With social media becoming more prevalent, it’s getting harder to stand out online. Creating graphics that people are sure to like and share is hard, even for the most seasoned designers. While some of our favorite social media tools make designing a breeze, making visually appealing graphics can still be tricky. Here are some tips to help guide your graphic design process.
- Keep it simple
Keep the design of your graphic as simple and clean as possible. Focus on what’s important and remove unnecessary elements to keep it streamlined. This is especially important for those viewing social media on mobile devices, as the smaller screen will limit what users are able to see.
- Don’t go crazy with color
Pops of color are a fun addition to many things, but when it comes to your social media graphics it’s best to keep it minimal. Having occasional bursts of color on your feed is a nice surprise for your followers, but for individual posts try not use more than three colors. Anymore and it can overwhelm and clutter your design.
- Don’t overwrite
While you may have a lot of information that you want to convey to your followers, having too much text on a social media graphic will make it illegible. Put the most pertinent information in the graphic and put the rest into your caption. A rule of thumb to follow is to not use more than two lines of text.
- Share what’s important
There’s a constant influx of posts on people’s social media feeds – don’t give them brand fatigue by constantly posting. Keep your posts to relevant content that you believe your followers will find useful or informative. If you would not personally share it yourself, don’t post it!
- Get inspired
The best way to improve your graphic design skills is to be inspired by others. Go onto your favorite social media platform and see what other people are posting and emulate them. This is not only a great way to keep up with design trends but will also give you a better idea of what kind of content others enjoy.
- Experiment!
Social media is meant to be an interactive and engaging space. Don’t get bogged down by trying to create the perfect graphic. If you want to try out a new design trend – go for it! The social media landscape is constantly changing and evolving so be open to changing up your style and have fun with it.