Top 5 Tips For Graphic Design
Graphic design: it doesn’t take long for you to realize how daunting of a task it is. With a whole spectrum of colors to choose from, as well as an overwhelming number of styles, how do you even begin? Well, we reached out to our very own graphic designer, Paolo, to give us five tips for graphic designers — whether you’re new to the trade, or a seasoned veteran, these five tips are sure to improve your skills.
#1: Keep It Simple.
The No. 1 and most important design tip for non-designers and beginner designers is to keep it simple. There’s nothing worse than an overwhelming design that is difficult to understand. While this may seem contradictory to being a master graphic designer, this is a good reminder to not get in over your head when starting a project. After all, the end goal of a graphic design is to make an impression and send a message. A design may look cool and advanced with a plethora of colors and crazy fonts, but if it’s not accomplishing its mission of directing you towards the business, it should probably go back to the drafts. Think of it as “less is more.”
But how do you keep things simple without coming across as basic or bland? Tap into your inner minimalist. Use the minimum amount of text and fonts, and keep the colors under control and the visuals balanced. By keeping your designs simple, you ensure your audience receives the intended message.
#2: Optimize Readability
Readability is divided up into two parts: how easily someone can (a). perceive and (b). understand the message being presented. And so, another great tip is to always make your text easy to read. This applies to how you overlay text on backgrounds, the colors and fonts you use for headings, and how elements relate to the text and flow of a design. Once again, the best practice for this aspect of design is to keep it simple. You don’t want to bog others down with fancy fonts when a simpler one would do the trick.
Typeface is the next crucial part of readability. Merriam Webster defines typeface as “the face of printing type.” So, you must consider how you choose the best typeface for your project. This should be one that not only matches your message but is also easy to read. It needs to be easy to read over a background image or texture.
#3: Use a Cohesive Color Palette
Color palettes and color schemes are as important as the message you want to relay with your design. Choosing the perfect color combination isn’t always easy, though. In order to find the perfect colors for your brand, you must first understand a couple of things about color. First, you have to understand the ways different colors affect different emotions. For example, red has been shown to increase feelings of intrigue or excitement, whereas blue evokes feelings of trust or security. “But what does this have to do with my brand?” you may be asking. Because in order to understand what colors to use in your graphic designs, you need to establish what you want your audience to feel when interacting with your brand.
Next, it’s best to choose what color scheme your brand should adopt. There are three main options to choose from:
Analogous color scheme: These colors are similar variants of your primary color. So, if your primary color is blue, good secondary colors for this scheme would be purple and green.
Monochromatic color scheme: Secondary colors in this scheme use different shades and tints of your primary color. One example of this is using red as your primary color and maroon as your secondary color.
Contrasting color scheme: As you may assume based on the name, the secondary colors in this scheme would be colors that are opposite your primary color on the color wheel, like blue and orange, or (most famously) white and black.
If you would like to learn more about how colors play into brand identity, as well as how to best apply these colors, feel free to check out our previous blog post about this very topic!
#4: Keep the Typography Under Control
The art of selecting fonts has a bad rep in the world of design for non-designers. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the choice of different fonts available online. Not only that, you have to know how to pair fonts together in a design to make it look cohesive and pleasing. A great way to bypass the stress of trying out a million combinations is to use tried and tested pairings. Professional designers also love new and beautiful fonts, but if you ask them, they’ll tell you that they only use a handful of classic fonts most of the time.
#5: Stay Organized
Staying organized while you design is as important as choosing the right fonts and colors. When you have all your assets ready to use, you save time and can concentrate more on creativity.
If you need to bring images, icons or visuals into your design tools make sure you do the following:
Name the files so they are easier to recognize
Create a main folder for your project
If possible, create subfolders with types of assets
Enzo Lux Media’s Holiday Mini Photoshoot and Postcard Giveaway
Now that you know the essentials to what makes a great graphic designer, wouldn’t it be nice to see him in action designing something for YOU? We are running a holiday mini photoshoot, and if you book an appointment with us before November 27, we’ll ship you 250 postcards of your chosen photo within a week — free of charge! Just click on the link here to get started: we hope to see you soon!
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