Anybody can create an Instagram profile. But not everybody creates the intended engagement. Why is that? Because generating likes, comments, and reactions on Instagram involves a variety of factors. And the first one is a rock-solid design plan. After all, Instagram is all about visual content. So, in this blog, we are going to talk about graphic design for Instagram.
What was once a platform for people to share photos from their life events has now grown to become one of the top choices in social commerce. And even brands that are not directly selling on Instagram use the platform to strengthen their customer relationships.
Did you know that 60% of consumers find new products on Instagram? No wonder brands have been steadily increasing their Instagram marketing budgets other the last couple of years. But increasing your budget and deciding to be active on Instagram are not enough. To make a difference on Instagram, you need quality designs. Designs that resonate with your brand and effortlessly converse with your Instagram followers.
So, are you ready to redefine your Instagram marketing approach? We’ll tell you how to tweak your graphic design for Instagram.
Instead of treating your posts as individual designs, consider them as components that contribute to an experience. This small change in your perspective can make a huge difference in your designs for Instagram.
Graphic design for Instagram should be about simplifying a customer’s journey. When you come up with a plan for this, you will have plenty of ideas for your content. And you will be able to create visually cohesive designs too. That’s when your Instagram designs seamlessly fit into your branding strategy.
Have you come across a beautiful Instagram grid and wondered how they do it? A strong Instagram aesthetic has that effect on the audience. This can be in the form of grid posts that together create an eye-grabbing design. Or even color-coordinated grids. And grids that have standard templates that make all the designs look consistent. Such grids are hard to forget, right? That’s exactly what you need for your brand.
If there is no visual consistency between one image and the next one you post, it will not make much of an impact after all.
Coming up with a strong grid layout plan has the following benefits:
Colors are a crucial component in graphic design for Instagram. Yes, your brand colors are important but your brand’s primary colors alone will not be enough. Use your brand colors as a reference. Understand the mood you want to create on your Instagram grid. If your brand colors alone can evoke this mood then you are in luck. If not, go for something based on color psychology. In the end, it is all about creating themes. Either the same primary color throughout your grid or specific color palettes for different series of posts for different campaigns.
That said, monochrome grids have a charm of their own. Even all-black grids work extremely well in some niches like luxury fashion accessories, music, and more. A grid that predominantly incorporates your brand’s primary color palette will help in strengthening brand recall.
For example, on Shopify’s page, you see a lot of different shades and hues of green. A few minutes of browsing through the grid is all it takes to help customers associate the color green with the brand. And the next time you see green you are sure to think of Shopify at least once.
Sometimes for the message you wish to convey a single image might not be that effective. That’s where carousels come into the picture. These are posts with multiple images in one. Below are some scenarios where carousel posts work better than single images:
And when you do create carousel posts for Instagram, keep them visually engaging. Your first slide should ideally be a mix of text and visuals. The image grabs attention and the text takes care of the value proposition aspect. Together they encourage viewers to slide to the next image. The subsequent images can elaborate on the idea presented in the first slide.
Remember that on Instagram, carousel posts are displayed differently. There’s no visual indication on the interface except the scroll dots you see at the bottom of the image. So, adding a simple arrow to indicate that there are more images to check out will ensure that users swipe to see the next image. Otherwise, they might scroll past the post thinking that it’s a single image post.
While you come up with a strategy for your graphic design for Instagram, remember to think about videos from the get-go. On Instagram, you have many kinds of videos including:
Each has a role to play. If you want to present an informative video that is longer than 90 seconds, you have regular video posts. For short engaging bites that help you keep up with the trends, there are Reels. And to bring followers back to your page regularly, you have Story videos.
Besides regular videos, you can also try stop-motion videos for Reels, boomerangs for Story, and simple animated typography videos to bring your Instagram page to life.
The Story placement is one space on Instagram that is under-utilized by many brands. But 25% of Millenials and Gen Zers go to Stories to find new products or services relevant to them.
Below are some of the measurable benefits of using Stories regularly:
Regularly posting Stories is important. But what’s even more important is creating a visual style for these Story posts. They should look consistent with your grid posts.
Now that you know how to create graphic design for Instagram and what kinds of designs to actively use, here are some ideas for these posts.
To sum it up, work on designs that talk to your customers in a tone that you want them to associate with your brand, using colors that evoke the right emotions. Customers might forget brands or the products they deliver but they will not forget an experience. So, create graphic designs for Instagram with the aim of consistently delivering a good customer experience. Better conversions will automatically follow.
