Did you know you have less than a second to make a first impression? This is only one reason why good design is critical to the success of your brand. A poorly designed logo, website, flyer, social media post, and other marketing materials can send the wrong message to your target market. A message that comes off as unprofessional, untrustworthy, and, worse, unnoticeable.
Today, more than ever, people value visuals. There is trust and comfort associated with design and branding, which can, in turn, lead to a loyal audience. So what can make or break a good design? You came to the right place.
Here are a five basic design principles you might be breaking in Canva
1. You don’t have enough breathing room
Every good design needs white space.
What does that mean? There needs to be the balance of design elements with the negative space that surrounds the elements. This allows our eyes to rest and not get overwhelmed with information as it’s being presented to us.
2. You don’t have a clear point of interest
In addition to balancing white space, you also need to consider the layout of the elements you are including. It’s important to create visual points of interest that guide your audience through the composition without overwhelming its main message. This can be done most effectively through alignment, visual hierarchy and space.
3. Your designs aren’t balanced properly
Balance is the careful distribution of visual weight within your composition. Without a sense of balance in your design, a viewer’s eye won’t know where to look or what you’re trying to communicate. All the aspects within your design can affect the balance, whether it’s the objects, color, or space.
4. You’re stretching your brand elements
Altering or stretching your logo and/or brand elements in Canva or any tool, can automatically create an unprofessional impression on your company. A lot of time and effort goes into creating your brand elements and they mustn’t be transformed and stay consistent throughout all your marketing materials.
5. You’re not following your brand look in feel
Every good brand has consistency. The same colors, fonts, type of imagery and overall tone. When you follow this, people are able to immediately call upon you when they see your ads, videos, posts, etc.
Alternatively, not following your branding, it will distort your brand equity over time which can damage its value and reputation.
Are you following these five principles in your personal designs? There’s no doubt that you will need to produce a wide range of marketing materials throughout your business journey. While each item has a different purpose, it’s important they follow these design principles.
Oftentimes, we hear that our clients just don’t have time and want to whip up some content. And that makes sense. After all, you don’t have a graphic design degree and have more important business battles to attend. Consider getting custom templates made within Canva that you can customize to your own needs.