Well designed visual content is 40 times more likely to get shared. So if you want your business-related content to get shared, it needs to look beautiful and appeal to your audience. 

There are specific rules you need to follow so that your designs come out looking professional and visually appealing. As a beginner in graphic design, you should start by learning these rules and sticking to the basics. 

Follow these tips on graphic design for beginners to ensure you create beautiful artwork for your business. 

1. Stick With Contrasting Colors

You want to choose colors that command attention and evoke emotion. You should choose colors that represent your brand identity while also inspiring your desired emotion in the audience. 

High contrast colors are on opposite sides of the color wheel from each other. They provide the most significant contrast to make your design pop. Change background colors of graphics to be one color, then the font and other graphics should be a different matching color. 

Look up the hex codes for your chosen colors to ensure consistency across all of your designs. 

2. Keep the Fonts Simple 

Your audience needs to be able to read the text, or your message is lost. Don’t use more than two fonts in a single design. Try to keep the two fonts within the same family. 

A common way of using two fonts is to use one for the headers and one for the body text. Keep the text large enough to read. 

3. Embrace the White Space

Don’t fill every open space. Having empty areas or “white space” in your design can help draw the focus to the main point. Your design will look professional, and there will be fewer elements for you to worry about. 

4. Align Your Design 

Designs that have several elements that are not in alignment are difficult to look at and decipher. They look sloppy and unprofessional to your audience. Use software that has guides to help you align all of your design elements. 

Adobe programs all have guides and alignment assistance to help you. Think about aligning all of your lines of text. Make sure all lines of text are evenly spaced.

5. Icons Are Your Friends

Icons immediately grab attention and can convey a message without needing a ton of text. This is a smart strategy if you don’t have a lot of space. Using well-known icons will trigger meaning for the audience without you having to explain them. 

Everyone knows and understands social media icons these days. They work well for encouraging people to follow you. 

Try These Tips for Successful Graphic Design for Beginners

Graphic design for beginners is all about sticking to the basics. The goal should be to create a professional-looking design that appeals to your audience. Start by choosing the right colors, fonts, and icons. 

Then create your design by creating something that embraces blank space and has all of the elements aligned. 

Browse our articles to learn everything you need to know about designing the perfect logo. 

Out of the top 100 brands in the world, 33% of them have a blue logo. This includes famous brands like Ford, IBM, and Pepsi.

If you’re starting a business, your instinct might tell you to stand out from the crowd. You don’t want your customers to confuse you with your competitors, after all.

But, colors carry meaning and picking a particular color just to be unique can work against you.

Luckily, there’s a reason why blue is the most popular color for successful brands. Read on to learn the meaning behind blue logos and if it’s the right choice for your company.

What Does the Color Blue Represent in Logos?

Blue is the color of the sky and bodies of water, which could be the reason it’s many people’s favorite color. It’s also associated with calm, comfort, and relaxation.

Blue suggests that something is dependable, trustworthy, and stable. It is also considered reliable, mature, and smart. Blue is also an indicator of serious professionalism. Dark blue is usually more serious, whereas light blue is more playful.

Types of Companies That Use Blue Logos

The color blue represents dependability and trust. That’s why it’s a popular logo color for car manufacturers, tech companies, the healthcare industry, and financial institutions.

Whether you’re buying a new car or computer, investing money, or going to the doctor, trust is important. You should feel like the company is stable and serious about what it does. If a company uses blue in its logo, you’ll feel more certain of the company.

Manufacturing companies like General Motors, Ford, Boeing, and General Electric have all stayed in business for many years because of customer loyalty. Their products are expensive investments (airplanes, vehicles) so they need customers to trust them.

Blue is also a popular color for tech companies like Dell and Facebook. It’s a great color for tech because it suggests intelligence and reliability.

Financial and Healthcare companies like Chase, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and PayPal, use blue to highlight their experience and trustworthiness.

Why Does Your Brand Color Matter?

The color that represents your brand can affect your bottom line. If you choose the right color, it can help you attract loyal customers. The wrong color might send mixed messages to your potential customers.

For example, if you’re trying to appeal to everyday men and women, think twice about pink or purple. They evoke femininity and luxury. They’re great for an upscale beauty brand, but not the best for a small town accounting firm.

Once you’ve chosen a logo color, you also need a coordinating color palette. It’s important to choose colors that fit with your logo, otherwise it can undermine the message you’re trying to send with your logo.

Design the Logo for Your Business Today

A blue logo can show potential customers that you’re trustworthy and reliable. That’s why it’s the best choice for tech, financial, healthcare, and manufacturing companies. If you want to build long-term relationships with your customers, choose blue.

To learn more about building a brand for your business, read our articles on marketing.

When it comes to the qualities of what makes a good photo, you may expect “clear and crisp” to be one of them. 

But surprisingly, it’s not!

In fact, in some cases, blurry images can convey a lot more than clear ones can. But that doesn’t mean you should go overboard though.

Don’t know when to use blurry images in web design? Don’t worry; we’ve got you covered. Read on to find out more.

To Highlight the Foreground

Is there something important happening in the foreground? For instance, maybe you want to highlight 2 businesspeople talking with one another. Or maybe you want to showcase the model wearing your dress.

Either way, you want all eyes on the foreground. What better way to make that happen than to blur out all the important elements (such as the background)? That way, you ensure the subject you want people to pay attention to is front and center.

To Indicate Action

With your image, you want to tell a story. And if you’re capturing something that’s always in motion (such as an athlete or a racecar), you want that action to translate through the photo.

A great way to do this is to blur the image. You can take a photo that’s completely clear and use the “blur image” function to make it appear as if the subject is in motion. This can add some depth to your picture.

To Put Text Over the Image

It’s always more eyecatching to put text on an image instead of having it stand alone. However, sometimes, the image can be too “busy,” and this can cause your text to become lost in the picture, even if you try out different fonts, colors, and sizes.

What you can do is blur the image. That way, it softens everything in it, but the viewer can still tell what’s supposed to be there. As a result, your text will stand out much better.

To Make a Photo More Dramatic

Let’s face it—some photos you take just aren’t very interesting. You might want to use it for your website, but fear it may be too boring looking.

Sometimes, all it takes a blur tool to perk up the image. For instance, a person standing in front of a field may not be too interesting. But once you blur the image, it can look quite nice for your website.

Or maybe you have a photo where the sun is peeking through a window and its curtains. Blur it, and it instantly becomes more dramatic.

Using Blurry Images in Web Design Is Definitely OK

As you can see, there are many uses for blurry images in web design. While it may inherently feel wrong to intentionally have blurry images, keep in mind that it actually makes for a stronger picture. So long as you take our advice and use the blurring tool right, then you’ll have the best photos possible.

For more information on web design, please check out the rest of our blogs.

As a business owner or manager, it’s essential that you know how to run an Instagram business page. Social media is a necessity when trying to build your brand and reach a large target audience. In more recent years, Instagram has climbed its way to the top of social media platforms. 

Instagram allows you to reach an audience through photos and captions. Instagram’s business page feature allows you to place contact information into your bio including links to your business’ email address and website address.

Getting started on Instagram, however, does require some general knowledge on how the platform works. Whether you’ve been absent from your Instagram account for quite some time now, or if you’re new to the platform altogether, it’s time to start getting acquainted with it. 

Knowing the ins and outs of Instagram is going to be your starting point for attracting previous customers and gaining new ones. To start your successful Instagram journey, continue reading below. Here’s everything you need to know about getting started on Instagram!

1. Choose a Username That’s Recognizable

Unlike Facebook where you simply put the name of your business for your profile, Instagram allows you to create a user name for your account. However, it’s advised that you consider using your business’ name or a username that’s recognizable to customers. 

There’s no first and last name on Instagram, but you can place all of the words of your business’s name together to create one username. If need be, you can use underscores to separate different words, but many companies just put it all together as one. 

The username that you choose is going to be how your customers and followers find you. When creating your account, Instagram will also ask for your full name. Be sure to fill this information in with your business’s name. 

This will bring your account up when people search for your business.

2. Upload a Profile Picture That’s Recognizable 

Your next step will be to upload a profile picture that’s recognizable as your business. The perfect size of an Instagram profile photo is 400×400 pixels. You want to choose something that Instagram users will see an automatically know that it’s your business. 

One great idea for a profile photo is your business’ logo. Your previous customers will know exactly who you are when joining Instagram and new customers will begin to associate your logo with your brand. However, do keep in mind that you’ll need to upload your profile picture on a mobile device using the Instagram app. 

If your logo isn’t saved into your mobile device, then you can import it from Facebook. 

3. Update a Well-Written Bio

A great profile picture needs a well-written bio to back it up. What’s considered a well-written bio for businesses on Instagram? Instagram gives you a 150-character limit for your bio. 

This means you need to be clear and to the point in your bio. State who you are as a brand, what makes you stand out from the competition, what your mission statement is, and forms of contact. Be sure to place your website and email address or other contact information in the bio as well. 

These will be shown as links and your followers can click on the links and be directed to your website or email in a matter of seconds. 

4. Start Following Other Pages

You’ll want to begin following other pages on Instagram. The more accounts you follow, the more connections you’ll make. It’s another way to network and another way to get to know other people in your industry. 

Use Instagram’s search tool to search for businesses similar to yours or related to yours. Do you work with other companies? Find them on Instagram and be sure to follow them. 

Once you follow them, you can almost guarantee a follow back. Search for them using the names of the companies or hashtags that are relevant to the industry. You never know, you might even become inspired by what these other pages are posting. 

5. Post Valuable Content and Photos

Now it’s time to start posting your own content! At the bottom of your Instagram app, there are 5 different icons. The middle app with the plus sign inside the box is how you’ll add your photos. 

Unlike the profile picture, you can upload a photo to your feed from your computer. Use this link: https://setapp.com/how-to/how-to-post-to-instagram-from-mac to learn how!

Once you click this button, you’ll be given the option to take a new photo to post or upload an existing one. You can also create a new video or post one already saved in your gallery. Once you’ve got your photo, you can then add on filters and other types of enhancements. 

Although using a filter here and there is great depending on the type of photo or video you’re posting, keep in mind that you don’t want to go overboard with filters either. Be sure to scroll through all the different editing options before posting to ensure you have a perfected final product. 

But before you hit post, there are a few other things you should know about as well, such as location and hashtags. 

6. Set Up Your Location

Before you post a picture, you’ll have the option to put the photo’s location on it. It’s ideal that you use this feature because it’ll let followers know where your place of business is if you have a physical address. You might even come to learn that someone else has already named your place of business for you. 

If not, go ahead and name it yourself! Then, when customers use your products or services, they can add your location to their own photos and spread the word! Once you post a photo with your location, the location will appear on top of the photo as a blue link.

Click the link to see all other photos tagged at your location. Anyone who adds your business’ location to their photos will have those photos appear here. You can then see what customers enjoy about your business! 

7. Always Use Hashtags

Hashtags are another important factor to consider before posting your photo. Hashtags are a great way to attract people to your Instagram page. For example, if you sell hair products and use a hashtag, “#healthyhair,” you’ll draw attention from people who are looking up posts on healthy hair. 

However, be sure to use hashtags correctly. When posting a photo, the hashtags in the caption should be directly related to the photo you’re posting. There’s nothing worse than tricking people into visiting your page by putting a hashtag on a photo that has nothing to do with it. 

8. Interact with Your Followers

If you want to be successful on Instagram and stay successful, then you need to interact with your followers. When followers send you direct messages or DMs, be sure to reply to them within a few hours. If anyone comments on your photos or ask questions, always be sure to respond back. 

Even if it’s someone leaving a comment about the product and not a question, respond. This shows your commitment to your brand and your customers. It’ll also keep your followers engaged. 

Another way to interact with followers and keep them engaged is to post promotions, contests, giveaways, and more!

9. Research Your Competition

You never want to take the same content that your competitors are posting and use it for your own page, however, what you can do is visit their pages and get inspired. See what it is they’re posting, how often they’re doing it, and how they keep their followers engaged. 

What do you like or dislike about their Instagram page? Take this information and find ways to incorporate it into your own page while staying unique and true to your brand. 

10. Advertise Your Instagram Account

Advertising your Instagram account is another must. If you’ve only used a Facebook account and a website for years, how do you expect your current customers to find you on Instagram? Advertise your new social media platform by posting links to your account or your Instagram handle on all of your other pages.

Promote your new social media account in any way possible. You can even consider adding it to your business cards!

Getting Started on Instagram Takes a Few Steps!

There are several steps that you need to take when getting started on Instagram. However, once you follow these steps listed above, you’ll be a successful Instagramer in no time!

For more posts similar to this one, be sure to keep checking back with us daily!