I am not a trained graphic designer. But if you’re reading this post, you’re probably not either. And I’m guessing you’re not heading to art school anytime soon.

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I have a confession to make…
I am not a trained graphic designer. But if you’re reading this post, you’re
probably not either. And I’m guessing you’re not heading to art school anytime
soon.
Now here’s the good news…
If you’re designing images for blog posts, social media or online ads, you don’t
need a degree in graphic design. You just need to wrap your head around some
best practices. And that’s where I come in.
The 17 Graphic Design Tips All Non-
Designers Need to Know
 Christopher Gimmer Last updated:  March 29, 2016

2. In this post, we’ve put together 17 graphic design tips that all non-designers need
to know. If you follow them, you’ll be well on your way to producing awesome
graphics for all of your online needs.
1. Start with a great color palette
Ever notice that the best designs tend to have beautiful colors? That’s no
accident. Choosing a great color palette is one of the keys to a great design.
Now before you cringe at the thought of choosing your own colors, you don’t
have to. Using a site like ColourLovers will give you access to millions of beautiful
color palettes. Just find a hex code you like, and use it in your design.
Here are some great resources for finding color palettes:
 Pigment by Shapefactory
 Coolors
 Adobe Color
If you’re looking for more color scheme ideas, check out our detailed list of
resources for color palette inspiration!

3. 2. Don’t get carried away with fonts
Ideally, you want to limit yourself to 1 or 2 fonts. This keeps you from having to
worry about tons of font combinations. If you’re going to use multiple fonts, use
one for the header and another for the body.
3. Have a “Swipe File”

4. This term comes from the copywriting world, but it’s equally applicable here. A
“Swipe File” refers to instances of good copy that copywriters see. In our case,
it’ll mean instances of good design that you see.
Take those examples, store them somewhere (your computer, dropbox, etc.) and
then bring them back when the time’s right. Provided you don’t rip off someone
else in their entirety, there’s no shame in borrowing a little design brilliance.
If you’re designing images for Facebook ads, you might want to check out the
AdEspresso Facebook Ad Gallery. You can also checkout design sites like
Dribbble and Behance.
4. Don’t be afraid to blank out
No, not blank out in the sense of spacing out. Rather, don’t be afraid to leave
blank, white space in your design. Sometimes, as they say, less really is more.
Often designs get so cluttered that some white space with nothing occupying it
will actually enhance the design. This may call for a bit of a mental adjustment on
your part. But with the right change, you can use this simple concept to jump
past seemingly “expert” designers.
If you want a lesson in how to utilize white space, look at any marketing image
created by Apple.

5. 5. Align your objects
This helps to keep design elements in a presentable order, regardless of their
differing sizes. Proper alignment is an easy way to give your images a
sophisticated and professional look.
When dragging items in Snappa, grid lines will automatically appear making it
super easy to line up objects.
6. Use icons to support your message

6. Icons are like black pepper. They can be sprinkled on top of whatever design
you’re cooking up. And the icons will add extra spice to your design, ensuring
that it “tastes” great.
We use icons quite extensively to reinforce the content of our blog posts. And if
you want to learn from the masters, check out the Helpdesk blog for some more
inspiration.
7. Follow your own design rules
Rules, what rules? The ones you set for yourself.
These probably won’t be specific rules. But rather cases across your design
where you use a particular set of colors, lines, textures, etc. If you’re set on that
choice, don’t turn around and do something contrary to it. Stay consistent with
your “design rules”, to ensure consistency in your image overall.
8. Rinse and repeat
If you’re working with multiple designs across an ad campaign, website, or other
project – it may be easiest for you to just rinse and repeat. That is, copy your
design and then just swap out the elements you need changed. That ensures the
format is the same, even as you change the content.

7. 9. Use font variants
You can add plenty of variety, while still keeping things feeling consistent. The key
is to use text from a single font “family”.
An example of a font “family” would be Arial which has the basic Arial font, along
with variants like Arial Black, Arial Narrow, and Arial Rounded MT Bold. These
fonts all look different. Yet there is enough of a common thread between them
that it will give a sense of consistency when used together in designs.
10. Take full advantage of contrasts
Using contrasts helps to add “attitude” to your design, as well as make certain
elements stand out. There are plenty of ways to generate contrasts too. You could
use contrasting colors, fonts, or even contrast amounts of space between items
in your design.
Think about it in a real world context too and you’ll see why this makes sense. A
seven foot tall person (wrestler Andre the Giant, for example, or basketball player
Yao Ming) get attention because they contrast with the general population. The
same holds for contrasting elements in your design.
If you want to identify which colors contrast, use a color wheel like Adobe Color.

8. 11. Use a line (or two) to create a sense of
order
Lines help to anchor items in an image and create the sense that there is an
overall order. Use lines in your image by putting them around blocks of text –
there by anchoring the text.
You can also put lines as “separators” between various elements in the image. In
this latter case, the sense of elements being separated furthers the feeling of
planning and coordination in the design.

9. 12. Plan your design
We put this tip mid-way through the list of tips to mirror where planning usually
falls in most people’s graphic design process.
Rather than having planning as the first essential step, the average non-designer
only begins to think seriously about their plans for a design AFTER they’re well
into the design process.
The planning stage doesn’t need to be long. In fact, it can just be a minute or two.
But if you know what you want to accomplish before you start designing, you’ll
get things done much quicker.
13. Add text over images by adjusting
brightness levels
When your design involves putting text over images, adjust the brightness level of
the background image or add a color overlay. This way the background image will
offset the color of the text, causing the text to be readable and the design to still
look clean and clear.
You can easily turn quotes into graphics with our free online quote maker!

10. 14. Carefully structure your body copy
Whenever you have a body of text (i.e. paragraphs), each line should have no
more than approximately 30-40 characters. That includes spaces too, so choose
carefully.
If you exceed this approximate length, you run the risk of sentences becoming
hard for readers to get through. And any shorter, and your lines of text begin to
resemble Tetris pieces, falling carelessly in an erratic stream.
15. Think about who you’re designing for
Unless this is purely for your own personal enjoyment, you’re probably designing
for a specific audience. Never forget that “who” that you’re designing for. This
ensures you create something that the intended audience for your design actually
wants to see and something they’ll react favorably to.
Context matters here. A dark, dingy, even creepy looking design – for example –
wouldn’t be the sort of thing that you’d want to have on a website for an upscale,
expensive product. The same would be true for example, with a design that feels
too “childish” (in its light colors, use of squiggly lines, cartoons, etc.) for a mature
adult audience.
16. Let form follow function
As much as you’ve heard it said, it’s still undeniably true – form follows function.
So make sure you know the function of your design. Knowing that you’ll be able
to more easily come to a form that works. You’ll have a better sense of what
belongs in the design and what doesn’t.
A splash page, for example, that’s designed to only collect emails in the run-up to
a launch probably doesn’t need a carousel with images. When we had our initial
sign-up period – we didn’t use items that complicated our initial website. Rather,
we tailored the form of the site to its function – which was getting people’s

11. emails. These great design examples also utilized this rule to increase conversion
rates and improve user experience.
All of this comes down to knowing the “why” of your design. And thinking
carefully as well.
17. Keep it simple
Have you ever seen a movie – superhero movies and scifi epics come to mind –
that has too many special effects. Too many explosions, speeding spaceships,
giant robots, and so on. Eventually the special effects just blur together and mute
out most of what’s going on elsewhere in the movie. (We’re looking at you,
Transformers.)
It’s the same with your design. If you overdo it with too many special effects like
shadows and tint gradients, you’ll quickly move toward a bloated and
aesthetically muted image.
You can still use some design “special effects”. But sprinkle them by the handful
onto your design, as you might with a bit of balsamic vinegar on a salad. Too
much balsamic and it negates the salad. And too many special effects and it
negates the rest of your design.

12. Conclusion
As you can see, graphic design doesn’t have to be hard. Just follow these 17 tips
and you’ll be well on your way to producing great images online.
About the author: Christopher is the co-founder of Snappa. He
writes about social media, marketing and entrepreneurship.
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