October 26, 2023
10+1 graphic design tips for… professional images!
From the choice of colors and images to the overall atmosphere, creating images as a professional requires more attention than it may seem. Below, you’ll find some tips for the graphic design industry that will help you begin your journey towards creating images that will refresh your online presence and attract the attention of your audience.
- Be mindful of alignment: Proper alignment in your projects is important to the impression you make on your audience. Avoid incongruous appearances in your design, as even small errors in spacing and placement can be noticed by people. You don’t have to put everything exactly on top of each other, but you do need to ensure proper alignment wherever possible. This even layout in an aesthetically pleasing way will help your images look professional.
- Include icons and logos to get your point across: Well-placed icons and logos enhance your graphics. Their strategic placement adds to the feel of your brand. When you use them, make sure they are readable and legible, with enough space around them. Logos work well in corners at the top or bottom of your image.
- Use contrasting colours to “draw attention”: Using contrasting colors can help draw the viewer’s attention where you want it. A properly contrasting palette can also ensure that your designs are both aesthetically pleasing and accessible.
- Don’t forget about negative space: In design, avoid over-abundance. Free space around graphics helps organize information. An uncluttered design detracts from aesthetics and discourages users. Make sure you leave enough negative space to maintain a neat and pleasing visual appearance.
- Minimize font choice: Choose fewer and cleaner fonts that match your background. Limit the use of fonts to two, in addition to the brand logo. Formatting should conform to the brand’s style, avoiding excessive font or italics in order to avoid excessive complexity and keep users’ interest.
- Consider the colors and aesthetics of your branding: When creating, consider the colors and aesthetics you have chosen. Your online presence should have a sense of consistency in terms of your colors, aesthetics, and fonts. The graphics you create and share via social media should follow the same template.
- Use lines or borders to keep the image organised: Using boxes, lines or even shapes in your drawings works well to keep the elements organized. Such design elements help “break up” the text as well as the elements of the overall image to draw attention where you want it. Adding lines or boxes is also a great way to create negative space, as it keeps important information in one place.
- Try different alignment styles: while alignment is important in graphic design, not everything has to be perfectly centered. You can place logos in the corner of a graphic or intentionally break up text in an asymmetrical way. The important thing here is to make sure that the graphics and visual elements you choose look good and that the information you have in your design is organized in a logical way.
- Adjust the opacity of elements: adjusting the transparency or opacity of design elements can be very effective in graphic design. Adjusting the opacity to at least a partial opacity gives you the contrast you need for your text to be legible, but also allows the background to stand out. Achieving this balance is vital to creating professional, high-quality graphics.
- Remember the cell phone: When drawing pictures, don’t forget smartphones. Make sure your images are sized appropriately for mobile devices and that text is readable on mobile. Vertical images are preferred on mobile and left-alignment can improve readability, especially on large text.
- Keep it simple: Finally, keep your designs as simple as possible. Graphic designs are infinitely better when kept simple, uncluttered and clean. This gives the user the opportunity to easily scan the information without feeling overwhelmed.
Now that you know some of the most important graphic design tips, it’s time to get to work. With a little practice and dedication to designing with simplicity, you’ll be well on your way to enhancing your online presence.
