Today, it's not always necessary to hire a professional graphic designer for your social media content. Especially if you're a small business and have budget constraints.
Too many people seem to think that knowledge of Adobe Suite - Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. - is enough to design great graphics. Actually, no. You need to be aware of the basic Principles of Design and consciously apply them in your work for best results.
This is why, a professional graphic designer charges more than someone who's simply a "Photoshop expert". They charge for their knowledge and training in design thinking.
There are many tools available which allow you to create your own graphics with a few drag-and-drop options. If you want to create better looking and more effective graphics for your business by yourself, this article is for you.
If you're someone who's trained in using the Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. and would like to learn timeless principles of design that would improve your craft and help you create better graphics for your clients, this article is for you.
Here are 5 Design Principles to help you create better Social Media Graphics:
1. Text Hierarchy
Simply put, it's the order in which the viewer reads the different blocks of text on your graphic. When you understand this principle, you can use it to grab the viewer’s attention in a split second, as they’re scrolling down their newsfeed. Once you grab their attention, you can direct their attention to read your message in the order that you want them to.
In the example above, can you see how the designer has played with size, weight and placement of the fonts to direct your eyes in a certain way?
2. Relationship
How are the objects in your creative related to each other? If you don't think about this, your design might end up looking like it's made up of clumps of unrelated design elements.
This is a common mistake I see novice graphic designers make where they clump together "design elements" in an effort to fill up empty space. Always ask yourself, why should I include this element in my design? What purpose does it serve?
Is it even necessary?
Not thinking about the relationship between the elements of your design is what results in creatives looking unnatural and 'forced'. See the example below:
Contrast that with the example below, where all the elements relate to each other in a cohesive manner which is easy to understand.
3. Emphasis
What is the most important part of the post? If the viewer ignored everything else about the post, what's the one thing you would want them to see?
Using the above principles of Text Hierarchy and Relationship between elements, you can create Emphasis on what really matters.
When designing posts or ads for social media, we put the greatest emphasis on the main copy. This is usually a short phrase or question which entices the viewer to read more.
You can create Emphasis through text hierarchy, repetitive patterns and similar, consistent visual language across all creatives from the same campaign.
4. Balance
Without balance, something will always seem a little... off. Balance in graphic design is to distribute elements across the canvas in such a way that it does not seem very visually heavy on one side.
It also refers to a balance between positive and negative space, between bold and calm colors, intricate graphics and empty space.
It does not mean that the design has to be symmetrical! But the overall visual weight must be evenly distributed. For example, if there's a big circle on one corner of the canvas, a small circle on the other corner will balance it out. If there's big, bold text, it can be balanced out by smaller subtext.
5. Unity
Unity is the underlying idea that summarizes all the principles of design. It's the concept that the design, as a whole is striving towards one idea - one purpose.
When you start working on your social media post, you must know what that one purpose is. Keeping this in mind, the rest of the design process becomes easier. You'll know what to emphasize, how to direct the viewer's eyes using text hierarchy, and how to relate each element to another so that the ultimate message comes out in a simple, balanced and harmonious way.