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Nacho Average Tips

design tips

So, you’ve come here looking for graphic design tips, huh?

Well, we aint gonna be talking about colour theory, white space or the anatomy of typography. How about some actual, usable design tips that you can implement right now?

And let’s start with the stuff DIY-designers and design newbies get wrong (but are easily fixable). It’s ok, we’re not judging, we just wanna help YOU make better content.

Margins (or lack thereof).

For the love of margins, back off from the edge, will ya? When you place text and images too close to the page edge, ­it’s claustrophobic. Like when you’re jammed in a tiny elevator facing your work-crush and you had garlic pesto for lunch. It’s embarrassing. But in reality, it makes the reader work too hard to know where to begin.

Make your margins at least 50 pixels. Hmm, make that 60.

Gotta make this stand out. And this. And that too.

Noooooo! You do not. Listen, your readers are scrolling so fast, that it’s better to keep your layout simple. Focus on ONE message and make THAT stand out to catch their eye. Hook ‘em and if it’s important enough, they’ll stop ­– wait a minute, fill my cup…

– damn, sorry for the Uptown Funk distraction.

But yeah, avoid underlining, highlighting and go easy on the bolding too. K?

Superfluous is an excessively long word.

When people create ads and posts on social, they often add words that are unnecessary. Superfluous words. Like when I’m explaining to my wife that I’m golfing again on Sunday, I tend over communicate and use more words hoping it will justify my request. But we know less is more and it gets to the point faster… Golf Sunday? No? Ok, sure then, I’d love to watch the Hallmark Channel with you.

By removing extra words, your reader will absorb your message faster and will retain it longer.

So, are those enough tips for now? Check back often as I’ll try to add more. I probably won’t though as I’m often distrac ­

– hey, who brought donuts?

But I will def post more useful content for you. Design content. Cause I’m a (we’re) designers.

Greg Carmichael
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Greg Carmichael

Author Greg Carmichael

I’m Greg (the guy that wrote this), and the Creative Director at Synergy Design. We’re a graphic design creative collective in Streetsville, Mississauga, which is just outside of Toronto, Canada. Simply put, our team of 7 graphic designers provide enterprise-level graphic design for marketers, laser-focused on creating digital marketing content and print collateral too. If you learned something here today, or if I made you LOL, consider reaching out to start a conversation on how my Team can elevate your marketing content. [email protected] • 416-737-9432 • synergydesign.ca  

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