Table of Contents
The human mind processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text-based information. It takes a very attractive visual to stay in our minds for longer, though. Nowadays, social media is all about stunning videos and visuals. People have moved to visual-based content over text-only content.
It means, if you don’t catch the attention of your audience, they probably won’t recall you or your brand. So, the best thing is to create a social media post that’s visually pleasing and gets your message across. But how can you create one?
Here, we bring you 10 creative graphic design tips that you can use for designing stunning posts.
1. Find your purpose/goal
It’s the first and foremost graphic design tip that you should consider when creating social media content. When you set up a goal, it helps you create a foundation for your post.
Before starting with the design procedure, ask yourself these questions —
- What’s the main purpose of your post?
- Do you want to drive sales?
- Is the post meant for boosting engagement on the page or website traffic?
When you ask yourself these questions, keep your target audience in your mind. You need to be very much clear about your audience. Do some competitor analysis for help. Also, perform audience research side-by-side. Find out —
- Who are your audiences?
- Which platform do they use frequently?
- Do they use a desktop or mobile phone?
Once you have a clear idea of your audience, you can design posts relevant to them.
2. Mind the colors
When creating a social media post, pick colors that reflect the personality of your brand. You can choose two or three colors for that purpose. It’s also crucial that you find a theme color that matches your brand. Remember, each color carries a specific meaning. So, choose the one that coveys the same emotion that you want your brand to associate with.
Once you succeed in doing so, your post will receive the desired reactions from your target audience.
3. Mind the text
Don’t mistake typography with text. Typography refers to the visual identity of the written word, while text constitutes a series of words.
As a business owner, you know that your brand isn’t only a virtual entity, but it’s the representation of who you really are. Every word you use talks volumes about it. But when creating a social media post, be sure not to overcrowd it with text.
Too many words on your post may overwhelm your audience. Whether it’s a graphic for Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or any other channel, limit your text usage to only one or two lines.
4. Choose the right font
Choose the right font that aligns perfectly with your image is pretty tough. But when you master it, you breathe life into your graphics. Like a color palette, the font you choose should also reflect your brand’s personality.
But limit your selection to two or three fonts only. Anything more than this will distract your audience.
5. Consider contrast for readability
Negative space or white space is the best way to make any graphics stand out. It’s the contrast that attracts the eyes. You can add contrast in your image with colors, fonts, size, alignment, and many other elements.
Using colors has been termed as the best way to apply in contrast to your graphics. Consider this, for example, if you use a white logo, use a dark-colored background for contrast. Likewise, for light text, use a dark background and vice versa. It makes the content visually appealing and readable.
6. Build brand identity
As you’re familiar with the basics of social media designs, it’s time to focus on building brand identity. It takes someone about seven times of continuous hearing or seeing your brand to identify it. This simply means that consistency is the key to success. You need to repeat the elements of your brand, like colors, logos, and fonts for memorability.
Make sure that you include the logo of your brand in every image your share for brand identity. It will not only help you tell your story but also attract customers.
7. Be consistent
Consistency is the building block of branding. If your social media graphics or content do not look and feel connected, it will drive away your audience. But if it looks and feels connected, they will understand your brand and message.
So, you need to give your brand a consistent look. It helps your followers quickly recognize your brand. Post content in a consistent manner with the same style. It may be challenging for some, but it will create a strong brand identity over the period.
We suggest you create templates for promotions, quotes, announcements, and other events for consistency.
8. Know the social media platform you use
Each social media platform is different. Having an idea of what works on each platform will make things easier for you in the long. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Reddit are different. You need to create your social media to fit different dimensions of these platforms.
It may seem challenging, but knowing the exact size that they support could make a lot of difference.
9. Be creative
Almost everyone is gifted with creativity. Getting your creative juices flowing when designing your social media content will help you make your brand stand out. Also, it will grab the attention of the audience for all the good reasons.
Whether you believe it or not, creativity lives in everyone. Being creative when creating or curating your content will help tie your brand and audience together and make your company stand out from the rest.
Create different types of posts for each social media channel. You can share infographics, quotes, themed days, photos, and many more. Keep in mind that people not only like but share the posts that appeal to them.
10. Believe in simplicity
When in doubt, believe in simplicity. It’s okay to follow trends and a lot of things, but simplicity goes a long way in attracting customers.
When you reduce graphic clutters and use only two or three elements, it helps get your message across.
Conclusion
Now that you’re familiar with all your social media graphic design tips, it’s time to create engaging graphics for your social media handles. Take help from Designhill Studio or other tools to create it for free.
Alice Jackson is a business consultant, blogger, social media enthusiast, online market analyst, amateur designer and an avid author at Designhill. She has written on several topics including social media marketing, SEO, content marketing, tshirt designs, startup strategies and e-commerce. When she’s not writing, she loves spending her time reading romantic novels. Connect with her on Twitter: @jackson_alice1
