Do you want to create eye-catching social media posts, newsletters, website banner images, etc. but cannot afford a professional designer? If your answer is yes, you will be happy to know that you can be a decent graphics designer yourself. All you need is a basic understanding of core design principles and implementation of the following tips:
1. Use Negative Space
Negative space is the unused or empty space around the elements of a design. You can refer to the above image for a better understanding of this design concept. As you can see, the main design element of the design i.e. the pencil is surrounded by lots of empty white space. This accentuates the design element- the pencil and draws the attention of the viewer towards itself.
Many brands are known to use white space liberally in their advertisements and marketing materials. Apple, Nike, Coca-Cola are a few brands that use this design concept. If used correctly, you can also elevate your marketing materials with this technique.
2. Use DIY Graphics Design Software
Today, forward-thinking businesses save time and money by using software for all sorts of business processes- accounting, marketing, CRM, and more. These businesses also use DIY graphics design software to produce collaterals such as brochures, business cards, newsletters, email templates, etc.
There are tools for designing infographics such as Venngage and Piktochart, and there are drag-and-drop responsive email editors such as MailChimp and BEE. Similarly, there are comprehensive but easy-to-use logo makers that are so powerful that you can become a logo designer yourself by using these tools. If you cannot hire a professional graphics designer, you can use these tools to do all the design work yourself.
3. Use High-Quality and Creative Fonts
You may already know that branding is important for businesses, but do you know the ingredients of a good brand? A powerful brand comprises of many elements- unique logo, catchy tagline, strong brand messaging, etc. One of these elements is creative and attractive fonts.
Can you recall the iconic logo of Coca-Cola? This logo does not have any design elements. All it has is the brand name, but this brand name uses a unique typography. That is all it took for Coca-Cola to stand out from the competition. This shows the power of a unique font. So, if you want to create beautiful designs for your business, ensure that you use unique fonts.
4. Use Colors Carefully
Just like fonts, the colors you pick for your designs play a huge role in the performance of your designs. This is because colors influence us on a subconscious level. In fact, there is a whole subject of color psychology in marketing that you should learn.
When picking colors for your designs, there are a few things you should always keep in mind. For starters, you should avoid using too many different colors in the same design. In fact, it is better to stick with the colors of your brand to maintain brand consistency. Also, use high contrast colors, i.e. colors on the opposite side of the color wheel (see image above). By picking the right colors, you can make your design pop and draw the attention of the people easily.
5. Use High-Quality Stock Photos
You do not have to buy premium photos for your designs. Instead, you can use good stock photos that are available for free. There are many websites such as www.pexels.com where you can easily find and download the perfect photos for your designs in a few clicks. On this platform, you can find hand-picked HD photos that you can download in different sizes. All photos on this website are free and you can use them for commercial purposes. There are similar websites too that you can check out- www.pixabay.com and www.imagesource.com.
So, there you have it- some great DIY design tips to apply when you cannot afford a graphics designer or just want to do the design work yourself. Remember, if you are creative and willing to work, nothing can stop you from doing high-quality design work yourself. Good luck!