Six Simple Tools For Graphic Creation
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80% of content with colored visuals gets read¹. Even more shocking than that is that relevant images to the post get 94% more views than posts without one²! These are numbers you cannot ignore.
Luckily, at MDM we have a team dedicated to producing all of our graphics and videos. But if images are the king of commanding attention - and everyone is using images - then how can you stand out without a graphic designer? We put together a list of tools that will make you look like a pro graphic designer, sans the degree.
Canva provides you with lots of tools to create, edit, and build graphics or images.
Simplicity is the key to Canva’s success, and it’s the reason it’s one of our favorite free design websites. This all in one studio has numerous fonts, shapes, and formats that can be used as building blocks for your graphic masterpiece. They even have a large selection of pre-made graphics to help you quickly throw something together!
COLOURlovers is a community of users who share colors, full-color palettes, patterns, and images to help you design your graphics.
With over 4 million user-created color palettes, COLOURlovers has lots of choices to compliment any designs you have. You can sort palettes by user favorites, most-selected, or enter your own criteria to track down the perfect shades. Looking for a pattern or unique shapes? They have those too. We already spoke about how important colors are to your brand, so look at COLOURlovers for fresh ideas!
Google Fonts is a database of free fonts.
Fonts literally change how a graphic is read. With Google Fonts you can immediately see how adjusting the size, writing style, and other attributes category alter it. Google also eliminated the frustration of remembering what a font looked like by adding a comparison option. The best part, though, is that all the fonts are free to download and use!
PiktoChart a web-based infographic designer that involves very little effort to produce high-quality visuals.
Although infographics date back to the 1600s, their modern versions have proved an incredibly powerful motivator on social media. PiktoChart removes a lot of the headache that was once tethered to creating a compelling infographic. Drag, drop, click, type, and away you go. They have over 500 templates too, so you are bound to find one that will get shared a lot!
PicMonkey is a photo editing program that has a variety of frames, filters, and text options to spruce up your picture, beyond standard adjustments.
With PicMonkey you can replicate the professional look of Photoshop for free. For photo editing, there are few websites better equipped. You’ll want to stick to the basics, though, as the most elaborate editing options are available by premium membership only - including the cool filters.
PowerPoint
Most people don’t think of uses for PowerPoint beyond boardroom presentations and college course credits, but let’s break that perception. With thousands of fonts, colors, and tons of shapes and free-drawing capabilities PowerPoint maybe the graphic design hero you have longed for. Plus, with Microsoft Office being such a workplace software staple it is likely you already have it and know how to use it!
Media Design & Marketing (MDM) is an advertising agency focused on providing clients immediate results and long-term branding. We equip companies with the right mix of broadcast and digital solutions.
Sources:
¹http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/visual-content-marketing-strategy#sm.00001w3nf9mh7gcp9r6h7ykcbs9y0
² http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/visual-content-marketing-strategy#sm.00001w3nf9mh7gcp9r6h7ykcbs9y0