Instagram is truly the social media platform of this decade. It has exploded in popularity and has experienced massive growth. Instagram has become a social media platform for the masses and for all sorts of purposes. From billion dollar companies like Snickers, to influencers and freelancers. Instagram has one thing that everyone, no matter what they want to achieve, wants, and that is people’s attention.
To do anything, whether it’s to convince someone to hire you as a freelancer, or if you’re just looking to get the word out about your business and what you do, you need people’s attention.
As such, Instagram usage has skyrocketed, because people realize the immense power that Instagram has. In fact, it wasn’t that long ago that Instagram reached a staggering 1 billion monthly users.
Instagram has proven to be an effective tool to get people’s attention and spread the message you want to spread, but with the increase in users, competition increases. It is no longer enough to simply take a picture, upload it and wait for the results to appear. Now, you need a more thought out and well-planned strategy on how you are going to trade and earn on the platform.
Since Instagram is a visual platform, driven by photographic content, visual content is everything. Of course, as a designer, you’re one step ahead, but to be fully successful on Instagram, you need to know how to create a visually appealing Instagram that stands out from the crowd and grabs people’s attention.
How to create a visually appealing Instagram
Before you start posting content on Instagram, you should decide on a general theme. Think of your theme as the way you want to be perceived and the feelings you want to create. By creating a theme, you’ll be able to make your Instagram posts and profile more consistent, rather than just sharing random posts without thinking about them. Creating an overall theme is also great, as it makes your profile instantly more recognizable and makes it stand out from your competitors.
There are several elements to creating a theme with your Instagram posts, and these elements make up an overall theme, but these are the most important things to pay attention to:
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CHOOSE A COLOR SCHEME
Having a consistent color scheme on Instagram is probably the easiest way to make your Instagram profile visually more appealing quickly.
Creating a color scheme is also simple! Simply decide which colors/color scheme you want your account to lean towards and then work with that. It is not necessary that your publications have to deal with only one color at a time, but it is more common to focus on warm/cool schemes, as well as choosing one color and then incorporating several colors that are variants of the chosen color.
You can choose from 1 to 3 colors that you want to focus on and that you will always incorporate in your publications. Just take a look at Coca-Cola. No matter where you find them, it’s obvious what colors they want me to associate their brand with.
A consistent color scheme is key to a consistent theme, and this allows your posts and profile to look more consistent, but more importantly, it helps make your posts instantly recognizable. Once you have chosen your colors, there are several ways to align your publications with the color scheme.
One of the most common is to edit them in the same way and then increase the saturation of the objects in the image that are your color scheme color.
Another common and effective method is to strategically include elements in your images that are the color of your color scheme.
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CHOOSE A FILTER AND STICK WITH IT
This is similar to having a color scheme, but there’s nothing that says you can’t work with filters and use a filter as well.
Choosing a filter and then using it consistently is the best way to make your posts more consistent. The filter adds a similar look and style to your posts, and this allows you to create an obvious connection between all posts.
Using a consistent filter to make your posts more connected is super simple. Just check out Instagram’s filters (or filters in any editing app) and then pick one you like. Now, just use it consistently in all your publications.
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AMAZING PICTURES
First things first.
Before you do anything else, it is crucial that you focus on this above all else. The reason is that it is very difficult to save a low quality image with the help of a filter.
Instagram is a visually driven social platform, and this requires you to pay close attention to the images you take. Not just the way you edit them.
You no longer need a super expensive camera to take great pictures. The phone in your pocket is more than enough. Just be sure to avoid any rookie mistakes when photographing, such as having a dirty lens, shaking, taking blurry photos, etc. Also, when you take pictures, you also want to think about what you’re going to post, and this brings me to my next point….
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CHOOSE A THEME
This one is super important. While the appearance of your images is also very important, if your posts are beautiful but don’t really provide any real value, they won’t see much traction anyway.
That’s why you should not only concentrate on creating attractive images, but also on what you are going to photograph.
Ask yourself, “What do my followers and fans care about?” and then build on that.
After all, this may be the most important step in creating a visually appealing feed, so pay more attention to it.
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AUDIT YOUR IMAGES
Before posting on Instagram, you should make sure they meet the standards. Both in terms of quality, but also in a visual theme and sense of style.
Does your publication align with your visual theme? Does your publication align with your style, color scheme and overall theme?
If so, great! Go ahead and publish it. If not, you may want to reconsider your publication.
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USE NATURAL LIGHT
Poor lighting is often the reason for poor quality images on Instagram, and I can’t stress enough how important good lighting is to the quality of Instagram posts.
If you have bad lighting for your images, it won’t matter much if you use consistent colors or a consistent filter, because good lighting really sets the stage for a great photo on Instagram.
And be sure not to use poor lighting, for example, from a lamp. Natural light is always better. With natural light, you will be able to take higher quality photos with greater sharpness and quality.
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PLAN YOUR FEED DESIGN
Most people on Instagram simply choose images to upload at random, but think about the fact that your Instagram posts are post to post, they show up on your profile as a collage, and paying attention to how your posts look as a unit is part of making your Instagram profile visual and engaging.
Sharing visually appealing images is the first step, but if you really want to go further, planning the design of your feed is the answer.
Don’t just pay attention to how the image looks in people’s feeds, but consider how you can make your profile feed visually appealing and consistent.
Before sharing any new post, ask yourself, “How will my feeling look with this image?” This allows for more planning with your feed.
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SET UP YOUR PROFILE CORRECTLY
When it comes to properly designing your Instagram profile, it’s not just about creating visually appealing content for your page. Although the visual content you post plays an important role in your success on Instagram, no matter what you want to achieve, if you haven’t designed and set up your profile correctly, it will cripple your success on the platform.
As such, you should start by completing all the information boxes on your Instagram profile.
Start by adding a profile picture to your account. Make sure it is of high quality and eye-catching. Ideally, it should be a strong color, alternatively the color of your visual theme. If you have your own personal brand where you yourself are your brand, a headshot is great. In Instagram, your profile image will be displayed as 110 x 110 pixels in the mobile app. But if you view your profile from the web, it will be displayed in a larger size, so Instagram recommends that you use a 180 x 180 pixel image for optimal quality.
Secondly, you have your biography, also known as profile description. This is probably the most important part of your Instagram profile. You only have 150 characters for your Instagram bio, so it’s important to be clear, concise and to the point.
Your Instagram needs to quickly tell people who you are, what you do and why they should follow you.
Finally, you have the contact information. If you have an Instagram business profile, you have the option to add contact buttons to your Instagram profile, which includes call, email and location. If you don’t, you still have the option to add your website to your profile. This helps add more context to your audience and allows you to tell them what you do.
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