3 Design Tips for Creating Online Content

In a sea of constantly growing content, beautiful and creative design matters. - Source

As you’ve probably realised by now, we are living in ‘unprecedented’ times.

One of the big shifts that C-19 is creating is the rise of remote working, another is the explosion of digital content being produced as businesses and organisations take their offerings online.

As a Digital Designer, I am excited to see so many individuals investing in their content creation. I am less excited about their chances of conversion being scuppered by bad design, however. If you’re producing more digital content for your Conscious Business in the wake of the pandemic, here are three tips to keep your content design both professional and effective.

1.    Have your objective in mind

Having no clear objective for your content is setting your design up for a fail. As Simon Sinek champions, 'Start with why' when you plan your content and the rest will become much easier.

What do you want this content to achieve for your business? How do you want your ideal audience to feel when they see it? Start from the ideal outcome (they click and convert) and work backward (why did they do this?). This will help you think of your content more strategically, helping you identify which content to create, where to place it and how to design it for that platform effectively.

2.    Use Type Hierarchy

You’ll use different font sizes, weights and styles to keep your digital designs engaging. If you go overboard though, you’ll likely just make your designs confusing. Type hierarchy is the art of establishing the order text is read in design, and therefore the order in which information is presented to the reader. For example, a title should be bigger than the main copy of an infographic to ensure that the readers see and understand this first. Think about the order in which you want your content’s message to be presented and adjust the display of the text accordingly.

PS: Checkout Forth & Wild's excellent post on other typography sins here. 

3.    Simple is best

I struggled with this concept for a long time. Throughout college I’d pour my heart into a design piece that was bigger (and therefore better) than my fellow students. Then I would feel cheated when a fellow student’s design, which had a lot less going on, would score higher grades than my all singing all dancing entry.

Good design involves as little design as possible - Dieter Rams

However, now I get it. Good design is all about saying what needs to be said as efficiently as possible. Less is more when it comes to digital design too, as your audience's attention span is teeny tiny. You need to capture their attention, convey your message and win their trust in less than three seconds. It’s daunting, but it can be done.

You can make the design all about your design skills and put that gradient on top of that filter and add some animation too, but go back to the first tip and asses is that the objective of the piece? Likely not.

Bonus Tip

Use Canva as they have a range of presets to help you get the dimensions of your digital content spot on, as well as templates to get your creative juices flowing.

However, using a template in a busy online space is not going to help you stand out or make your designs unique to your Conscious Business. If you know it’s time to invest in your content design, get in touch and let’s chat about creating digital content for your channels and courses. Let me help you convert your ideal audience into your ideal clients with design.

About Inked By TW

Inked By TW is an online design and branding studio created by Terri Witherden, who helps Conscious Businesses tell their stories visually and reach their audience.

A freelance digital nomad who settled in West Ireland, Terri works with businesses that have sustainability, the environment and empowering ethics at their core; helping them share their values and reach their audience through design, branding and content.

Find out more about Terri's designs and what Inked By TW can do for you on her website.