11 Important Tips For A New Designer
Tip #1: Keep it simple
The secret to good design is not to stuff as many graphics and elements into your design as possible.
It’s achieving a balance between aesthetic appeal and getting your message across clearly and effectively.
The 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.
To keep things simple, tap into your inner minimalist. Use the minimum amount of text and fonts, keep the colors under control, and the visuals balanced.
Tip #2: 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 though isn’t always easy.
Thankfully, ready-to-use color palettes are easy to come by. Visme has a color theme picker as part of your editing tools. Simply browse through the color themes and try them out.
Tip #3: 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.
Tip #4: Consider the visual hierarchy.
Visual hierarchy is all about giving visual importance to some elements over others. In simple terms, it’s how headers are larger than subheadings, and these in turn are larger than a box of text.
The same applies to images, graphics, icons, and even colors. When you use visual hierarchy rules, you bring attention to a focal point in the design. This creates a visual balance that then starts a visual flow of information for the viewer.
Visual hierarchy is a skill that comes easy for some people but for others, it needs to be learned. Our blog has a great article to help you understand visual hierarchy better.
Tip #5: Save time with social media templates.
Social media is one of the mediums where graphics need to be created constantly and regularly. There is no better way to save time than to use pre-designed templates.
Social media managers have to work on so many different channels with different required sizes. Thankfully there are templates available for every channel and every size.
Tip #6: Always use white space.
White space isn’t exactly “white”. What white space means is that there is an empty space without text or elements on it.
It’s the area of the design where it “breathes”. This is one of the design techniques that is harder to master than others.
A good way to learn how to use white space is to study minimalist design. This is a movement that centers on the idea that “less is more” and you only need the bare necessities on a graphic.
Tip #7: Use cohesive design elements.
When you add design elements to your project, they must have a cohesive style between them. This applies to all graphic elements; from icons to data widgets, illustrations, animations, and even font styles.
For example, use all-line icons instead of a mix of line and 3D.
Mix squares with rounded corners with other curved elements. Straight-angled shapes with straight lines. Alternatively, break the rules and mix curves with straight lines as long as you keep a cohesive texture and color palette.
Tip #8: Optimize readability.
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 the design.
Choose the best typeface for your project, 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.
Do everything in your power to make the context in your design easy to read and understand. This applies to both the actual text and visualizations like charts and data widgets.
Tip #9: An infographic can be of any size.
At some point along your journey in design, you’ll come across the need to create an infographic.
Most infographics on social media are long and vertical, thanks to Pinterest and blogs with infographics. But what this tip is about is that not all infographics need to have those dimensions.
Infographics can be square, horizontal, printed, interactive, or big as a wall. The choice depends on what type of content you need to visualize and where it will be published.
A long vertical infographic for a blog post can even be cut into blocks and placed throughout the content.
Tip #10: 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
Tip #11: Trust the design process.
Lastly, in the list of graphic design tips for beginners and new-designers, is to trust the design process. What we mean by this is: Don’t jump hoops or cut corners when designing something.
When you trust the design process, you have a better chance of creating a successful design.