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In the constantly changing and content filled digital media, what makes you stop scrolling and actually look into the details? It’s usually a picture that makes it stand out. But making your images rule high all the time is problematic especially because what works today or for a couple of days may not work later. It may work for one person but for someone else, even if their businesses look similar it may not. There are a few things though that can help even if the trends or algorithms keep changing and one of them is colour.

Let us look at what works from a design and aesthetic perspective and what works on different social media platforms.

Context

When designing visuals for social media you always need to think about the environment your design is going to be on display. Your visuals are seen in the context of your brand, as well as that of the particular social media platform, where you can’t control what will surround them.

From the point of view of your brand, your visuals should be consistent and have the same overall style, theme, atmosphere, and possibly a harmonious colour palette throughout. But for your audience, your visuals must stand out in their social media feed. Some small tricks in accordance with the platform can work wonders. Eg: colours like blue and white don’t stand out so much on Facebook, because it’s colour scheme is blue and white there. Look at your competitions’ content and it’s a good hack to avoid typical colour trends of your industry to keep from industry clichés.

Colour harmony

Keep in mind that a limited colour palette always works better than using all the colours and that applies to photos, graphics, or drawings and paintings. Also, keep to colours that work with each other and shouldn’t be random colours. Putting together a harmonious colour palette need trial and error and with a bit of taste, and online tools you can work out your fit.

Contrast

Contrast is the difference between colours, the degree of ease with which you can tell them apart. Images with higher contrast always catch attention more easily than other combinations of colours or colours closer to each other. This strategy can be used to call out attention such as a Facebook ad or when doing offers and promotions.

What works on different platforms

Research says, “Brightness, clarity, liveliness and ingenuity of images are positively reflected in the number of Facebook Likes.”

So, to stand out on Facebook, and Facebook ads, employing bright, vivid and warm colours is a shortcut that you want to take but don’t overdo it to make it look messy and cluttered. Use white space and neutral tones to make bright colours pop. For Instagram, light colours, texture, and white space are colour schemes to look into. Lighter images work better than darker ones and pictures with a higher background ratio usually work better on this platform. Images with a blue tint get more likes than reddish undertones. Low saturation works better than vibrant shades here as well as textures fare better than smooth images.

Instagram is also the only platform where people see all your images in one place — your grid is the first thing they see when they check your profile. That’s why it’s important to consider the images and their colours in the context of your feed.

But in case of Pinterest, it would be warm, feminine colours like red, pink and purple that works best to catch attention. Images with less white space work better here. This is a distinction from the guidelines established for Instagram.

White space

White space or negative space is the “empty” space between design elements (text, shapes, objects, etc). White space needn’t be white, it can be of any colour. White space helps other elements stand out and puts them on a pedestal. White space also allows some “breathing” room for the eye, especially on Instagram where its images in grids and helps you achieve an uncluttered, harmonious look. Designing your optimum white space takes some practice, and may be used as required.

Conclusion

It is always best to create images specifically for each social media platform but it may not always be viable. One could try to slightly tweak the colour scheme to match with the platform that you are focusing on. Each social media platform works in a different way in engaging with consumers and even in how it appeals to them, that’s why the use of contrast, number of colours, white space, and choice of colours work differently on different social media. Social media images don’t have any hard and fast rules so experimentation is also key. Keep these tips at the back of your head when designing a creative. OnPageOne brings you solutions that help improve and make your social media presence more interactive and exciting. Call us today!