So, you’re interested in design. Maybe you’re looking for some inspiration for a project and are left feeling overwhelmed with where to start, or perhaps you’re about to take the leap into design and sign up for a course. Well, you’ve come to the right place. Here at Kaizenprint, we know that great design sells. We’ve accumulated our top 5 tips that we believe all beginners in design should know!

Less is more

When starting out in design, it’s easy to want to overcomplicate things. Understandably, you have learnt some exciting skills, and want to use them all… 

But, it’s important to remember that you are still learning. Simplicity in design is important – it allows the message to be digested and can be more effective when there isn’t too much going on.

Focus on font

Using text as a main feature in your design can be a powerful method of communicating a message. With this, comes an element of deciding the appropriateness of font. 

When choosing a font for a project, first consider what you want your design to portray.  A typeface has a personality, so do you want to be serious or playful? Sophisticated or robust? By first deciding this, you can successfully match the font with the mood. 

This doesn’t mean you have to use only one font in the entire design, but we do suggest that you try to keep it to two fonts – preferably within the same family. For example one font can be used for header text, whilst the other is used in the body. 

Once you think you’ve found the perfect font, ask yourself one final question. Does this show the brand and compliment the purpose of the project? If so, give yourself a pat on the back!

Be inspired

There are so many great ways to gain inspiration in our daily lives. You see a font you like? A colour that catches your eye? Take note of these. 

However, it is crucial to remember that there is a fine line between gaining inspiration and copying. This line should never be crossed. You wouldn’t want to think of a truly innovative concept, and then see it imitated a few weeks later, would you? With that being said, the world is full of beautiful ways for us to gain that much-needed inspiration at times where you feel as though you’ve hit a wall.

At Kaizenprint we recommend that you create a folder on your computer, and save anything you feel inspired by. This will help you at times when you’re staring at a blank screen, not knowing where to start (it happens to the best of us). You could even save these into categories, for example, ‘brights’, ‘modernn’, or ‘minimalist’. This provides you with a bank of information ready to be accessed at any time. 

Take a break from the screen and look around – get outside & breathe in the fresh air. This not only recharges the mind, leaving you feeling reinvigorated, but you may also see something that gets your creative juices flowing. 

We now have access to a world of knowledge at the click of a finger. Yes, pick up your smartphone. Social media and Pinterest are imaged based platforms, and with so many graphic designers using these methods to showcase their work to us, we can absorb their designs, and in turn, feel inspired! 

You can now follow a hashtag on Instagram. This amazing feature now makes it easier for you to connect with the content you are interested in. below are some hashtags we think will be beneficial to you:

#logo #design #graphicdesigner #graphicdesigncommunity #branding #font #style 

Never underestimate the power of white space

It can be easy for a beginner to fall into the trap of thinking they must fill every space in order to keep a client happy and provide value for money. However, this simply isn’t the case. Leaving blank spaces actually draws attention to a certain area in design and can prove to be a particularly powerful aspect.

Let that blank space be a voice in your work…

Want style and impact?

Your answer is lines. These are an easy, yet effective way of adding both style and impact, especially when creating minimalist designs. You can divide space or create a border to effectively define elements. 

We hope this article has inspired you! If you need any further inspiration, please feel free to visit our inspiration page to view a selection of the graphic design work our amazing team have created. And, please don’t hesitate to contact us – here at Kaizenprint we are always happy to help.  Not only do we offer high quality digital, litho and large format printing, we care about you.