Graphics designing is a vast and versatile space that gives your website a complete makeover through significant but subtle changes. Front-end pairing, gradient adjustment, scale, and alignment, white space – there are but some aspects of the design world that you need to master. Here are a few effective graphic designing tips for beginners who need some help in learning the ropes of graphics designing. Follow these tips, and you’ll be able to quickly build a portfolio of great designs for your design studio.

Sketch First, Design Later

Before you begin designing, we suggest you chalk out a plan first. The basic sketch or blueprint of the design on paper helps you envision and then implement the graphics better. If you have a creative bent of mind, you can even make a detailed illustration and then try to replicate in on the computer. You can scan the sketch to use it as a background guide and edit it directly on Photoshop.

Know Your Audience

Well-created graphics can expand your viewer base exponentially. You need to have a thorough knowledge of your audience, their tastes and general preferences of the market. Find your target viewer and mold your designs accordingly. Create your designs within a clear context, one that’s easy for the brain and the eyes alike. For instance, you cannot add animations or squiggly lined fonts for websites that cater to mature adult viewers.

Colour Cohesion and Contrast

The right color can make or break your design framework. For starters, we suggest you pick color schemes with 1-2 primary colors and some secondary shades. Mix and match the hues, play with the brightness and contrast to give your designs greater depth and impact. A word of caution though, don’t overdo it. Choose colors that subtly complement each other, instead of shockingly diverse shades.

Stick to One or Two Fonts

Most graphic designs include some textual content, for instance, in promotional campaigns and advertisements. Use readable and attractive fonts and typeface layouts. Also, it would be better if you stick to just one, or sometimes two font types. This makes the design more eye-friendly and easy to understand. Don’t clutter the interface with a lot of fonts and headings, align them properly to give it more cohesive structure.

Find the Right Alignment

When it comes to developing the perfect website, balance is the key. You can have some killer coding skills and an extensive range of designing options – but it all goes to waste if you cannot arrange them organically. Adding margins and borders anchor your content and immediately brings the viewer’s attention to it.

Don’t be Afraid to Scale

Adding multiple scales and gradients to your text block only emphasizes its effect on the viewer. Scaling also balances out the design and makes it more proportionate. Geometrical shapes, bold lines, and other symmetrical elements to make your design more dramatic and dynamic. Ensure that the scaling complements the typeface and not obstruct it.

The Trick About Blank Space

A good designer is not one who knows how to add multiple elements in his designs, anyone can do that. No, a professional would know what to omit, a good designer would know the value of white space. Don’t clutter the space with an explosion of colors and images, space your content smartly. The surrounding white space gives your design an elegant, minimalistic feel that is catchy, classy and charismatic.

Text-Over-Image Designs

You just cannot choose any image as a background for your text, there should be a logical connection between the two. Adjust the brightness and contrast of the background image to offset the color of the text. Also, use letter spacing smartly, condense words that take up a lot of space so that they can fit the design framework.

Use Italics Sparingly

Most animators share a love-hate relationship with Italics. Some prefer them in every design, others dislike the feature with a vengeance. The trick is to take the middle path, use italics only when absolutely necessary, like when you want to highlight a point. Also, italicize short, crisp phrases or sentences to give them greater emphasis. Avoid using it on long sentences- that only spells disaster.

Create Your Own Icons

Icons aren’t always necessary, but they do work wonders in enhancing the look and feel of your design. Icons and illustrations spice up the graphics, adding more flexibility and freshness to the entire design. Custom-made icons also reinforce the content of your posts and make navigation easier.

Adding Textures

Texturizing might seem like an insignificant aspect of designing, but trust us when we say, it is very important. Adding multiple textures gives your designs a whole new dimension. Although, like all good things, even textures shouldn’t be overdone or they might spoil all your hard work.

All About Hierarchy

Hierarchy here doesn’t mean you have to conform to some standards or limit of designing. You cannot give equal emphasis to all the elements to your design. Hierarchy helps you prioritize. You can now choose to highlight the dominant features of the design using color schemes, scaling, and resizing.

Avoid Clichés

You cannot just stick to the generic designs and expect to impress the viewer. Think outside the box, come up with innovative, unique designs. Refrain from using the same icons or symbols you see everywhere. Also, don’t depend on the readymade layouts and themes that most builders offer. Create your own style to visually communicate with your audience.

Keep it Simple

As first-timers, you would have the urge to showcase all your designing skills and ideas at once, don’t do that. You don’t want to clutter your space with various elements that would only repel the viewer. Sometimes, it is better to keep things simple and minimalistic. Add a few impactful elements and arrange them properly – that’s the secret to good graphic designing.

Get Inspired

It’s good to be inspired by the masters or established graphic designers in the industry, but don’t strive to imitate them. Draw inspiration from their designs and then improvise on it. Also, don’t conform to the set norms or conventions of graphic designing. You can copy the kind of filters or their style, but add your own flair to it – make it your own.

The Bottom Line

These days almost anyone can be a graphics designer, you don’t need any special technical skills or pay for tutorials. However, that doesn’t mean customizing graphics is child’s play. Don’t worry though, these graphics designing tips will get you through the process just fine.