Social media remains an enduring and dynamic force in the digital landscape. Each day, countless posts, Stories, and various content formats flood the internet, signaling a relentless competition for attention. In this relentless battle to captivate target audiences, brands employ every conceivable strategy to stand out.
Among the myriad tactics, the significance of impeccable social media design cannot be overstated. Over the past decade, social media design has evolved into a distinct art form, comprising a multitude of factors that underpin its success.
Moreover, social media content must resonate with the brand’s identity and values, to garner authentic connections with the audience. Therefore, staying attuned to emerging design trends and leveraging them innovatively can set brands apart in the competitive social media world.
That’s why, in this blog, we’re going to bring you 5 social media design tips from Design Pickle.
But first, let’s look at a few key social media statistics for 2023 that will help you understand the importance of these social media design tips.
These 7 social media statistics should clue you in on how important it is to pay attention to your social media designs. So let’s move ahead to look at social media design tips inspired by Design Pickle’s designs.
Imagine a scenario where you have a photo (probably of a product image) that needs to go on the background of your social media design. But there are also some important texts that you need to include and you’re worried about their visibility against the photo background. What do you do? You use solid-filled shapes of course! The addition of solid-filled shapes is one of the most common yet most useful social media design tips in the book.
Solid-filled shapes placed behind the text in social media designs enhance visual appeal by adding depth and contrast to the text. It makes the text stand out against the background image. This subtle layering effect maintains text legibility while adding a stylish dimension to the design. You can even adjust the opacity and the colors of these shapes to make them seamlessly blend into the rest of the design.
The above social media design by Design Pickle perfectly exemplifies this design practice. While the headline is placed on its own, you can see that the secondary texts are placed in 2 separate solid-filled shapes.
These shapes help the texts stand out. Placing them on the image without these shapes would seriously hinder their legibility. So next time you need to add text over an image go ahead and incorporate these kinds of solid-filled shapes in any size, color, or shape you like.
We saw in the list of statistics before, that posts with images get more engagement than those with just texts. But if you’re concerned about the dynamicity of your images there’s a tip to take away from the above design by Design Pickle: Filters on images.
Filters on images in social media design introduce a captivating dimension. You can achieve this by adding translucent effects, layers, or textures atop the background image. This technique can be employed to elevate plain images and maintain the overall graphic’s ambiance to suit the branding.
This is one of those social media design tips that can really provide a delicate balance, allowing the image to appear sophisticated while augmenting the visual appeal of the design.
As you can see in the graphic above, the images are edited with translucent filters similar in color to the rest of the brand colors of the design. This has helped the images blend well into the rest of the graphic. It has also elevated the graphic from looking basic to looking like it’s professionally designed.
So whenever there are images to add, be it stock images or otherwise, and you’re worried about how awkwardly they sit, play with filters. These filters can instantly unify images with the rest of the design.
Are you looking for social media design tips on how to convey an exact idea using images? Well, Design Pickle has an exciting tip for you.
We know that the first option that comes to mind is photography. While custom illustrations can also work in times like this, both these options are not for the time-sensitive. If you’re short on time and you need to get something creative done with a few resources, the best option is image manipulation.
Image manipulation in social media design involves skillfully altering visuals to convey a specific message or evoke a desired emotion. This technique allows designers to enhance or modify existing images while preserving their overall integrity.
By carefully blending elements, applying creative effects or even altering the scale to change perspective, image manipulation can breathe new life into visuals. It also aids in making visuals more engaging and impactful. The key is to strike a balance, ensuring that the image’s altered aspects align seamlessly with the intended message.
The above social media design by Design Pickle does just that. The message that they’re trying to convey has been effectively brought to life by the manipulation of the various images.
And the other good news is since you’re doing these with existing images, the possibilities are endless.
One thing you need to maintain in your social media designs is professionalism. And while there are so many social media design tips that help you achieve this, one very important tip is to follow standard size specifications.
Size specifications are crucial in social media design for several reasons. They ensure that visuals display optimally on various platforms, maintaining their quality and impact. Proper sizes prevent distortion, pixelation, or cropping issues, guaranteeing that content appears as intended. Consistency in size specs across posts maintains a polished and professional brand image.
Moreover, adhering to platform-specific size guidelines maximizes visibility and engagement, as designs fit seamlessly within users’ feeds.
The above graphics by Design Pickles’s design team show how properly sized social media designs can look like. The one on the left is an Instagram post, while the one on the right side is an Instagram Story. Both feature the same design but they are laid out differently for optimal visual impact when viewed in their unique space.
Bonus Tip: Just resizing a design exactly as it is to fit into another placement doesn’t work. You need to be strategic and change the layout like Design Pickle’s design team has done in the above social media design.
Have a closer look and see how the same information has been laid out completely differently in the 2 graphics. This kind of intentional design layout communicates to viewers that you’re serious about how they perceive you.
Traditional design layouts are great. But there are instances where breaking away from some of those design layouts while still holding on to the underlying principle can help elevate designs. If these kinds of social media design tips excite you, then this next tip is perfect for you.
Get creative with your text placements! Getting creative with your text placements helps break away from conventional layouts and also inject intrigue into content. This can really play a pivotal role in enhancing your social media design by accelerating your visual storytelling and engagement rate.
With the use of typography rules, creating unique text placements can help guide the viewer’s eye, emphasizing key messages or elements.
This innovation adds an artistic dimension to designs, making them memorable and likely to be shared. Additionally, creative text placement allows designers to harmonize text with visual elements, ensuring a seamless blend that enhances the overall aesthetic.
This is quite evident in the above social media design by Design Pickle. They’ve suggested a different reading pattern, all by changing the placement and layout for where the different texts appear. They’ve even changed the orientation of some of the texts to make the design look innovative and fresh.
In this digital age, mastering the art of social media design is non-negotiable for brands aspiring to thrive and endure. Mastery of social media design is a skill of profound significance, but it’s equally vital to understand the methods for crafting these digital masterpieces. That’s where these social media design tips inspired by Design Pickle’s designs come into the picture.
The strategic incorporation of these expert social media design tips is the maneuver that will guide you toward achieving optimal outcomes. Moreover, using these ideas will also ensure that your brand’s presence not only thrives but also commands attention and recognition in the ever-evolving, fiercely competitive realm of social media platforms.
