Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Graphic Design For Social Media: November 2021
Graphic Design For Social Media: November 2021
net/publication/356507579
CITATIONS READS
0 1,436
1 author:
Kanika Sachdeva
University of Delhi
21 PUBLICATIONS 5 CITATIONS
SEE PROFILE
Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:
All content following this page was uploaded by Kanika Sachdeva on 24 November 2021.
Let’s look at the contribution of following principles of graphic design in making the
platter of fruits desirable by the onlooker:
1. Balance & Alignment: The platter of fruits can topple any time if the contents are
not organised in formal or informal balance. So if the platter is your Digital
Advertisement screen and the contents (fruits) are the pictures, text, call-to-action etc.
all the elements on the advertisement; they have to be placed in a manner that the
final view looks balanced (formal or informal). Balance does not always mean
symmetry. However, a designer has to make sure that the final visual looks appealing
and not a collection of elements put together thoughtlessly.
Alignment has a huge role to play in balance as it is by providing the right alignment
to the text, images and other elements that this balance can be easily achieved. There
is no one thumb rule for alignment in graphic designing. The choice of alignment (right,
left, centre) could differ with every concept of graphic design. Ever wondered why
graphic designers are huge fans of those annoying grid lines, while working on a
project? Well, now you know why!
2. Repetition/Consistency: I can have one banana, one strawberry, one blueberry,
one mango placed on this platter OR I can have a bunch/row of all these in some kind
of formation. Which idea do you think would work better?
Actually either of them could make a good visual if the principle of repetition is used in
the right manner. I can have rows/bunches of each fruit and a single line of
message/slogan (bold, readable) OR I can have just one fruit each and have the
message repeated consistently all over the platter.
Either way, we are using repetition/consistency as a way to reinforce the
idea/message/ business objective. You can achieve reinforcement in your
advertisement by repeating the fonts, font colours or any other element that directly
but subtly reinforces the message! If your advert requires 3 lines of messaging, you
could probably use the same font (but different sizes to adjust message hierarchy) OR
use the same font colour at least!
3. Contrast: Now my platter might look in perfect harmony, if I use all red fruits and a
red font to display the slogan as well. Just one problem, the slogan won’t get noticed.
Your beautiful red font just got lost in the sea of red deliciousness around it. Maybe a
contrasting font in yellow or green would be more noticeable here.
Contrast can be an effective tool to draw immediate attention on that part of the screen
that deserves the quick first glance! But limit this technique for that one most important
element, doing too many contrasts will only confuse your audience as their eyes will
not be able to focus on any bit.
5. White Space: Wondering why we are planning to place the message on the border
of the platter OR one corner BUT not on the platter centre itself?
Every design needs Breathing Space! This Breathing Space / White Space could be
an empty centre in the platter or a free border if all other elements are centrally aligned
OR in some designs a free left or right OR empty alternate corners. There could be
many more options though!
For a visual to be alive, it needs space to breathe!
How can a good Graphic become an effective Digital Promotion Content for Social
Media?
How to Design Effective / Impactful Digital Promotion Content?
What are the Parameters / Features of a good Digital promotion Content?
A visual can be a good graphic but still not impactful enough for digital promotion or
online advertising. To check if your graphic is good for digital promotion, test it on the
following parameters:
3. Call to action & Next Steps: So now your audience is super impressed with the
arrangement on that platter of fresh, delicious fruits...what next? They are not sure if
this is just a display or they are invited to eat from it as well or if they have to pay, how
to proceed with the payment!
If you have not created a very visible ‘call-to-action’ (Buy Now / Book Now etc.) just
where your customer has finished reading the advertisement, all the hard-work in
impressing the customer has been wasted. Do not expect customers to make an effort
for finding a way to reach out. That information has to be readily, clearly available, just
where it should be. It could be a hyperlink button, or a phone number or an email id,
depending on your line of business. But the Next-steps have to be clearly visible.
4. Clean with breathing space-40% rule: As mentioned above, check one last time,
does your advert have enough breathing space? Ideally, at least 40% space on the
advertisement should be free, if possible more! Most impactful advertisements are not
the ones that are most loaded with information, they are the ones that are cleaner than
the rest. Remember, it's a race for impact not beautiful complexity!
5. Colour palate & Branding: Are you still thinking, exactly which fruits to arrange on
the platter? Answer is simple, pick the ones that go with your branding!
The elements in the visual should be able to relate with your brand, i.e. brand colours,
logo, iconography, messaging etc. Ever wondered why a soft drink giant always uses
that beautiful red to the max in their picture and video ads? That perfect red and white
combination is known to have inspired our present day imagery of Santa Claus and
not the other way round. Santas were not particularly dressed in red & white till the
imagery was heavily advertised to promote use of C…....a for christmas parties, long
long ago!
6. Less Text More Pictures: Yes, a picture speaks a thousand words! Since there is
so much that is to be communicated to the customer in that small screen space, within
a span of a few seconds; it makes sense to make your advertisement more pictorial
and less text-heavy. So whatever can be communicated by pictures, let them do the
job. Use text characters for only that part of information that just cannot be
communicated pictorially (phone number, address if required). For retargeting
advertisements, just an image and slogan are enough!
7. Compulsive: Finally, after doing all the hard work, is your advertisement compulsive
in totality? Is it creating a sense of urgency (remember ‘discounts ending soon’)?
Get feedback from few well-wishers on your creative piece of work, is it compelling
them to buy the product / service immediately?
8. Is the advertisement messaging in sync with the objective?: Not all advertisements
are meant to sell. Your advertisements could be aimed at brand building, retargeting,
relationship building and of course sales? Is the objective being met by the final piece
of work?
If you have already thought of several ways of organising fruits on the platter by now,
you have embarked on a creative journey of designing unique, impactful content that
not just looks good, but creates an impression on the customer.
Remember advertisements are not for eyes to admire, they have to get embedded in
your customer’s psyche to leave an impact and create brand recall…...nevertheless,
‘Fruits are good for health’!
(Still wondering why we did not use any pictures in this blog….well they were already
in your mind. That’s the power of content…...but that’s another story for another day!)