue what each partner actually does. It’s like someone threw a handful of brand stickers at a wall and called it a strategy. And sure, it may impress your internal team for a second: “Wow, look at all our partnerships!”—but from a storytelling perspective, it tells the audience nothing.
We’ve seen this happen. The moment that slide comes up, attention drops. Why? Because when everything looks the same, nothing stands out. There's no flow, no logic, no narrative hook.
The problem isn’t that you have too many partners. The problem is you’re treating all of them the same.
Not every partner plays the same role in your business. Some are strategic growth drivers. Some are tech enablers. Some are just there for distribution or compliance. But when you put them all in a flat grid, you kill the story. You flatten the value.
And this is where most people miss the point.
A partner ecosystem slide isn’t about showing who you work with—it’s about showing how those relationships work.
That means structure. That means design. That means being intentional about what goes where and why.
Designing the Partner Ecosystem Slide. Think Systems, Not Showpieces
First, understand this: a partner ecosystem slide is a strategic tool, not a slide-filler. It should give your audience a clear sense of how your business leverages external relationships to grow, scale, and operate. If it doesn't do that, you're decorating, not communicating.
From our experience, here are the principles we apply every time we design one. This is what separates a cluttered slide from one that actually lands.
1. Know What Kind of Ecosystem You Have
Before you even open PowerPoint or start dragging logos around in Figma, stop and ask: What kind of ecosystem do we have?
Not all ecosystems are built the same. Some are:
Platform-driven – where you are the central product and partners integrate into your offering (think Shopify and its app partners).
Solution-driven – where you collaborate with partners to co-deliver value to end users (think Microsoft and Accenture co-implementing cloud solutions).
Distribution-focused – where your partners are primarily there to help you reach markets, segments, or customers you can’t access directly.
If you don’t define the type, you’ll end up with a slide that tries to say everything and ends up saying nothing.
In fact, we once worked with a European fintech scale-up that kept lumping all their banking, payment, and compliance partners into one flat layer. But once we dissected the actual business model, it turned out that only two of those were strategic co-builders. The rest were modular integrations.
That insight shifted the entire design.
We repositioned the slide to spotlight the co-innovation layer at the center and moved all peripheral compliance partners to a surrounding ring. Visually, it changed everything. Even the CFO said, “Now I can explain our partner strategy in under 30 seconds.”
Exactly the goal.
2. Use Proximity to Signal Relationship
Here’s something most people forget: in visual communication, where something is placed is often more powerful than what it is.
When we’re designing partner ecosystem slides, we use proximity to communicate context.
Partners that are close to your brand icon or logo? They’re tightly integrated. Partners at the edge? They’re more transactional or lower involvement.
For example, in a slide we designed for a healthcare SaaS company, we placed clinical research partners in a tight arc around the brand, with directional lines pointing into the core platform.
Meanwhile, channel partners like healthtech consultants were shown at the periphery, connected by softer dotted lines—indicating influence, not integration.
The result? The slide communicated operational depth without a single word. And that’s what good design should do.
3. Group By Function, Not Just Logo Size
Some companies try to group logos by brand recognition—putting the biggest or most “impressive” logos first. Big mistake.
The real value lies in function.
When you organize partners based on their role in your ecosystem, you give your audience a mental map to navigate. It's the difference between a random stack of ingredients and a well-plated dish.
We always advise clients to segment their ecosystem by how each group supports the business.
Typical clusters we’ve used include:
Technology Enablers
Strategic Alliances
Distribution/Channel Partners
Integration Partners
Innovation Partners
Data/Insights Partners
The labels matter. But more importantly, the groupings need to reflect how you operate.
In one case, a logistics client of ours had dozens of regional carriers and data partners, all jumbled in one layer. We separated them into “Operational Fulfillment” and “Predictive Intelligence” partners—because that’s how their teams actually used them. It made the deck more intuitive for investors, and more usable internally.
So don’t be afraid to create your own categories. Just make sure they reflect business logic, not marketing fluff.
4. Visual Flow Over Visual Overwhelm
There’s a myth in corporate presentation land that more equals better. So when people build their partner ecosystem slide, they try to cram in every name, every logo, every partnership—regardless of relevance or impact.
We call this the visual overwhelm trap.
You don’t need to show everything. You need to show enough to support the narrative you’re telling in that moment.
If you’re pitching investors, show how your partnerships unlock scale or reduce risk. If you’re talking to clients, highlight who helps you deliver better outcomes. If you’re in a sales deck, emphasize co-sell or co-delivery partners.
Context matters.
Also, don't shy away from using visual hierarchy. Make certain logos bigger—not because they're more famous, but because they play a more central role in your story.
We once designed a slide where three core partners were drawn in with illustrated badges, while the rest were represented with standard logos. It instantly created a narrative anchor. No confusion. No guessing.
5. Your Brand Still Leads
One of the strangest things we see: slides that show a full ecosystem of partners… and the company’s own logo is missing or hidden.
Why?
This is your ecosystem. Your slide. Your story. You need to show how you sit at the center (or the edge, if that’s your model) of the system.
Some ecosystems are hub-and-spoke. Some are linear. Some are layered like a sandwich. Whatever the case, make sure your presence is central—not in terms of ego, but in terms of clarity.
In partner ecosystem slides we design, we always place the company’s brand identity as the anchor. Then we build outwards. That way, the viewer always knows: “Ah, this is how you operate with these players.”
And please—don’t hide behind acronyms or use vague terms like “collaborators.” Call it what it is. If it’s a partner, name the type of partnership. This builds credibility and shows you actually understand your own model.
6. Custom Icons Can Outperform Logos
Here’s a tip you won’t hear often: sometimes, using a clean, customized icon system instead of cluttered third-party logos can make your partner ecosystem slide way more powerful.
This is especially true when your deck is brand-led and needs to stay sleek, or when logos start visually fighting each other (think mismatched colors, competing fonts, overly detailed brandmarks).
We've built icon-based ecosystems that abstract partner types into roles—like "Payment Gateway," "Analytics Provider," "Cloud Infra," etc.—instead of listing every single brand. This works particularly well in early-stage decks or when your partner list is evolving.
It keeps the story tight. It keeps the slide clean. And it still gets the point across.
Of course, you can always supplement that with a partner list appendix. But in the main story arc? Focus on clarity, not completeness.
7. Think About Motion, Not Just Layout
A final advanced tip: ecosystems evolve. And if you’re presenting live, there’s huge value in using motion or sequence to reveal parts of your partner ecosystem step-by-step.
We’ve helped clients build dynamic slides that introduce one partner type at a time. You click: here’s your data partners. Click again: here come your distribution partners. Each group enters with purpose, not clutter.
This approach works beautifully in investor pitches and sales demos. It lets you walk your audience through your logic without overwhelming them.
And bonus—it shows that you think in systems. That your ecosystem isn’t just something you collect, but something you use.
Why Hire Us to Build your Presentation?
If you're reading this, you're probably working on a presentation right now. You could do it all yourself. But the reality is - that’s not going to give you the high-impact presentation you need. It’s a lot of guesswork, a lot of trial and error. And at the end of the day, you’ll be left with a presentation that’s “good enough,” not one that gets results. On the other hand, we’ve spent years crafting thousands of presentations, mastering both storytelling and design. Let us handle this for you, so you can focus on what you do best.