Strong graphic design skills are invaluable for catching people’s attention and effectively communicating your message—whether you’re creating social media graphics, designing invitations or marketing materials.  

While graphic design can seem daunting, it doesn’t have to be an overwhelmingly complicated process requiring pricey software. With a few simple tips and techniques, anyone can dramatically improve their designs using basic tools like Canva.  

This blog covers 17 easy yet impactful tips to help you create visually stunning graphics that look polished and professional. 

 

Simplicity is Key  

Some of the most powerful designs are also the simplest. Cluttered, busy visuals can be overwhelming and distracting for the viewer. Keeping things minimal and allowing your designs to breathe is key. 

Tip #1: Limit your typefaces to just 2-3 complementary font families to maintain a clean, cohesive aesthetic. Too many competing fonts can look messy. 

Tip #2: Keep your overall designs fairly simple by including only the most essential graphic elements. Remove any superfluous extras that may be distracting. 

Tip #3: Utilise white space effectively by adding proper spacing between elements. This prevents your design from looking overcrowded and allows the eye to flow naturally.  

 

Power of Contrast  

Creating contrast is crucial for drawing the viewer’s attention to the most important elements while adding depth and visual interest. 

Tip #4: Contrast is absolutely key for legibility and making your design pop off the page or screen. Use contrasting yet complementary colours, typography styles and sizes, and graphic elements. 

Tip #5: Don’t be afraid to brighten up your visuals with bold, high-contrast colour palettes. Just be sure the hues don’t bleed together or strain the eyes. 

Tip #6: Ensure your text colour contrasts well against the background image or colour for crisp, clean readability. 

 

We’ve touched on how to look good online previously; head over to that blog to learn more. 

 

Typography Matters  

The fonts you choose can completely transform the overall look and feel of your design. Don’t underestimate the power of font!

Tip #7: Use font styles that fit the tone and mood you want to convey. For example, rounded fonts with no serifs tend to have a friendlier, more casual feel, while serif fonts often appear more elegant and formal. 

Tip #8: While mixing fonts can work, it’s usually best to stick to one primary font family and use the various weights and styles within that family. 

Tip #9: Don’t be scared to play with font scale. Adjust text sizes to create a clear hierarchy and emphasise your most important headings or phrases. 

 

Colour Psychology  

Did you know that the colours you use in your designs can subconsciously influence how they’re perceived and what emotions they may evoke? 

Tip #10: Keep your colour scheme relatively simple by limiting the palette to just 3-4 complementary hues. This creates a cohesive, harmonious look. 

Tip #11: Create a mood board that collages together colour swatches, inspiring images, graphics, and textures to establish an overall vision and vibe for your design. This is a great step to include in the research and planning stages of graphic design.   

Ask yourself, what colour best represents your brand, company or offering?   

 

Design Principles  

Incorporating key design principles can really elevate your visuals from basic to sophisticated and refined. 

Tip #12: Create order and anchor your elements by using clean lines, subtle grids or borders for alignment. This fosters a streamlined, organised composition. 

Tip #13: Use principles of hierarchy through scale, colour and placement to guide the viewer’s eye focus to the most important elements first. 

Tip #14: For a balanced, aesthetically-pleasing layout, experiment with symmetry by distributing your graphic elements and weights evenly across the design. 

If this all sounds too confusing, it may be best to outsource your graphic design; and we’d be happy to help!  

 

Productivity Tips  

It’s not all about creation; you need to ensure you don’t burn out! Take a read of our top workflow tips that can help streamline and improve your creative process: 

Tip #15: Be sure to relax and rest your eyes periodically throughout the design process to avoid burnout and recharge your creative focus. A good way to refresh your eyes can be to switch how you’re creating, dust off your pencils and paper for 10 minutes and have a doodle! 

Tip #16: Always research thoroughly and gather inspiration before diving into a new design project to establish a clear artistic vision and direction. 

Tip #17: Don’t be afraid of trial and error! The design process is inherently filled with experimentation. Use each mistake as a valuable learning experience.  

 

By incorporating these 17 simple yet highly effective tips and techniques into your graphic design workflow, you will notice an increase in the quality and visual appeal of your designs—without needing fancy, expensive software or extensive training.  

Don’t be afraid to experiment and have fun with these principles to find which techniques work best for your unique needs, style and creative vision. 

Want to take your graphic design skills even further? Be sure to check out the 10X Beginners Guide to Social Media Graphics for FREE!