DIY tips to help take your designs from looking homemade to “I hired an expert”.

Wondering how to make a graphic? And not just a graphic, but a GOOD graphic? Today we’re diving right into 5 design tips to transform your designs and help you show up like a pro!

1 - Fonts: The Power of Choice. A dead giveaway of a DIY (and ahem, poor) design is the use of a lot of fonts. Especially a lot of decorative fonts. If you want to mix it up and use multiple fonts, that’s ok! Just limit them and make sure you aim for stark contrast.

Remember this rule of thumb: If you’re going to make them different, make them VERY different. Pair a sans serif with a script or slab serif for impact, but limit yourself to 1-3 fonts max to avoid clutter. For body copy, serif fonts are your go-to for readability.

If you’re reading this and wondering “What is a serif font?”, don’t worry. Below are some font examples showcasing the difference between major font types.

2 - Visual Hierarchy: Guide the Eye. When you create a design, you’re telling your audience where you want them to look first. If you have a bunch of things in your design similar in size, you’re actually creating confusion and losing an opportunity to point their attention where you want it.

Your goal when creating graphics: Aim to create a visual hierarchy to spotlight key information. This technique draws the reader's eye to what matters most, guiding them through the content in the order you intend. So, that super important piece of information? Make it stand out. You can do this by making it bigger than the rest of the elements or by making it a contrasting color.

Good design is not just pretty, it’s effective. Picking a focal point and creating a hierarchy with the elements based on the order of importance will help you achieve a design that works.

3 - Consistency is Key. Stick to a consistent palette of colors, fonts, and image styles. This not only strengthens your brand identity but also fosters brand recognition and consistency across your designs.

If you worked with a designer on your branding, you likely (or hopefully!) received a color palette with your final branding package. Some designers will even include brand guidelines that guide you in creating on-brand graphics.

If you don’t have brand guidelines and are just winging it over there, it’s never too late to start! Take a look at the graphics you’ve created. Are there any similarities in the images, fonts, or colors you’ve used? Write them down and start implementing them consistently in your future designs. This won’t make your graphics boring, it will actually start creating a brand that will be more recognizable to your audience.

4 - Pay attention to the Details. There is no shame in DIY-ing until you’re ready to hire a pro. BUT, if you are going to DIY it, do your research.

Making your own logo? Keep it simple. A wordmark (just text) logo can be professional and effective. If you start trying to incorporate graphic elements into your logo, you risk your branding looking DIY and pieced together. Our advice: Use a classic font and keep it clean. You can hire a professional for a rebrand or to create custom graphic elements when you’re ready.

Creating graphics for social media? Find out best practices for each platform for size, resolution, and file type before you post or add to your website. Large images on your website can actually hurt your SEO (where you show up in search rankings) and blurry photos can make viewers question your credibility.

If you’re creating your own website, make sure you’re checking the mobile version since that’s where most people will be looking at it. Take time to include all branding elements and details - like a custom favicon in the browser tab. A dead giveaway of a DYI Squarespace website is the solid square in the browser tab. It’s a missed opportunity for brand recognition.

P.S. If creating your own website seems overwhelming, but you don’t have the budget for a custom design, check out our template customization option. We’ll source a template for you AND customize it for a fraction of the cost of a custom design.

Wondering if your website is mobile responsive? Check out our post that walks you through how to find out!

5 - Use Your Resources: There are a variety of free or reasonably priced resources to help elevate your designs and make them look more professional. Consider purchasing a font for your logo or incorporating stock photography into your website and marketing materials. A small investment upfront can make a big difference in legitimizing your brand.

These foundational tips can dramatically improve your design projects, making them more professional and cohesive. If you don’t have the budget to hire help, implement these tips to create consistent, more effective graphics in the meantime. As you do, you’ll find you’re guiding your audience instead of overwhelming them and showing up professionally and building trust (which leads to more sales!).

If you’re up and running and just want some professional feed back to make sure you’re on the right track and get some practical, actionable tips for improving your design and marketing strategy, book a Design Audit. We’ll do some homework and spend an hour with you strategizing next steps and simple things you can do to move your business forward.