Like any art form, creating social media graphics requires freedom and creativity. But in order to craft some engaging content, artists must also abide by certain rules and standards. Below are some of the most important steps for graphic designers when creating works for social media.
1. Start with a plan
You would think that graphic artworks are a product of purely abstract and creative processes. When it comes to creating graphics for social media, the best way to do this is to start with a plan. Identify your vision, goals, and objectives. From these, you can create specific strategies in the coming months or years.
Part of planning is assessing your and your team’s abilities and limitations. Identify your skill set and tools in order to know what needs to be done. Also, identify the budget for social promotion. From here, you will have an idea of how much you can spend on materials and tools for your graphic designs.
2. Set design rules
Rules of design are meant to provide consistency and coherence to your graphics. Design rules involve the use of specific colors or combinations of colors, the inclusion of consistent elements such as logos and symbols, and the use of specific fonts styles and sizes.
All these design rules help in building your brand. For example, the colors or combinations of colors you use for the graphics can set the tone of your brand or what you are selling. Bright and vibrant colors are seen as fun and fresh. Muted and neutral colors suggest formality and professionalism. Including logos would also help build your brand because they provide identification for any graphic that you produce.
3. Fit designs to the target audience
Your graphic designs should depend on the target audience of your specific post or your overall webpage. If your post targets customers who are within the age range of millennials and Gen Z, your design should be trendy and appropriate for the times. If your post targets businesses, you would opt to use more formal and professional graphics.
If your website is within a saturated industry, your graphic design should stand out from the crowd. Learn what is popular in your particular industry. Once you have knowledge of the common graphic designs, improve on them by adding a unique element.
4. Create designs for various platforms
As a graphic designer, you have to understand that each social network requires a specific type of design. In order to have an effective campaign, you must adjust based on what these platforms require. For example, Facebook and Twitter are sites for people to have fun and relax. It means that the designs best fitting here are contents that are funny, light, bright, and humorous.
In contrast, when creating designs for formal and professional sites like LinkedIn, your design should be simple, direct to the point, and not flashy. Include brand logos as it is a place for businesses to create networks. Here, businesses are more concerned about conveying their message to one another which means that your graphic designs should be simple.
