Creative designing should be fun, probably why I do what I do!
I am a creative designer using Canva as my box of crayons and I am absolutely in love with creating eye-catching creative designs.
Designing is all about personal choice in what works and what doesn’t.
You only need to do a Google search to see different interpretations of what works as a design and what doesn’t.
Enter personal choice! But also keeping in mind what your audience wants to see from you.
Since I fell in love with design I have learned much. The biggest lesson was that not everyone agrees on what makes for eye-catching designs.
Some would go so far as suggest you base your designs on the current hottest design trends. Others would suggest that you use templates (because you’re so busy already).
These are not shoddy advice, but by ONLY following trends and ONLY using templates you are doing yourself a disservice.
I mean, how eye-catching & original can you be if you ARE following the latest trend or using a template that everybody else is using already?
Stock photos are so last season. Well, not literally because they are amazing and have their place. I even wrote a blog about it, which gives you several stock photo sites you could use.
But when you scroll through social media and you keep seeing the same stock photos (thankfully there are MANY sites) you may start tuning them out.
So, how exactly do we create something that is eye-catchingly scroll-stopping?
Research
Everything in business starts with research.
Doing your homework by looking at your competition’s visual presence and noting down your own reactions to the visuals may be the best starting point you could, well, start at.
Of course, you will form your opinions on what you like and what you don’t like.
Even when you react negatively to something, it remains a reaction that you could put to good use in your designs.
White Space
Have you ever looked at a visual and did not know where to start looking / reading at?
Your eyes are confused and what do you do? You scroll past.
Deciding on the content and the use of white space go together. Good design uses white space – space that is intentionally left blank. You wouldn’t squash all of your worded content onto a design, just as you wouldn’t overpower your design with icons and products.
Your design is a visual business card for your audience to look at while scrolling through social media.
Keep it Simple
It’s natural to want to fit everything into a tiny white space.
But keeping your design as simple as possible with less clutter is far more eye-catching than you could imagine.
Even the typeface style plays a role in keeping things simple. Remember your audience is most likely viewing your visual content on a smartphone. Sure, the screens are getting bigger and better quality, but the fact remains, it’s still a tiny screen compared to a laptop or even a tablet type device.
Avoid script types or overused fonts.
Colour
Colour attracts attention. It follows us wherever we go and so should your branded colour follow from one design to the next.
Colours have symbolic meaning and is something that should be kept in mind when it comes to designing eye-catching visual content.
Give thought to the colours you gravitate towards and always keep in mind how they affect the overall look and meaning of a design.
Considering your audience is imperative. If you’re designing predominantly to your audience of men, using pink is not a colour they would necessarily stop at.
The Message Matters
The best eye-catching designs are those which represent your brand – and therefore your business – most effectively.
Just as you wouldn’t blindly copy someone else’s message to your audience could result in a flat message to your target audience.
What message do each element used on the design send to your audience?
Perhaps the biggest consideration should always be: what is the aim of the visual? In other words, what do you want your reader to get from the design?
Conclusion
You’re the designer and you know best what it is your audience & clients want to see.
Designing to me is like a toy-box full of possibilities and I love playing in this specific toy-box.
If you’re new to design and want to start using Canva as your platform for design, you can sign up here and use the Pro features (the same I use for my designs) for 30 days absolutely free of charge.
If you want to go ahead and try your hand at design and need some guidance, you can download my free guide to the perfect social media design here. If you need a little more help, I can assist you using Zoom – which we’ll record so you can keep referring back to our session. This link here will get us connected for an hour to walk you through your challenges.
Otherwise, simply drop me a mail and let’s get you going with all of your social media visual content!!
Stephanie xxx
