We, humans, are very visual and expressive species. In fact, we love visuals so much that we literally spend hours consuming such content on social media. With over 2.62 billion people across the world using social media today, the big question is:
How do I generate content that will capture the attention of all these people? The answer is simple: through great graphic design!
In this article, we highlight 4 of our expert creative design tips for social media that are bound to have a scroll-stopping impact. Let’s dive in!
Eyes on the prize
The first thing you need to have sorted for social media (or any other marketing platform) is to have clearly defined objectives. You should know exactly what you aim to achieve. All you need to do is ask yourself a few basic questions:
- What exactly is the purpose of this specific post?
- Am I looking to generate traffic? Engagement? Sales?
- Who is my audience?
- What sort of feelings/emotions do I want to convey to them?
- What exactly do I want them to do?
This may seem simple and obvious but even us experts sometimes overlook this very important step. Once you’ve got answers to all of these, you will have a clearly defined end-outcome. Now you can go ahead and design posts and graphics that cater specifically to that need.
Color and Contras
One of the first things the brain registers about design is the color. Different colors trigger different emotions in humans, and color plays a major role in effective social media graphic design.
Find and use a color scheme that reflects your brand’s values and conveys the emotions you want people to feel. A good idea is to use color combinations so that you can target more feelings. That being said, make sure you don’t end up using harsh, or glaring color combinations. You don’t want a visual that’s difficult to look at. A helpful practice can be generating powerful contrast within your design.
For example, while yellow text on a blue screen might be extremely hard to read, a split-screen that is half blue and yellow can be impactful.
Text and Typography
Social media is so popular because it is simple and to-the-point. Your designs need to be the same. The whole point here is to deliver your message as simple as possible.
A good idea is to limit your text to one, or two lines, max. Anything more than this and you will definitely lose interest with the audience. This is because a majority of people use social media on their phones. You do not want them to feel exhausted or overwhelmed by an image that is crowded with text.
Choosing the right fonts is very important. While each individual design will have different font requirements, always keep the following tips in mind:
- Limit the number of fonts in your design to a maximum of 2 fonts
- Make sure you almost always use sans-serif fonts as these work great with visuals (serif works great with print)
- Pick fonts that contrast for an extra ‘bang’ in your design
Consistency is key
Once you have identified the kind of message you want to broadcast with your design, it is important that you stay consistent. Social media audiences tend to be extremely loyal. Once you’ve captured their attention by appealing to certain emotions, they will now associate and recognize your brand by these design features.
In order to maintain and grow your audience, you need to continue making them feel the same way. Use the same colors, similar design styles and typography to keep your message consistent.
Bonus tip: keep it simple!
One of the biggest mistakes a designer can make is going overboard with their designs. At Sunan Designs, we have a long-standing rule amongst our experts: “the simpler, the better”. All you need to do is get your message to the audience, and the most efficient designs are often the simplest. As a premier design consultancy firm, we guarantee that it works!
If you’re having trouble implementing any of the above tips in your social media graphic design, or would simply prefer an expert touch, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Our team of expert, award-winning designers will be happy to help you out!
