The Only Instagram Image Size Guide You Need in 2023

Let’s face it: we’re living for all the fantastic new ways you can post your best photos and videos on Instagram. From portrait, landscape, and square photo options, Instagram Stories, Reels, IGTV videos, and videos in your feed…

There are so many incredible ways to engage with your followers and deliver eye-catching content.

However amazing these new options are, it can be a little tricky to figure out the ideal Instagram image size for your content, right?

Contents: Instagram Image Sizes

That’s why we’ve put together a quick guide for you to decode all the different Instagram post dimensions for each piece of content, and the best photo resolution to upload to Instagram for optimal clarity. (Yes, posting pictures on Instagram can lower image quality!) And just in case you need a cheat sheet to keep track of all these Instagram image sizes (because let’s face it, there are a lot!), we’ve included a handy cheat sheet and a Pinnable infographic. Major score! Before we dig in, we wanted to let you know about a feature that might come it very handy (and make scheduling a lot faster!) Tailwind can plan, schedule and post Reels on Instagram – so be sure to check it out!

What are the Ideal Instagram Ratios?

Instagram video and photo sizes have varying dimensions depending on the orientation of the photo and tool it’s being posted with. Here’s a quick list of the most common Instagram photo and video dimensions:

Instagram Photo Post Sizes

When Instagram first launched in 2012 (it seems so long ago now!), users could only upload photos in a 1:1 aspect ratio. Users who wanted to display their beautiful landscape and portrait photos were forced to crop their photos into a square or use other apps to create workarounds. Talk about time-consuming! Thankfully, Instagram listened to user feedback and introduced horizontal and vertical photo capabilities in 2015. With that in mind, let’s talk about the best image size for Instagram photo posts, including the traditional square, portrait, and landscape!

Instagram Square Photo Size

Ideal Size: 1080px by 1080px The aspect ratio of a traditional photo post is 1:1 square. This is usually the easiest photo size to get right on the first try because of the auto-cropping function on most photo editing apps and Instagram itself. Not to mention, you can shoot a square picture directly in the iOS or Android camera! For best results, your photo should be between 320px by 320px and 1080px by 1080px.

Instagram Portrait Size

Ideal Photo Size: 1080px by 1350px Wondering how to fit a full picture on Instagram without cropping? You can do that with portrait and landscape photos! Portrait photos are also fairly easy to get right on the first try, although you will have to crop oversize vertical photos to fit within the Instagram dimensions. What size is an Instagram portrait? The ideal Instagram portrait aspect ratio is 4:5, and the ideal photo size is 1080px by 1350px. If you upload a larger portrait, say 4:6 or 9:16 (the size of a Snapchat photo), you’ll be prompted to crop a portion of the photo out to fit.

Instagram Horizontal Photo Size

Ideal Photo Size: 1080px by 1350px  We’ll be honest: getting the right Instagram horizontal photo dimensions can be tricky! That’s because the perfect Instagram landscape photo aspect ratio is 1.91:1. With these dimensions, your horizontal photo will display beautifully on Instagram without a border. However, you can actually upload landscape photos up to an aspect ratio of 16:9, and the app will automatically add a border around the photo.

How do you get landscape on Instagram?

Instagram has made adding landscape photos to your feed easier than ever. Here’s how to do it:
  1. Open Instagram
  2. Tap the Add Post button (a square with a plus sign)
  3. Choose your photo or video to upload
  4. Tap the full-size button in at the bottom left of the photo display (it looks like two corners). This will automatically adjust your photo into the landscape ratio (or portrait if the photo orientation is vertical)
  5. You can further adjust the cropping of the photo by pinching to zoom in and out.
  6. Tap Next to continue with your upload!
If you frequently use landscape photos in your feed, it’s best to stick to the same aspect ratio for each. Otherwise, your followers may be unnecessarily distracted from your show-stopping photos as they scroll! To nab the best horizontal photo size for Instagram on the first try, make sure the height of your photo is at least 1080px (we’re sensing a theme here! ). This will keep your photo quality high on mobile and desktop! Before we move on to Instagram video post dimensions, let’s do a quick recap!

Key Takeaways with Instagram Photo Dimensions

What is the best Instagram aspect ratio?

Instagram has three available aspect ratios for your photos and videos.

Previously, the 1:1 aspect ratio (square) was the only available option, but Instagram now allows portrait and landscape photos!

The aspect ratio for portrait photos is 4:5, while the aspect ratio for landscape photos is 1.91:1.

The best Instagram image size for posts are:

1080px by 1080px (Square)
  • 1080px by 1350px (Portrait) and
  • 1080px by 608px (Landscape).
Whew, that’s a lot of different aspect ratios to keep track of! Thankfully, Tailwind for Instagram has a handy cropping function that automatically trims your uploaded post image to the closest acceptable ratio. If you want to crop your photo to a square, portrait, or landscape, you can just click on our Crop button and choose your desired ratio!

Instagram Stories and Reels Dimensions

Ideal Instagram Stories Size: 1080px x 1920px

Instagram Stories are another amazing tool for connecting with your followers and posting everything from text posts, hosting Instagram Lives, and uploading photos and videos!

Instagram Stories content is meant to be viewed in portrait mode, so even though you can post landscape photos and videos, they won’t show up as well on Stories.

That’s also another reason that the aspect ratios for Instagram Stories are different from the other post sizes we went over before!

You can upload photos and videos to Instagram Stories in any aspect ratio from 1:9:1 to 9:16.

However, you’re more likely to capture attention (and make your posts easier to see and understand) if you fill up the entire Stories screen with no borders.

The photo dimension you need to fill the entire Instagram Stories screen perfectly is a 9:16 aspect ratio, and a 1080px by 1920px size.

Instagram Reels use the same dimensions as Instagram Stories – 1080 x 1920 px and an aspect ratio of 9:16.

However, there are some things you should know!

-Instagram Reels preview in the feed at a 4:5 Portrait size (cropped from the top and bottom and centered). -The caption of your Reel displays in an overlay in the bottom corner of the video.

-Reels can be any length up to 90 seconds.

Bonus: Instagram Reels thumbnail dimensions

You can upload any image from your phone to make the Reels thumbnails. Instagram Reels thumbnails are a secret view magnet if you do them right! Using images with captions or a screenshot of an important moment in the Reel are some handy tips for your next Reel thumbnail. But don’t forget the dimensions and aspect ratio for the perfect thumbnail.
  • Instagram Reels thumbnail dimensions: 1080 pixels x 1080 pixels for the profile main feed grid and 1080 pixels x 1920 pixels for the profile Reels feed.
  • Instagram Reels cover aspect ratio: 1:1 for the profile main feed grid and 9:16 for the profile Reels feed.
Wait, there’s more about getting the perfect size for your Reel thumbnail. While Reel thumbnails have two aspect ratios, you can only edit one version–the 9:16–for display on the profile Reel feed.  The 1:1 aspect ratio will crop out your original thumbnail so that it blends in with other Instagram posts. So keep it in your mind when deciding on the thumbnail for your next Reels. Here are the steps below to upload a cover for an Instagram Reel:  Step 1: Head to the profile page, then your Reels feed, and choose the Reel you want to edit.  Step 2: Open the settings menu in the triple dot icon and choose ‘Manage.’  Step 3: Choose ‘Edit’ and then ‘Cover’ at the bottom of the Reel preview.  Step 4: Choose a frame cut from your video or choose ‘Add from camera roll’ to upload a custom Reel cover.  Step 5: Tap ‘Done’ to save! 

Instagram Reels and TikTok Multi-posting: The Best of Both Worlds?

TikTok videos and IG Reels have many things in common, but they are two distinct types of social media content. By utilizing both platforms in your marketing strategy, you can increase your brand awareness, drive engagement, and build relationships with potential customers.  TikTok is a popular social media app amongst younger users, with nearly 70% of US teenagers using it regularly and 90% of its users logging in daily. TikTok videos are often characterized by witty, lighthearted content that often goes viral quickly, thanks to its music and editing tools. As TikTok is one of the most popular video-sharing platforms, it’s a great way to reach a larger, younger audience. IG Reels—Instagram’s answer to TikTok—allows content creators to showcase longer-form, more refined videos. It provides a more sophisticated platform for creating and sharing content, which appeals to a more mature audience. Both platforms use vertical, short-form videos with the dimension of 1080×1920 for mobile users. It’s a great idea to publish your new content on Instagram and TikTok at the same time. Because dimension-wise, there’s no difference between TikTok and Instagram, but the combined user base offers a huge opportunity for broadening your reach. Just make sure your videos are not too long and don’t have any platform’s watermark on, and you’re good to go!

Instagram Video Post Dimensions

Ideal Video Resolution:
  • Square and Carousel – 1080px x 1080px
  • Portrait – 1080px x 1350px
  • Landscape – 1080px x 608px 
If video is your favorite medium to connect with your followers, it’s important to get the right dimensions to make uploading and posting your content a breeze. That way, you can upload on-the-go footage! If you’re looking to dive deeper into video, we penned a complete guide to Instagram video sizes and dimensions that is jam-packed with tips and tools to edit your Instagram videos. It also contains all the video requirements you ever wanted to know about when it comes to Instagram. But don’t worry, we’ll still cover some of those requirements below, including aspect ratios, length, and required dimensions! Instagram video Sizes What are the dimensions for Instagram video? Just like photo posts, you have the option of using square, horizontal or landscape videos in your feed. The ideal dimensions for each are:
  • Square and Carousel – 1080px x 1080px
  • Portrait – 1080px x 1350px
  • Landscape – 1080px x 608px
The aspect ratio of each is the same as photo posts, except our recommendation for landscape videos:
  • 1:1 aspect ratio for square and carousel videos
  • 4:5 aspect ratio for portrait videos
  • 16:9 aspect ratio for landscape videos
The reason that we recommend a 16:9 aspect ratio for landscape videos is that it will take a lot of time and effort to edit your video into the 1.9:1 aspect ratio used in photo posts. Instagram users are accustomed to viewing videos in 16:9 ratio, so the time and effort to crop and edit your video to change it from 16:9 probably isn’t worth it. There are also some minimum and maximum requirements to know when it comes to uploading your Instagram videos to your feed. Your Instagram video post must have a maximum of the following:
  • 30 frames per second
  • 60 seconds in length
  • File size of 4 GB
If your video exceeds any of these requirements, you won’t be able to upload, so keep these important numbers in mind when planning your video content! Like Instagram photo posts, the orientation you shoot your video in (square, landscape, or portrait) will determine what the minimum and maximum resolutions are for each. The minimum resolutions are:
  • Square and Carousel Instagram Video Minimum Resolution is 600 x 600
  • Portrait Instagram Video Minimum Resolution is 600 x 750
  • Landscape Instagram Video Minimum Resolution is 600 x 315
Because your video file will be compressed when you upload, we suggest using the maximum resolution allowed. The maximum resolutions are:
  • Square Instagram Video Maximum Resolution is 1080 x 1080
  • Portrait Instagram Video Maximum Resolution is 1080 x 1350
  • Landscape Instagram Video Maximum Resolution is 1080 x 608
  • Carousel Instagram Video Maximum Resolution is 1080 x 1080.
Tip: By using the max resolution in your videos you can preserve crystal clarity.

Instagram Dimensions FAQ

Do Instagram photos have to be square? Your Instagram photos don’t have to be square – you can also upload rectangular portraits and landscape photos to your grid without cropping! The trick is to make sure that your photo is up to 1080px on the shortest side. Keep in mind there are limits – If you upload a photo that exceeds the aspect ratios (the width-to-height ratio of a photo), you’ll have to crop your photo. Does Instagram lower image quality? Noticing that your photos are uploading fuzzy? Uploading files that are larger than 1080px may be the culprit. If you upload an image that’s larger than these measurements, Instagram will automatically compress the image for display. Extreme photo compression can distort image details, majorly impacting quality. The same is true when you upload an image that’s smaller than 320px by 320px. Instagram will expand the image, causing pixelation and fuzziness. To get the best possible photo in your feed, aim for square photo sizes of 1080px by 1080px. The compressed version that displays on Instagram will be around 600px by 600px, which will appear flawless on the Instagram mobile and desktop without affecting resolution! If nothing seems to solve your compression woes, try uploading from your desktop. Instagram’s web application preserves photo quality much more effectively than the mobile app! How do you fit a full picture on Instagram? If you want to upload your full portrait creation to Instagram without cropping to a square, you can use the handy full-size button when uploading your photo to automatically adjust your portrait (or landscape photo) to the maximum aspect ratio available. Just tap the expand arrows in the bottom left corner of your photo to fit the whole picture on Instagram! Speaking of detail, the same rules about photo compression and enlarging apply here. To get the best resolution for Instagram, size your portrait photo around 1080px by 1350px. That way, automatic compression won’t affect the quality of your vertical shot!

So, What’s the Best Instagram Image Size?

Whew! All the exciting new features on Instagram have opened up a world of new content opportunities and amazing ways to engage with your followers. They’ve also created a few new aspect ratios and dimensions to keep in mind when creating that content! what size should photos be for Instagram?
  • Instagram Photo Square: 1080px x 1080px
  • Instagram Photo Portrait: 1080px x 1350px
  • Instagram Photo Landscape: 1080px x 608px
  • Instagram Video Square: 600px x 600px
  • Instagram Video Portrait: 600px x 750px
  • Instagram Video Landscape: 600px x 315px
  • Instagram Video Carousel: 600px x 600px
  • Instagram Stories Photo: 1080px x 1920px
  • Reels Cover Photo: 1080px x 1920px
Type of Instagram Post Aspect Ratio Instagram Post Size
Square Photo 1:1 1080 x 1080px
Landscape Photo 1.91:1 1080 x 608px
Portrait Photo 4:5 1080 x 1350px
Instagram Stories 9:16 1080 x 1920px
Instagram Reels 9:16 1080 x 1920px
Reels Cover Photo 9:16 1080px x 1920px
Instagram Square Video 1:1 1080x1080px
Instagram Landscape Video 1.91:1 1080x608px
Instagram Portrait Video 4:5 1080x1350px
If you’re stressing about which type of image size makes the most sense for your content, and whether using a mix of portrait, landscape, and square photos will affect the look and feel of your 9-grid… don’t worry! Your content will appear in a landscape, portrait or square aspect in your users’ feeds, but will be cropped to a 1:1 square preview in your actual 9-grid. Your users will have to select your photo (or stumble across it while scrolling!) to see the full picture. Plus, you can always plan out your feed and double-check how all of your photos work together with an Instagram planning tool, like Tailwind’s 9-Grid Preview! [sc name=”autopost-reels-cta-fullsize”]

Before You Go, Pin It For Later :

Ultimate Pinterest Image Size Chart for 2022

Since Pinterest is a visual search and discovery engine, it is important to understand the best Pinterest image size options. After all, with the correct dimensions for Pinterest, your Pins are likely to perform better!

We’re here to help; that’s why we created the ultimate Pinterest image size chart anytime you need a refresher on Pin sizes for Pinterest.

This blog post will help you understand exactly what Pinterest Pin sizes you need for your Pinterest content! Plus, we’re covering tips, best practices, and helpful hints to answer your burning questions.

Ready to learn about all of the Pinterest sizes available for your Pins?

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Pinterest Aspect Ratios At A Glance

Wondering what size Pinterest Pins should be? Here’s a handy list of aspect ratios to keep in your back pocket while you’re creating Pins. We’ll go into detail on each of these in the sections below!

With a platform that is constantly changing, here is our most recent update as of May 2022.

Pinterest Pins

  • Standard Pins 2:3
  • Square Pins 1:1
  • Long Pins 1:2.1
  • Infographic Pins 1:3
  • Carousel Pins 2:3 or 1:1
  • Collections Pins: 2:3 for first image, 1:1 for additional
  • Story Pins: 9:16

Pinterest Video Pins:

  • Standard Video Pins 2:3
  • Square Video Pins 1:1
  • Vertical Video Pins (Portraits) 9:16
  • Long Video Pins 1:2

Pinterest Ads Sizing:

Pinterest ads should be sized the same as the organic dimensions mentioned above.

Looking for some design inspiration? Check out Tailwind’s Pinterest templates page and see what your brand can do with Tailwind Create.

Pinterest Board Sizing

A Pinterest board cover should be about 600×600 with an aspect ratio of 1×1. The higher resolution the better, as these images will be larger on desktop and mobile than a regular Pin.

Pinterest Standard Pin Sizes & Dimensions

The ideal Pinterest image size is 1000 x 1500px and an aspect ratio of 2:3. In fact, Pinterest updated their own best-practices page to recommend 2:3 ratio. They clarify that “other ratios… may negatively impact performance”.

These Pinterest dimensions are recommended by the platform for standard size Pins, to guarantee the best Pin image quality possible!

Photo sizes should be a minimum of 600 x 900.

Pinterest says 1000 x 1500 is the optimal Pinterest image size, because if your image falls outside this ratio it could get truncated in people’s feeds and they won’t get to see your full Pin. Here are some examples of 2:3 Pin designs!

Pinterest Square Pins Sizes & Dimensions

The best size for Pinterest square Pins is a 1:1 aspect ratio and 1000 x 1000 px image size.

Ideal Use for Square Pins

This Pinterest post size is great for sharing your Instagram photos to your Pinterest account!

We don’t recommend creating Pinterest Pins this size unless you are sharing from another platform (like Instagram) or you can’t resize your image for whatever reason.

Remember, 2:3 standard Pin size is the best bet on Pinterest!

Pinterest Square Pin Size

Pinterest Long Pin Sizes & Dimensions

The best Pinterest long Pin size is 1000 x 2100 px with a Pinterest Pin ratio of 1:2.1.

1:2.1 is the best size for long Pins on Pinterest, because Pins with an aspect ratio that’s any longer than this will be truncated, or cropped in the Pinterest feed.

And beware! When your Pin is truncated, this can negatively impact Pin performance.

Pro Tips: To make sure your longer Pins still perform well if they are truncated, strongly consider creating long Pins with the text centered in the middle of the Pin. This still allows Pinterest users to get a preview of your Pin and it’s contents!

When they click on the Pin from their feed, they’ll see the full image!

Pinterest long pin size

Do You Want to Grow Your Business on Pinterst? Download our Free Expert Guide

Pinterest Infographic Pins Sizes & Dimensions

Using Infographic Pins is a topic of debate in Pinterest marketing communities for a few reasons.

  • One, long infographic Pins are not a recommended Pin size from Pinterest.
  • Two, infographics that are longer than 1:2.1 aspect ratio will get cut off in the feed.

As we mentioned in the section above about Long Pins, truncated Pins are negatively impacted in search, and have to get double the engagement to prove value to the algorithm.

But some bloggers say their best-performing Pins are infographic Pins!

Our take is that there is nothing wrong with testing them out (or any Pinterest Pin size) to see how well they support your Pinterest marketing strategy.

Just beware of the potential risks and consequences of using any Pin size that isn’t recommended (2:3).

With that in mind, the best dimensions for infographic Pins on Pinterest are 1000 x 3000 with a Pinterest Pin ratio of 1:3.

In general, creative best practices for infographic Pins are keeping it simple and easy to understand at a glance!

You can provide a ton of value to your target audience with this type of Pinterest post format. Just avoid the urge to overdo it (or pack too much text into one Pin).

You should also consider breaking long infographics into shorter pieces for multiple Pins! This helps you avoid cropping, and gives you more Pin content to work with!

Pinterest infographic pin sizes and dimensions

Related Reading : How to Add a Pin to Pinterest


Pinterest Carousel Pins Sizes and Dimensions

Carousels appear in the home feed just like other Pins, and can swipe through each carousel “card.” When a Pinner taps on the card, they can swipe through each card and the corresponding page you’ve linked it to!

Carousel Pins can be either standard Pin Size (2:3) or Square Pins (1:1).

When to Use Carousel Pins:

Pinterest carousel Pins are a great way to showcase different features or shots of a product, advertise multiple products or tell a Story!

Pinterest Collection Pins

If you’ve scanned the Product specs guide from Pinterest, you might find yourself slightly confused by the image size that works best here.

Pinterest says: “All creatives must have the same aspect ratio of 1:1 (square) or 2:3 (vertical). We recommend making your secondary creatives with a 1:1 aspect ratio to best control how they appear in people’s feeds. If the creative is not 1:1, the cropping will occur at the center of the image.”

First Image Sizing (hero image):

Essentially, you’re going to have to use multiple sizes here for the best fit in display. Your first image (hero image) should be the standard Pin Size of 2:3.

Pinterest Collection Pin

Additional Images:

After the hero image, any other images you add to your collection (minimum 3 and a max of 24) will display in a 1:1 aspect ratio. If you upload any images bigger than this they will be automatically cropped. Pinterest says this is cropped from the center, but when we tried it, it was definitely wonky! We recommend you play it safe and upload a square image to begin with.

So, to recap: for the first Pin image in your collection, use a 2:3 aspect ratio. For the rest of your images, use 1:1!

Pinterest Story Pins

Like Facebook and Instagram Stories, Pinterest Story Pins use the full-mobile screen aspect ratio of 9:16.

Story Pins can be static images or video up to 60 seconds long. Here are some other handy specs to keep in mind while creating your Pinterest Story Pin:

  • Max File Size: 20mb for images, 100mb for video
  • Length: 1-60 seconds long (video)
  • Size and Dimensions: 1080 x 1920 pixels, or 9:16

Pinterest Video Pins Sizes and Dimensions

Videos get a ton of action on Pinterest these days! There are many ways to create Pinterest videos, and there are different aspect ratios for video Pins on Pinterest.

The Pinterest size for videos include standard, long, vertical, and square. Here are the ratios for each:

  • Standard Video Pin: 2:3 aspect ratio
  • Square Video Pin: 1:1 aspect ratio
  • Long Video Pin: 1:2 aspect ratio
  • Vertical Video Pin: 9:16 aspect ratio

Rather than going off of Pinterest post image size, Video Pins have file specs and sizes to keep in mind when shooting for best quality. You’ll find the details below!

Video Pin Specs for Upload

  • The video length minimum should be at least 4 seconds but not more than 15 seconds on your Pinterest video Pin.
  • File size of no more than 2GB will work.
  • File types that work for video Pins includes .mp4, .mov and .m4v.
  • Encoding can be H.264 to H.265.

But What About Horizontal Videos?

You may be wondering about landscape videos on Pinterest. The truth of the matter is, this is not a recommended size for Pinterest video Pins.

Landscape video uploads are unlikely to work or work well as Pins. The exception to this rule, however, is max-width Promoted Pin videos!

Video Pin Audio

Most Pinterest users do not have their audio on when scrolling through their Pinterest feed, so try to create video Pins that do not rely on audio.

Instead, use your Pinterest video Pin as a “teaser” for the content you are sharing!

Video Pin Titles and Descriptions

Video Pin titles can be up to 100 characters long, with a Pin description up to 500 characters.

Keep in mind, the first 50-60 characters are most likely to show in people’s feeds. So make sure your description gets right to the point. And, remember to incorporate keywords for great Pinterest SEO!

Pinterest Profile Picture Size

When it comes to profile picture size for Pinterest, you’ll want to make sure the photo is clear and unblurred.

With that in mind, the best Pinterest profile pictures are sized to 160 x 160 px!

Pinterest Size Chart For Your Pins (Take This With You!)

Whew, that’s a lot to remember! Here is a handy infographic with a Pinterest size chart.

It’ll help you remember the best Pinterest dimensions and sizes for all your content!

Just right-click to save to your computer, or hover over the image to save it to your Pinterest.

Create Beautiful Pins with Tailwind!

Now that you know all of the Pin sizes out there, you can save time (and serious headaches!) by creating gorgeous Pin designs with one click!

Tailwind Create offers you hundreds of personalized Pin designs customized to your brand, industry and even content type! Just upload your photos, fill out your branding preferences and click the button!

Ta da – hundreds of uniquely you Pins perfectly sized for Pinterest at your fingertips. And, you can also schedule your Pinterest Pins using Tailwind, to save time and improve your Pinterest marketing strategy.

mprove your Pinterest marketing strategy.

mprove your Pinterest marketing strategy.

Grow your business on Pinterest with our suite of Pinterest marketing tools. Start your free trial today.

Pinterest Size FAQs

What is the best Pinterest image size?

As we mentioned previously, any 2:3 aspect ratio is ideal for Pinterest. Pinterest has validated this in a recent update to their best practices. They said that other ratios can “negatively impact performance”. 

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Pin Pinterest Sizes and Pin Dimensions for Later :

2022 Design Trends for Social Media

Social media for businesses is not simply about selling products or services. It’s also a powerful tool for connection, inspiration, and building relationships! To do this successfully, part of the mission on social media becomes speaking to your audience in a language they understand – and on visual platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, that’s accomplished through design.

Graphic design language evolves year over year, with many trends coming and going, and a select few standing the test of time. The trends that do become popular for a time reflect what people care about most, and by using these elements of graphic design, brands can build recognition and familiarity with their audience!

That’s why we undertook the work of forecasting what’s coming up next in the realms of graphic design and social media design, and translating these trends into ready-to-use, easily customizable template packs, color palettes, font pairings and more in Tailwind Create!

Below, you’ll see the painstaking research the Tailwind team collected from 70+ resources translated into color, patterns and textures, elements and motifs, photography and styling, and typography to use to stay relevant with your social media designs. Enjoy!

2022 Color Trends

Every year as December approaches, designers the world over breathlessly await influential companies like PANTONE and Sherwin-Williams to release the Color of the Year. Palettes, swatches, and mood boards stream from these colors, sparking imagination in home decor, fashion, and graphic design. Here’s what’s coming up this year!

1. The Outdoors Are In  

Blame it on the pandemic, or a desire to be more connected to the outdoors, but this year’s major color trend is all about cool, misty greens and rich clay tones found in nature.

Paint company BEHR announced Breezeway as their color of the year – “A relaxed and uplifting sea glass green expressing peace and tranquility for forward movement.”

Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore were not far behind with Evergreen Fog and October Mist respectively.

Color of the year paint swatches from BEHR, Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore in shades of green

These wispy greens inspired by silver-green flower stems and foggy evergreen forests partner with palettes of clay earth tones, watery blues, and granite neutrals to bring organic hues to the forefront of design.

Need some color palette inspiration? Check out our new 2022 Design Trend Color Palettes to capture these tranquil shades for yourself!

2. Bold Possibilities

After 23 years of choosing colors that would influence product development, fashion, and design, Pantone took an unexpected step this year: the company didn’t choose a color, they created one.

Veri Peri, the 2022 Pantone Color of the Year is a new red-violet color laced heavily with blue. It’s meant to represent the excitement and boldness of the future and “helps us embrace this altered landscape of possibilities, opening us up to a new vision as we rewrite our lives.”

This confident, curious color that stands at the crossroads of color in the digital world and the physical world shines in palettes with bold hues, energetic blues, and moody neutrals.

Need some color palette inspiration? Check out our new 2022 Design Trend Color Palettes to capture these futuristic shades for yourself!

3. A Touch of Nostalgia

Even as color stories begin looking to the future, retro shades from the ’60s and ’70s linger on. Groovy Daffodil, vintage Harbor Blue, and funky Coca Mocha shades paired with soft pastels like Spun Sugar and Gossamer Pink to dominate Pantone’s Spring/ Summer 2022 NYFW Color Palette.

These retro shades reminded us of the famed Jet Era and vintage travel posters, reflected in our 2022 custom color palettes that are now available in Tailwind Create!

4. Bubblegum Pop

Did someone say Y2K? The upbeat colors in Pantone’s Spring/Summer 2022 London Color Palette are the perfect complement to your favorite throwback playlist. Youthful Bubblegum pink, acidic lime Fragile Sprout, and feminine Orchid Bloom are bringing us back in the best ways!

Whether your head is stuck in the clouds, or you’re just an imaginative day dreamer, our Vivid Dreams curated color palettes will make your sparkle shine ✨. 

Try it out now in Tailwind Create!

Patterns, Shapes and Textures

1. Check It Out

‘Check’ yes Juliet to the reinvention of this classic emo/scene style! Checkerboard is not just for your vintage slip-ons – in fact, new life can be found in this timeless classic by reviving it with the playful pop colors and fresh plastic florals currently trending today!

2. Stenciled Blooms

Ever since the cozy, countryside-themed aesthetic we know as “cottagecore” first received its official name on Tumblr in 2018, the doily, wildflower-laden lifestyle has steadily dominated fashion and social media.

In 2022, Cottagecore’s dreamy wildflowers are receiving a vibrant upgrade as florals are reduced to their simplest forms and washed in bold contrasts and vibrant hues!

3. Rounding It Out

Find your future (or simply push past your funk) by rounding out your edges into soft orbs, half-moons, and semi-circles.

In 2022, rigid boxes and angles are being phased out in favor of soft feminine curves in the home, office, community spaces, and more. Round out your own edges for inviting signals of virtual and inner peace!

Use this template in Tailwind Create!

Elements and Motifs

1. Zen – Inspired Lines

Not only do these patterns remind us of Japanese rock gardens and mindfulness, but there’s also an important pop culture phenomenon at play here. With influences from technology and Sci-Fi resurgences (Dune, anyone?) minimal line style with futuristic elements is on the rise.

Source: Society6

2. Matisse Motifs

Organic motifs are out-pacing rigid geometrics in 2022 design, lending an air of freedom, movement, and familiarity to graphics. Matisse inspires one to find their inner peace, as the hallmark organic and balanced shapes create freedom-centered designs. 

Source: Society6

3. Plastic Florals

Trends are all about styles of years past being revived. In 2021, we saw the 90’s come back front and center. These small blocky florals may remind you of that decade, but trust us, that wasn’t their first time around!

Small florals with simple edges actually first saw their rise in the ’60s and 70’s, and seem to continually refresh their image for coming generations.

Photography & Styling

1. Subtle Dimension

Texture is becoming more prevalent in graphic design in 2022, as design programs begin pursuing 3D rendering in everyday graphics. Adobe Capture is making great strides in this area!

2. Natural Shadow

Where light, bright and crisp photo styles once reigned, photo stylings are shifting more towards softer, dimensional shadows and interrupted light to showcase products.

3. Two-Tone Glow

Flat, crisp backdrops are being replaced with luminous gradients in photo and product styling, tantalizing the eye and drawing viewers into the frame.

Source: Studio Zelden

1. Catch Me If You Can

There’s a note of nostalgia in the air, with mod fonts that remind us of the glory days of Pan Am, summer resort vacations, and striped bathing suits. New-old serif fonts like Airplane and Fairview are inspired by the golden age of air travel, while decorative headline fonts with a throwback twist remind us of days gone by. 

2. Styled Geometrics

This 1920’s revival style is the bee’s knees! Art deco-inspired geometric Sans Serifs updated for the modern world will make you fall in ‘green-glass’ love. Daydream in Cuba with fonts like Habana or wander the bygone streets of Miami Beach with Governor for a new take on a timeless classic.

3. Heartfelt Detail

Charming, simplistic fonts that remind us of our favorite small-town cafe are in this year, lending a down-to-earth, cozy feel to branding and design. For a crash course in using organic-feeling scripts and serif fonts like Viktor Script and Futura PT, check out this curated collection from Adobe

4. The Energy of Youth

Oh to be forever young! Design trends are tilting this way with chunky, fat-pen display fonts and zesty handwritten details that will remind you of the days of fuzzy journals and Limited Too shopping trips! 

To get this look, try a big, bold display like Beautiful Freak or cutesy fonts like Adorable or Teashop!

Putting It All Together: Ready-to Use Designs

Itching to use some of these top trending design elements in your next social media posts? Don’t worry, we’ve done the work for you! 

Drawing inspiration from the top trends in design for 2022, we’ve launched four exclusive social media template packs, sixteen curated color palettes, and more right inside Tailwind Create.

Check out each set and prepare to be inspired! 

Jet Set

Inspired by the golden age of air travel in the ’50s and ’60s, Jet Set is chock full of vintage washes, modern lines with a retro twist to wow your followers. 

Check out our brand new vintage travel-poster-inspired color palettes: Secret Island, First Class, South Seas, and Hibiscus Colada, and ready-to-use designs here!

Vivid Dreams

Did someone say the 90’s? Our exclusive Vivid Dreams template pack is inspired by bright pops of color, plastic florals, patch art, and all the things we loved most about Y2K. Warning: this template pack may cause you to hang boy band posters on your office wall. 

Get a sneak peek of our brand new Vivid Dreams color palettes: Dreamhouse, Lip Smackers, Wind Breaker, and Spice World here!

All Organic

Inspired by the soft and simple charms of nature, our All Organic template pack and color palette set is inspired by muted shades, florals, and foliage paired with playful organic shapes!

Get a sneak peek of our dreamy All Organic color palettes: Sedona Sunrise, Fresh Laundry, Meadow Cottage, and Favorite Quilt here!

Look to the Future

Although many trends surging in popularity this year focus on where we’ve been, we’re also collectively thinking – and designing for – where we’re going.

Our Look to the Future template pack is inspired by glowing gradients, sound waves, and the boundless possibilities of the Metaverse. Are you in?

Check out our brand new futuristic color palettes: Neon Sky, Dune, Fiber Optics, and Cyberbike here!

Use Trending Social Media Designs in Tailwind Create

Say bye-bye to boring beige and bland monotonous palettes. And in 2022, let’s start experimenting with bold, energizing colors and designs!  

This new innovative direction is so exciting the Tailwind team wanted to bring our versions to Tailwind Create with curated easy-to-use templates – straight from our designers to you! 
Whether you want to be ahead of the curve and Look to the Future, make your Vivid Dreams a reality, you’re ready to Jet Set to better social media analytics, or you’re feeling pulled to an All Organic approach.

Whatever your design goals are for 2022, Tailwind Create is prepared to take you there!

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Update your social media designs and stylings with our exhaustive list of 2022 graphic design trends in colors, fonts, styles and more!

How to Change the Background Color on Your Instagram Story

Change backgroundc olor on Instagram Story

If you’re using Instagram for your business, you’re probably more than familiar with Instagram Stories. 

Whether you use it to talk directly to your followers, alert followers of a new Instagram post, share a quote or photo of significance or do a quick repost of content from other accounts, Instagram Stories are a tremendous tool for your business. 

But did you know that you also have the ability to change your Instagram story background color? 

Most users tend to stick with the default background Instagram chooses based on the colors in your image because the methods to change it aren’t obvious at first glance.

And hey, sometimes, the gradient default color works just fine for your Instagram story background. But most of the time, you could probably use a little more creative freedom! 

This blog post tutorial will go over three ways to change the background color of your Story, depending on the effect you are going for! 

How to Change the Background Color of Your Instagram Story: 3 Tricks to Know

If you want to give your Insta story a new background, you have 3 options: 

  1. Change to a solid background 
  2. Upload a background from your camera roll
  3. Add a color tint to your Instagram Story photo

Tailwind Tip: If you can’t find the icons or features discussed in this article, it may be time to head to the App Store (for iPhone) or Google Play store (for Android) and update your Instagram app!  

1. Changing Your Instagram Story Background to a Solid Color

To change your background to a solid color: 

  1. Upload a photo from your camera roll to the Stories feature on the Instagram app. You can also repost on your Story.
  2. Click the the … in the top right corner and select draw
  3. Select the pen option
  4. Select your desired color with the color dropper tool or choose from the default color options
  5. Tap (press and hold) the pen or eraser tool 
  6. Long press (press and hold) the middle of your background
  7. If you uploaded a photo, use the eraser icon to see the picture underneath the background color.

Tailwind Tip: This method is also PERFECT for creating Instagram highlight covers. Just upload the image you want (usually an icon of some sort, such as an airplane to symbolize travel) and change the background color to your brand color. 

Repeat for each highlight cover! 

Adding an Image Over Your New Background

You can also add a photo over your new background. To do this: 

  1. Open your Photos app
  2. Select the image you want to add 
  3. Click the ‘Copy Photo’ option from the options menu at the bottom of the screen
  4. Return to the Instagram app (Your Story-in-the-making should still be open)
  5. Click the ‘Add Sticker’ pop-up of your copied photo in the bottom left corner

2. Changing Your Instagram Story Background From Your Camera Roll

If you want to use a specific image or background with more design to it, you can simply make your own. 

Instagram Story templates in Tailwind Create

Here’s how: 

  1. Open a design tool, like Tailwind Create
  2. Select an Instagram Story background that you like
  3. Download the image to your phone 
  4. Upload it to Instagram Stories 
  5. Place stickers, text, hashtags, GIFs, and emojis over the background to personalize it even more!
  6. Optional: Add another image on top (see above)

Tailwind Tip: If you love your new Stories so much you want to know how to add them to Instagram highlights, click on your Story after you post it. 

There will be an icon labeled ‘Highlight’ that will allow you to create a new Highlight for your profile or add the Story to an existing one. 

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3. Adding a Color Tint to Change Background of Instagram Story

To add a color tint to your Instagram Story: 

  1. Upload or take a photo in Stories 
  2. Tap the … button in the top right corner and select draw
  3. Tap the Pen icon 
  4. Choose the color tint you want from the available options of using the color dropper tool
  5. Tap the highlighter icon 
  6. Long press on your background (may be necessary depending on the version of the app you have)
  7. Tap/long press a second time to make a denser color tint 
  8. Tap/Long press a third time to create a solid color 

Conclusion: How to Change Background Color on Insta Stories

Now that you know how to change your Instagram Story background color, you’re probably excited to get started! 

There are many reasons you might want to liven up your Instagram Story and change the background color, but one of the most popular uses is creating branded Instagram highlight covers!

Plus, you can keep your Instagram personal brand cohesive and unique with a little splash of color on your Instagram Stories!

Now that you know how to change the background color on an IG Story, you’re ready to take the social media world by storm! 

What tips and tricks would you like to hear about next? Let us know in the comments below

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Want to change your Instagram Story background color, but aren’t sure how? Here are the three ways to customize  your instagram story background.

The Meaning of Shapes in Design (+Design Ideas!)

Did you know that everything in design has meaning – even the shapes you use? Design is a visual language that sends messages to your target audience – no words necessary – and even the shapes you use contribute to that message.

In fact, shape and form have been carrying meaning for centuries! Visual language was used for storytelling, guidance, and learning for early humans before spoken language evolved – and we continue to understand messages relayed through visual communication to this day.

Whether it’s adding playful circles to the background of your latest social media post, or designing a logo that matches your company personality, shape symbolism can help guide the choices you make when communicating with your audience.

The result? A clarified message that sparks an emotional connection and reaction – all without saying a word!

In this post, we’re going over the three categories of shapes. We’ll also talk about shape symbolism and the meaning of shapes in design. By the time you finish reading this article, you’ll never look at a triangle or a square in quite the same way again!

Three Categories of Shape in Design

Shapes in design are categorized into three main types – geometric shapes, natural (or organic) shapes, and abstract shapes.

Each of these three basic shapes groups and their meanings bring something very different to a design and suggest something subliminal about the brand or company using them.

In the following sections, we’ll define the three categories, and overview different shapes and their meaning and symbols in each!

Geometric Shapes

Geometric shapes are any shapes that are based on mathematical principles, such as triangles, squares, circles, and polygons. Geometric shapes have clear, perfect edges that are usually made with tools. 

You usually don’t find a perfect circle or square in nature – that’s what marks the difference between natural and geometric designs.

So what do geometric shapes mean? The answer depends on the particular shape. Below, we’ll discuss some common geometric shape meanings behind the most popular shapes you might see in design!

Triangles

To understand the triangle shape meaning, it helps to look at a triangle itself and how it’s positioned. A triangle is stable when sitting on its base, and unstable when it is on its side or inverted. 

Depending on how it is positioned, a triangle represents stability and instability, an inherent tension throughout the design. It suggests action, movement, and in some cases aggression.

Triangles in graphic design stimulate movement and help with progression and purpose. One of the most well-known examples? The “Play” button! It’s simply a triangle turned sideways, but it has a universal meaning – press to continue.

Rather than establishment and stability, triangles suggest growth, progress, and movement.

What using triangle shapes in your visual design communicates to your viewers

Squares and Rectangles

Squares symbolize order, trust, stability, and being grounded.

One of the most familiar geometric shapes in design, squares, and rectangles are used to organize and define a design, adding comforting structure along the way.

What the square represents might come across as boring, but it also inherently establishes trust and security in the viewer.

What using square shapes in your visual design communicates to your viewers

Circles and Ovals

Circular shapes, oval shapes, and round shapes have meaning in graphic design.

While the triangle can be seen as masculine, circles are considered a more feminine shape. 

Their rounded curves are graceful, feminine, and warm.

They are often used in graphic design to represent familiar objects like wheels, fruit, the sun, eggs, and more!

What using round shapes in your visual design communicates to your viewers

Organic Shapes

Organic, or natural shapes in design, are associated with nature. In other words, they often look similar to things found in nature – like plants, animals, and rocks. They tend to be characterized by curving lines and a lack of symmetry. Unlike geometric shapes, organic shapes look far less solid and precise without stiff corners or straight lines.

Organic shapes have meaning in design that may differ a little bit depending on the particular shape you’re using. 

For example, if you use a wave shape in your design, your viewer will probably associate it with freedom and flow. If you use a leaf or a flower shape, your design might evoke the feeling of nature and delicacy.

Abstract Shapes

When you hear the term abstract shapes, you might think of abstract art and curving shapes that don’t really look like anything in particular. You’re probably thinking of organic shapes, which we covered above.

It’s a mistake many people make, because abstract shapes – and even abstract art, are all about interpretation. It doesn’t actually matter if the abstract shape looks more organic or geometric – it’s more about the process and the context behind it. 

A good example of an abstract shape is an icon. For example, in our Tailwind dashboard, there are six icons on the left navigation menu. These are all abstract shapes that reference what is in that menu tab.

You can return to the home screen, by clicking the symbol that looks like a home. You can create social media designs by clicking the paintbrush icon.

Although abstract shapes often have geometric lines in them, they are abstract because they symbolize or reference something else that depends entirely on the context of their use. 

Want to learn more about the nuance of abstract shapes? The design of the Olympics pictograms can give you insight into this process!

Using What Shapes Represent in Business and Branding

Now that you have an idea of what shapes represent to viewers, you can apply this knowledge to visual design in your business! From logo design to social media, you can perfect your message both on the surface and subconsciously with a few smart choices in the elements you use. 

Colors also play a key role in the psychology of design. Just as the meaning of shapes in psychology creates an emotional reaction, so do the colors you use! For example, you might use a yellow circle to associate with the sun, or a pink half-circle to associate with summery fruit, like watermelon.

Tailwind Create makes it easy to ace your first impression on social media with template designs that speak to your individual audience and match your branding! Want to start from almost done with breathtaking social media designs that speak to your audience in every possible way? Try Tailwind Create!

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Did you know that shapes have distinct meaning? Learn how the meaning of shapes in design supports your messaging with our handy guide!

How to Make Your Own Instagram Color Palette

Instagram is all about the visual experience: Beautiful images and an Instagram color palette that pulls your feed together!

But what if you don’t know how to combine color shades? Or maybe your brand colors don’t fit into the most popular color palettes on Instagram. That’s okay! 

We’re bringing you expert tips and examples to tailor your palette to your brand. Learn how to get a color palette on Instagram with this quick tutorial!

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What is an Instagram Color Palette?

Are you scratching your head and wondering what the heck a color palette on Instagram even looks like? We’ve got you.

Your palette is a collection of colors that tie your images together. A color palette guides you in picking photos that match your brand. Plus, a palette also keeps your feed from looking messy!

And there are a TON of color palette options on Instagram.

neutral instagram color feed
@k.els.e.y‘s neutral Instagram color palette.

Some Instagram feeds use neutral shades with a pop of color in every photo. Others use several shades of the same color to create a cohesive look. 

But your Instagram theme is about more than aesthetics and pretty colors!

A consistent look increases brand awareness and trust in your company. Without a defined palette, you risk confusing your audience.

And, as Lucidpress reports, “71% of companies list customer confusion as the biggest negative impact of an inconsistent brand.”

So, a defined color palette can really help you stay on track! In return, your fans recognize your brand and feel comfortable engaging with your account.

Plus, did we mention creating color palettes is fun?

Ready to get started? Woohoo!

Let’s boost familiarity with your brand and freshen up your Instagram feed by choosing the best color palette for Instagram!

Making an Instagram Color Palette: Do’s and Don’ts

Learn how to get a color palette on Instagram using our recommended best practices. These dos and don’ts help you create and use an Instagram color palette with ease! 

  • DO: Add your existing brand colors to your theme.
  • DO: Pick a color palette that fits with the photos you frequently post.
  • DON’T: Choose colors at random (as you’ll confuse your audience and disrupt your feed.)
  • DON’T: Post photos on the fly! This increases the chance that your image won’t mesh correctly with your theme and colors.

How to Build Your Own Color Palette for Instagram

From your website to social media channels, your brand colors have meaning. Your best bet is to choose colors that get a response from your audience and ones that fit your brand style!

Right about now you may be wondering, what is my Instagram color palette? Well, let’s find out! ️‍♀️

All you need is one key color, and a little room to experiment. With these two things, you can build at least five different types of color palettes for Instagram

Step 1: Choose Your Main Instagram Color

The best color palette for Instagram is one that uses your primary brand or company color.

After all, you put time into choosing your brand color, right?

So, it makes sense to use it in your Instagram color palette. 

This way, when people click from your website to your Instagram feed, they know they’re in the right place!

And, it gives you some wiggle room.

If you want to switch Instagram themes later, it’s easier since you’re building off of one color from your brand.

monochromatic instagram feed with pops of colors
@creativeandcoffee has a recognizable pink Instagram color theme with splashes of color.

Step 2: Get Familiar with the Color Wheel

Remember the color wheels with seven slices of bright colors?

Or perhaps you’re more familiar with the colors of a rainbow:  red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet (ROYGBIV).

build an instagram color palette with a 12-shade color wheel.

Today we’re using an expanded version of the color wheel using 12 colors. This wheel adds: 

  • Pink
  • Red-orange
  • Yellow-orange
  • Yellow-green
  • Yellow-blue

A color wheel helps you map out how each shade relates to the other.

It’s a handy source of inspiration! (Feel free to pin our Wheel of Fortune to reference later!)  

Plus, you’ll gain a bit of confidence knowing that professional designers rely on the same wheel to make color palette selections.

Step 3: Brush Up On Mixology

Chances are, you’re not looking to use all primary colors. To help build color palettes of one or two key colors, it helps to understand which ways you can move up and down the color scale to pull new color shades and tints!

Here’s a crash course on how color mixology works!

If you’re looking for darker shades based on your key color, here’s how they’re created.

Deeper shades of color are created by mixing black into the primary color.

You can get a range of shades depending on the level of black you add!

Tint is created with the opposite!

You can get lighter versions of your key colors to use by just adding a little (or a lot!) of white.

Adding any neutral color (like black, white or grey) will reduce the chroma (read: colorfulness) of a color without changing the hue (the color it is on the color wheel.)

For a middle-of-the-road option, you’ll produce a tone by mixing your base color with grey.

Depending on the shade of grey you blend in, your toned color will be slightly lighter or darker than your base color.

You won’t get as many dramatic variations with grey, but you will get several strong neutral variants to complement your brand.

Step 4: Build Your Instagram Color Palette

Okay. Got your key color? ✅Did you take a gander at the color wheel? ✅Brushed up on mixology basics? ✅

Now it’s time to start building your Instagram color palette. Below we list five color palette ideas for Instagram used by professionals. These are five key styles that inform most professional color palettes you see out in the wild!

Start with your brand color, then pick the wheel that speaks to you. Which one says “this is MY Instagram palette?”  

Monochromatic Instagram Color Palette

Monochromatic means one color. But in this palette, you aren’t using only one color. Instead, you’ll pull different shades from the same color family. For example, you may choose all different shades of blue or green. 

On Instagram, the monochromatic scheme is popular because it’s easy to get started with.

It’s also not hard to remember when you’re building your feed.

Is it monochromatic the best color palette for Instagram?

Well, many Instagrammers would answer that question with YES!

monochromatic color palettes on instagram use shades from one color family

Complementary Instagram Color Palette

complementary insta color palette- use two opposite colors on the color wheel

The second-most popular type of palette is the complementary Instagram color palette.

This palette uses two colors that are direct opposites from each other on the color wheel. 

This combination really catches your eyes and stands out.

Graphic designer Victoria Hiraoka tells us why, and the best balance to make it work for you! 

“In this example, we have teal which is opposite of red-orange on the color wheel. A good rule of thumb is 60% of one color, 30% of the opposite color, and 10% neutrals.”

Victoria Hiraoka

Analogous Instagram Color Palette

In contrast to complementary, you choose two shades touching your main color on the wheel when building an analogous palette.

Here’s how it works!

Find your brand’s color on the wheel.

Then, choose a shade or shades from either side of it.

analogous colors on color wheel

Triad Instagram Color Palette

We’re not going to lie: the triad color palette for Instagram is tricky to pull off. You get a vibrant feed. But, it can quickly become a lot to take in. If you aren’t careful about visually planning your feed, it can quickly turn messy!

Up to the challenge? Triad palettes are complex, but beautiful, vibrant and artistic.

use three shades of color in your instagram feed

With a little practice and a lot of focus, you can really transform your feed with a triad color palette!

A triad uses any three shades that are of equal distance from one another on the color wheel.

In our triad wheel, notice that there are three colors between each shade we chose!

The best way to incorporate a triad color palette on Instagram is to use the 60/30/10 ratio. Then, sprinkle in some neutrals to tone those color splashes down and keep everything nice and balanced! 

Neutral Plus Instagram Color Palette

A neutral Plus Instagram feed soothes your viewers and contains just the right pop of color to appeal to audiences of all style preferences!

Neutral shades are also very on-trend right now, being one of the major graphic design trends emerging in 2020.

 “It might be tempting on this one to let the color overshadow the neutrals, but your color pop is best used sparingly.

The lower the percentage of your chosen color pop is, the more attention it grabs!”

Victoria Hiraoka
how to make a neutral instagram feed with pops of color

The Best Color Palette Generator Apps

There are so many options, we know! If you’re having trouble choosing just one color palette for Instagram, there are a ton of apps built to help!  We’ve narrowed this list down to our top three IG color palette apps. Get ready to get inspired!

App #1: Canva 

  • Available on desktop, iOS, and Android 
  • 3 Plans: Free, Pro: $9.95 per user/month, or Enterprise: $30 per user/month 

Canva is an all-in-one photo editing and image creation service. But, it has a robust color palette generator tool as well.

You can simply use an inspiration photo! Upload the photo and Canva will generate an Instagram color palette based on the picture.

Or use Canva’s color wheel tool for a custom selection. Plus, it’s free to search hundreds of palettes by colors, keywords, or themes!

App #2: Colordot by Hailpixel

  • Available on iOS 
  • Free on a desktop or a $0.99 iOS app download

Colordot is a unique and fun way to choose a color palette for Instagram.

The desktop and iOS versions are full screens. Just use your camera to capture colors.

Or swipe to change your hue, lightness, and saturation. This app gives you endless options to find precisely what you want!

App #3: Palette

With thousands of 5-star reviews, Palette is a fantastic Instagram color picker. It’s easy to generate a palette from any photo or web link.

Plus, it gives you HEX codes for use across multiple platforms. 

If you’d prefer to leave all of the crazy template-building to someone else so you can focus on other aspects of your business, Tailwind Create creates your templates for you! All you have to do is add in your business, select the images you’d like to feature, pick your brand colors, and presto, you’ll have dozens of templates ready in seconds!

Try out Tailwind Create for free!

Schedule and Post Your Color Palette to Instagram

Of course, designing a gorgeous color palette for Instagram is just one piece of the puzzle. After all, it’s tough to visualize how just one picture looks in in your entire 9-grid.

Instagram feed planner app from Tailwind

That’s where Tailwind’s Instagram planning app makes life so much easier.

Our 9-Grid Preview Tool lets you upload all your photos in one batch.

Then, you can drag and drop your photos until you find the perfect arrangement of balanced, beautiful color!

Plus, once you’ve arranged your beautiful Instagram feed,  you can schedule your posts at the very best times for optimal engagement – all within our new Instagram planner app!

Itching to paint your Instagram life just a little brighter? Download our new app on iOS or Android now!

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The Inside Scoop on a Brand Refresh: What to Expect (And What You Need!)

Brand Refresh header

With Tailwind’s 10-year anniversary this past week, we decided it was time for a brand refresh, and boy did it turn out even better than we imagined! Just take a look for yourself.

Brand Refresh blog post tailwind

And want to know the best news? 

We documented every single step of   the way to give all of you lovely individuals and business owners a behind-the-scenes look into the process. 

For this blog post, and mainly for all of you guys, I sat down with Justine Gab, a Tailwind Product Designer and a key player in our brand refresh.

And together, we’re going to give you an inside look into the good, the bad, the easy, and the grueling aspects of planning, implementing, and launching a successful brand refresh. 

“I enjoyed the process. It’s both exciting and nerve-wracking because you want it to be great!”

Justine Gab, Tailwind Product Designer

In this post, expect not only to learn how our massive brand refresh went but also what exactly a brand refresh is, why and when to do one, and how to pull it off.

We’ll be breaking it down and giving you all the info and resources you’d need to do your own brand refresh!

Enjoy!

Brand Refresh blog post Justine image
Meet Justine Gab!

What is a Brand Refresh?

Simply put, a brand refresh is like a personal makeover for a company. Refreshes can be anywhere from a new logo (think new haircut or color), to a top to bottom aesthetically pleasing upgrade, and that’s what Tailwind did.

Go big or go home, right? 

A brand refresh usually includes visual updates with an overall revamp of a company’s style, tone, and presentation. It’s a chance to update outdated colors, themes, and graphics to reflect your growing and evolving company. 

Brand Refresh vs Rebranding – What’s the Difference?

A brand refresh and rebrand sound wildly similar and can seem interchangeable to anyone outside the design industry. But despite having familiar names, the two are quite different!

A brand refresh is more of an upgrade, like a makeover or a fresh set of paint. Brand refreshes help a company evolve and remain competitive in the marketplace while maintaining its core identity. With the constantly changing world of design, certain color schemes can look outdated within a few years, and brand refreshes are crucial to remaining relevant so they can keep growing. 

Social media gives customers tons of options for finding products and resources, meaning the competition will always be there. And who will your customers most likely choose to purchase from? A company with outdated branding, or the one that has evolved and obviously knows what they’re doing? Spoiler alert: It’s definitely the latter!

Now, let’s go over rebranding. Rebranding is, in a sense tearing everything down and starting again from scratch. While a brand refresh is more changes/updates to the presentation, rebranding is a complete transformation. 

In a nutshell, a brand refresh is like an episode of Queer Eye, whereas rebranding is like an episode of Extreme Makeover – a transformation to become something or someone else entirely.  

Since it may sound a bit drastic, let’s discuss why rebranding is good for certain circumstances. 

Mainly, rebranding is the perfect chance to reset your brand. Whether your direction or products have drastically changed or the company has been restructured. Rebranding is an opportunity to influence and change customers’ perceptions of your company. 

When to Rebrand:
1. Audience has changed
2. Marketing new services or products
3. Marketing methods aren’t working
4. Current identity is out of date
5. Industry or competition have changed

Alright, now that we’ve thoroughly gone over the difference between the two, let’s jump back into Tailwind’s brand refresh right meow. 

Why (and When) to do a Brand Refresh

Now that we know what a brand refresh is, let’s go over why a company may need one, when to do a brand refresh, and why we choose to refresh the Tailwind brand!

So, why do a brand refresh?

As I mentioned earlier, the market is constantly changing, and if you’re not remaining relevant by evolving too, you’ll fall behind. 

An updated brand can significantly increase your marketplace credibility and help establish authority with both old and new customers. Investing in your brand also makes you appear much more professional and allows customers to take you seriously. 

Brand refreshes can also help you appear at the top of your industry with new cutting-edge colors and designs that will catch people’s attention and make you stand out.

Should you refresh your brand? Let’s take a looky-loo and find out. 

When to do a brand refresh:

  1. Your logo and colors are now outdated.
    • Are your colors and logo stuck in the past? Those outdated color schemes may be preventing you from growing and reaching new people. In marketing, your brand’s appearance is nearly as important as the product. 
  2. Your company voice and values have changed.
    • Does your brand messaging reflect who you and your company have become? Do you need to re-emphasize what your brand is and what it stands for?
  3. You struggle to stay consistent and keep experimenting to find a new direction.
    • Being inconsistent with color schemes and logos can confuse your customers about who you are. A refresh with newly defined colors and designs can help give you the direction to stay consistent and predictable.
  4. Your audience has changed, and the current brand visuals aren’t reaching your intended customers. 
    • As your brand has evolved, your audience may have too, and your current visuals could be preventing you from reaching and connecting with your new target audience. And a refresh can help you narrow down how to find and connect with them. 
  5. Your company is growing and needs to be more versatile and adaptable to your new products and features. 
    • If your company has gone through changes to support new growth, then it may be time for a brand refresh. Whether your products or services have evolved or you want to take a new route in marketing, a brand refresh can help you get there.

And for the sake of transparency, one of Tailwind’s internal values, let’s go over why we decided to do a brand refresh. 

Tailwind launched ten years ago, and while we were learning, tweaking our products, growing our team tremendously to over 50 current employees, and adding new services, the one thing we needed to do was refresh our brand.

And we knew we weren’t the exception. To stay relevant, we needed to refresh.

“There were multiple goals going in, but the biggest goal was that we all change a lot in ten years, and our brand is no exception.

We wanted to update our look to reflect all the ways that Tailwind has expanded to help marketers do better marketing.”

Justine Gab

We also needed some guidance regarding updated colors for marketing purposes and to stay relevant to our customer base of cutting-edge business owners.

Tailwind Transparency Value: Before vs. After

Brand Refresh blog post old transparency

“We’re making changes to be more modern and more user-friendly, because those are things that are important to consumers. Especially when you’re serving a market of small business owners, the people who are going and using these tools all the time.”

Justine Gab

As a business that prides itself on being a small business and an entrepreneur’s marketing team, it was vital that our designs show how relevantly current we are to re-establish the authority we used to blaze into the marketplace back in 2011.

And not to be biased, but our new colors and logo have done just that, launching us into 2022 and beyond! 

But we aren’t done yet! Next, let’s go over a brand refresh strategy. 

How to Do a Brand Refresh (From Start to Finish!)

So, what all goes into a brand refresh, and how long does it take? The project can feel intimidating, and refreshing a brand can be pretty extensive, especially if it has been over five years since you last updated your company’s look. So, where do you even start?

In this section, we’ll answer your burning questions by sharing parts of my interview with Justine as we discuss the various steps and stages of how to refresh a brand. From finding and working with an agency, what you need to provide, and what to expect. 

How long does a brand refresh typically take?

“It depends on the scope of the project. This one [Tailwind’s] is probably going to be about four to six months total. But a lot of changes are happening, and there’s a lot of ground to cover. There’s a lot of updates to be made in a lot of different places.

What we did was going to be about four to six months, maybe even longer for some pieces that are low touch point pieces. But I mean it can be a couple of months to a year, two years. It depends on how large the brand is.”

Now, let’s introduce you to Tailwind’s internal dream team who represented our company and took on the massive task of refreshing our brand.

Assembling the Team

One of the most important parts of the process is choosing which members to represent your company and advocate for your brand’s identity. 

You’ll want members who work well together, have been in the company a while, know the foundations really well, and are organized.

It’s also a good idea to have a member of each department to make sure everyone is getting a say in its new direction.

I was the Creative Manager and Visual Designer on the marketing side, and then Sam Provenza was the UX Manager on the product side. We represented the company designers in the mix. Then there was the VP of Product, Product Marketing Manager,and the Director of Marketing also on the team.”

Justine

Justine mentioned in the interview that no one on the brand refresh team had ever been part of a project like this before, and had to figure it out together. However, we had product, marketing, and leadership closely involved making sure the process ran smoothly and successfully.

The process was time-consuming and tedious, but Tailwind’s brand refresh team worked together to represent our company and hired an outside agency to make our vision a reality.  In the next section, we’ll discuss how Tailwind found the agency we worked with and what it was like working with one.

Finding an Agency

One of the game changers for Tailwind’s brand refresh was using an agency to help our dream team piece together a strong vision now and into the future. 

While choosing an agency to help your vision come to life can help the process become much easier, finding an agency that’s a good fit is another big task. Along with that, you’ve got to organize your wants, needs, and asks. Because the clearer your vision, the better they can get it right.

Using Tailwind’s experience as an example, Justine will detail what all went into finding and choosing an agency, along with what it was like working with one.

Step 1: Deciding what to include in the refresh. 

“A big part of me being on the team was building out a document saying these are the things that need to be refreshed, this is why we need them refreshed, and this is who would benefit from this refresh or who would use these new designs or elements, right?”

Narrowing down what you need to do and why it is necessary is imperative for a company’s leadership team to sign off on the task and put together a budget. 

This brings us to the next section!

Step 2: Plan a budget.

I created a list of the table stakes and the nice to have options. We had a budget from the beginning, with a little bit of flexibility, but you absolutely need to look for someone who’s within your budget. Some of these companies might have a minimum, like a certain amount, before they would even consider working with you.

Having a budget you can afford will greatly help you weed through agencies and make sure you find one that’ll be a great fit and can keep the whole refresh team happy.

Step 3: Set a timeline.

“The other thing that was important for us to some extent was the timeline. There might be an agency out there who says they’d love to work with you, but let’s say they can’t start work until two months down the line. That wasn’t going to work for us.”

Setting a proposed deadline and timeline helps an agency know if they can work with you or not, depending on if they can make your timeline work.

Brand refresh agencies have multiple projects going at once, and if you have a strict timeline, like Tailwind, for example, we wanted a brand refresh to coincide with our 10th anniversary, then that can be a huge deciding factor. Your refresh team should calculate the timeline before meeting with agencies.

Step 4: Narrowing down agencies based on your non-negotiables.

“We made a list of five agencies. And in that list, we made sure the pricing was aligned, they were going to fit our budget, and they had experience in the SaaS industry. We really wanted to work with an agency that had worked with other companies like us. It’s so important to work with someone who understands your industry. That’s key.”

There was also a lot of research going into making the list of agencies. Our internal brand refresh team scoured past projects of agencies using Dribbble, a step Justine highly recommends.

A great way to narrow down agencies is by looking at their portfolio to see if they have experience with similar businesses in your industry. Seeing relatable examples can give you confidence that the agency will understand your ask and allow you to see how the execution will look.

That related experience will save you time from beginning to end! 

After deciding on possible agencies, you schedule meetings with the chosen ones to share what you’re looking for and determine if you may be a good fit. 

Step 5: Meet with the agencies. 

“We met and formed a list of agencies who we would like to work with, reached out to them, and then set up meetings and basically gave them all this information of what we want to do, what our budget is, and our timeline. And then they came back with a proposal.”

Meeting with an agency is a chance to feel each other out while sharing your vision, timeline, and budget.

Next, the agency puts together a proposal that will show you how well they understood your ask and determine which agency is the right fit. And if there are multiple offers you find amazing, I recommend a quick game of eenie-meenie-miney-mo. (KIDDING!) 

Then, you get to pick the one you think best matches what you’re looking for. 

“We went with an agency called Bruno. And in their proposal, they outline how they’re going to help us achieve these goals, get a new logo, get all of those things. And we had a cadence of meeting once a week with them.”

 And now we’ll be detailing the experience we had hiring outside help.

Identifying Work to Be Done

After choosing Bruno, it was time to plan and strategize the brand refresh and everything that needed to be done. 

Table Stakes: 

The bare minimum of what we need with this refresh. So it included things like the logo, color palette, typography, visual style guide, and iconography. 

Nice to Haves:

Things that can elevate the brand but weren’t necessary for the agency to deliver on. Things like that would be an animated logo, color system proportions, abstract UI elements, and more complex graphic elements. 

Ultimate Wishlist:

That was stuff like a video style guide, animated icons, custom iconography, animated illustrations. Things that are just really cool to have but probably aren’t going to happen, which is dependent on budget.

Having everything so detailed and laid out is a sure way to make sure you get exactly what you want and that no one will waste their time putting together something you may or may not like. This way, everyone is a winner.

Once the brand refresh team laid it all out to Bruno, they took the ideas and made it into a mood board, which brings us to the next part. 

First Impressions and Discovery

This was Bruno’s first attempt at visualizing and piecing together who Tailwind is, our personality, and the visual direction we were hoping to head in. (And this part was Justine’s favorite!)

The team put together a series of mood boards for Tailwind, helping identify what we liked, didn’t like, and what felt in line with the brand.

“And then they went back and created a specific mood board, which is just another iteration of the general mood boards but getting closer to what we would want. And then, based on our feedback, they went and created designs, a color palette, and basically, everything you see today. But it just starts to get a little more polished along the way.”

Below is the specific mood board Bruno put together for Tailwind!

Brand Refresh blog post mood board

Getting the Deliverables 

Once Bruno and the whole brand refresh team narrowed down who Tailwind was and what our persona looked and felt like, it was time for Bruno to get to work and put pen to paper. Or, Apple Pen to iPad, or something like that.

The Brand Book

The brand book is a 90-95 page book with our new company design rules to stay within the brand. It goes over our image, personality, and every detail of who we are. 

“Oh gosh, the brand book. It’s amazing. It’s just visual delight and goodness. I think creativity thrives in spaces where there are parameters, rules, and guidance. The brand book took all of the work that had been done over the past four months and turned it into a  finished product. It’s the deliverable that’s delightful to look at. It’s beautiful to share. It’s inspiring. It’s invigorating.”

Having a brand book makes it easy and cohesive for the entire company to remain within the same parameters for representing Tailwind’s image. The brand book is something our entire company can refer to for years to come regarding any questions related to who and what Tailwind is. 

Logo

One of the main changes in our brand refresh was updating and revitalizing our logo. 

A logo is what customers see first and is one of the most important, if not the most crucial part of a brand’s visual identity because it introduces who you are, what you do, and how you can benefit them. 

Having a fresh and updated logo is especially important in a SaaS business that primarily deals with social media’s ever-changing world.

“Tailwind’s eight-year-old logo needed a refresh and modern design to reflect the evolution of the brand. And a logo that allowed for sub-branding was also a plus. And you kind of need to remind people, hey, we’re still around.

Font

Another design element Bruno helped us narrow down was Tailwind’s approved font. Our new font, Studio Feixen Sans Bold, is described as being friendly and simple, which felt perfect for our brand’s personality. 

Colors

Tailwind decided on five core colors which our entire company voted on, giving unique names. While some of my personal favorite name options didn’t make the cut, (*cough* “shark”), The names we did pick are quirky, fun, and somewhat short.

This is actually really important, for the sake of the designers that have to input them over and over again.

Our chosen color names are Jam, Sky, Sunflower, Salmon, and Smoke! Check them out below, and try not to get too jealous.

All of the deliverables far exceeded not only the brand refresh dream team’s expectations but the company as a whole. Shortly after the brand book was given to us, Justine and Sam hosted a company-wide meeting where they showed off the new exciting visuals, colors, fonts, and personality.

Everyone was oohing and ahhing at the new exciting and clear direction we were going in as a team. And at the new cutting edge colors, graphics, and animated logo.

Our new refresh is sustainable to launch us into the future while keeping us competitive in the workplace and showing who we are and what we are. These new guidelines will allow us to remain consistent throughout departments and give our design team clear guidelines and instructions.

Sage Tips from Justine on How to Do a Seamless Brand Refresh

Justine and the rest of the brand refresh team can no longer say they’ve never done a project like this before as they’re officially brand refresh seasoned pros! 

Now that Justine has some experience under her belt, she has some tips for anyone else embarking on the journey of refreshing your brand, and ways to make sure this is the best move for your company. 

1. Resources

“I think it’s important to understand if you have the resources to accomplish something like this. And I’m not just talking about financial resources.

There’s also the reality of getting something great back and then finding out you don’t have anyone to execute on updating these things. So I think understanding resources is crucial.”

2. Be Realistic

“I think being realistic about it is important, especially when it comes to resources. Know the resources you have, both financially and in terms of manpower.

Because it is a lot of work. It’s months and months of work. And it can easily get derailed or get pushed back if no one is there to kind of keep pushing it forward.”

3. Know What You Want

“You have to know what you want. At least it will make it a lot easier to know what you want. Like I said earlier about making the list of, ‘these are all of the things that we want or need to be updated in order to make it worth it.”

4. Have a Rollout Plan

“I think something that is overlooked is a rollout plan. And really, a rollout plan should be thought about in the beginning because it comes back to resources and manpower.

Timing is crucial for something like this. You can have the perfect new brand and the perfect new visual identity. But if it’s not being rolled out, or if it’s being rolled out in a way that’s either slow or not fully thought through – like maybe some places get the rollout, other places don’t – it can be a failure.

And it would be due to lack of planning and resourcing.”

5. Trust the Process

“It can be hard for non-creatives in the mood board phase to understand what will come out of this. That process can feel chaotic in some instances.

So I think just trusting the process and trusting the company [if you work with an outside agency] to do great work. And give them candid feedback will help guide you to the end result.”

6. Know When to Pick Your Battles

“Know when to pick your battles. Because inevitably, you are going to disagree with someone else who you are working with about something. And understanding that, is that a hill you are willing to die to push that issue further?

Or is it inconsequential in the long run? Because you can’t fight everything. It’s exhausting, and people aren’t going to want to work with you. It’s good to concede on some points if you either don’t feel strongly about them or they’re inconsequential.

It’s okay to let those pieces go and fight for what you believe in when that time comes.”


So now you know how to pull off a successful brand refresh and what the process looks like from a company perspective. While there were many parts to juggle, the changes were needed and welcomed by our company as a whole.

And now we all get to be part of the big reveal, right on the heels of our tenth anniversary!

Thank you, Justine, Sam, Bruno, and the rest of our brand refresh team for the tremendous work you’ve done making our brand look great!

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How to Design Your Social Media Posts Like a Pro (with Tailwind!)

Without formal design training, creating social media designs for multiple platforms can seem like a really intimidating task. Especially if it’s up to you as a small business owner or marketer (without a design team to back you up) to have a presence on these digital marketing platforms!

The good news is that it’s not as hard or as time-intensive as you might think to generate consistent content across all your favorite platforms like Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook. 

In fact, all it takes is a few clicks in our Tailwind Create tool!

Let’s dive into exactly what it takes to fill your social media content calendar with branded designs for each of your platforms.

But first, we’ll spend some time on why branding on social media is so important for small businesses – and how establishing your branding guidelines early on will make this process even faster!

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Why Brand Your Social Media Posts?

We’re so glad you asked. Most people know that from a business perspective, your posts should be branded. But you might not understand exactly why it’s important! That’s okay, we’ll break it down:

Branding Your Social Posts Helps Communicate Your Story and Personality

Humans take visual cues from just about anything they look at. For example, color psychology is a very real science studying how people react to different colors and the emotions that they invoke.

Fonts also evoke emotion and give people a very real impression of who you are and what you’re about from their computer or phone screens. Careful choices in color, font, and design elements can act as a calling card for your personality, without you ever saying a word!

Branding Your Social Posts Creates Brand Recognition and Awareness

Think for a moment about how many posts you see scrolling through your timeline or feed on social media platforms. 

Now, think of one or two of your favorite brands or accounts. Can you immediately pick out a post from one of these accounts in the feed without reading the caption? Chances are, you can. This is because you’ve been exposed to this brand often enough to immediately recognize their signature designs!

Firming up your branding and sticking to it will create this same instant recognition among your followers. That in turn builds trust and loyalty.

Branding Your Social Posts Helps Prevent Content Theft

Honestly, it’s a bummer that this has to make it on the list, but it’s true. When you hit publish on your designs, that means they’re ripe for the picking on the web. Other users on social media can easily save and use your unbranded designs as their own content.

When you add your website, your company logo, and even recognizable details from your branding like fonts and colors to the social media designs you publish, it becomes a lot harder for other people to pass them off as their own.

If you’ve worked hard on your designs, your content, and your business, you definitely don’t want someone else to get credit! That’s why we recommend branding your social posts – especially graphics.

How to Brand Your Social Media Posts with Tailwind

So now you know why you should be taking the time to brand your social media posts – now let’s talk about how you do it with Tailwind! It all happens in just a few quick steps. 

Once you’re in your Tailwind social media management dashboard, take a look at the left-hand menu. You should see a paintbrush icon – this is our powerful design tool, Tailwind Create!

Before you dive into designing your social posts, you’ll want to set up your branding tools. Click the paintbrush icon, and then select Brand Settings from the top menu.

Step One: Add In Your Website or Brand Name

You can enter your company name (ex: Sample Company) or website (ex: www.samplecompany.com).

This will be automatically generated on all your designs in Tailwind Create, as well as your logos (more on that later!)

Brand Settings view in Tailwind Create

Step Two: Select Fonts, Or Upload Your Own!

Tailwind Create has dozens of fonts to choose from to craft the perfect font pairings for your social media designs.

Just browse our available fonts for your title font and subtitle font.

If you need inspiration, check out our curated font pairing choices! Or, upload your custom brand font files if you have them handy!


Step Three: Choose Your Brand Colors

Now that you have your fonts all squared away, you’ll want to add your brand colors into Tailwind Create. This ensures that all of the designs in Create are personalized with your brand colors – talk about cutting down design time!

Choosing your four brand colors in Create is super easy to do. If you know the Hex or RGB codes of your colors, just click on each colored circle and copy and paste. You can also move the dropper tool around until you find the perfect shade!

Tailwind Create also has tons of curated color palettes to browse! If you’re a big believer in seasonal color theory (we are!), you’ll love the curated palettes for the seasons!


Step Four: Upload Your Brand Logos

The final step in your journey to creating perfectly branded social media posts in Tailwind Create is to upload your logos. This is an optional step if you don’t have a logo, but gives you more flexibility with the presentation of branding on your designs!

Upload 200 x 200 pixel logo files by clicking the grey plus sign icon. Make sure your files are .pngs, so the backgrounds of your logos are transparent and can be overlayed onto your design with ease!

Pro Design Tip: Upload your logo in a few different colorways so that you have plenty of flexibility. For example, Tailwind has a blue and a white version of our logo, so that we have plenty of contrast and visibility on every design!


How to Design Your Social Media Posts with Tailwind

Now that you’ve done all the legwork of inputting your brand settings into Tailwind Create, it’s time for the fun part! Creating the perfect social media designs with Tailwind is so easy. In fact, you’re starting from almost done with each design already personalized to your brand as soon as they cross your screen!

Here’s how it works!

Step One: Upload Your Photo

Head on over to Design Gallery, and upload the photo or photos you want to create designs for. If you don’t have a photo handy, you can browse our library of Stock Photos!

If you want to use photos from your website, enter the URL of the page you’d like to pull from.

Available images from that page will populate below, and you can select the ones you’d like to use!

You’ll notice designs start to populate in the gallery with your selected images. You can select any that catch your eye or use the smart filters in our design gallery to find designs matched to your industry, type of content, number of photos, and favorite social platforms.


Step Two: Filter Designs By Your Industry (And More!)

With your photos in place, it’s time to personalize your Tailwind Create designs even more! Take a look at the top menu options above your Design Gallery. You’ll see Post Types, Photo Count, and Categories.

Post Types allows you to see your designs for specific platforms – you’ll find options for Instagram Feed Posts, Instagram Stories, Pinterest Pins, and Facebook Feed Posts here.

Photo Count allows you to preview your creations based on how many photos will be included in the design. You can see design options for “multiple photos”, “one photo”, “no photos”, or “any number of photos” here.

Category is where you can narrow down your design styles based on things like:

  • Content (is your post about a product, a blog post, a quote?)
  • Promotion (is this an ad design, an announcement, or a contest?)
  • Industry (are you in the animals & pets, entertainment, fashion, or travel niche?)
  • Style (is your brand modern, minimalist, artistic or festive?)
  • Seasonal (are you designing for Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter?)

Choose the filters that best fit the content you’re looking to create on social media, and watch personalized designs based on your choices fill the screen!


Step Three: Review Your Designs and Make Necessary Tweaks

Now that you’ve got hyper-specific social post designs customized to your brand needs, it’s time to pick your favorites and make any tweaks!

Hit the Photos button to see the design with your other photo selections, or to rearrange the placement of multiple photos in a design.

Hint: this will only work if you’ve selected more than one photo in Step One!

Hit the Layouts button to see the design in different layouts. You’ll see several different options for text placement, picture placement, and justification.

Hit the Colors button to see the image with different combinations of your brand colors. To the right, you can see the different choices from the uploaded brand fonts being used in the element and overlay colors!

You can also click the Edit button to make more in-depth tweaks to your design. You can add additional text, add or remove design elements, or make changes to your photo if your original selections just aren’t working the way you want them to.

In this screen, you can also physically move around any elements of the design!


Step Four: Review Your Branding

Before you’re done creating your social media designs, check your branding one more time. Thanks to the work we did putting in our brand settings above, you should have some options in your Design Settings!

Click on the Branding heading to see branding options for your designs.

You can set your Website or Brand Name to automatically populate on all your social media designs. If you’d rather use your logo, select Logo and the version you’d like to work with.

The designs in your gallery will automatically update with your choices, so you have full power over how your social media post is branded, every time!


Step Five: Select and Schedule Your Social Media Posts

As you finish reviewing and tweaking each of your favorite designs, you’ll want to hit the Select button under each to save them! You can search for new designs, edit and select them one after the other – no need to interrupt your workflow to review and download until the end!

Once you’ve finished designing to your heart’s content for all your platforms, hit the big green Review button in the bottom right corner of your screen. This will show you all of your selected designs, and allow you to do a final check.

If you feel like you need to just move that one thing in order to have a picture-perfect post, just hit the edit button and get that tweaking out of your system! Your designs will still be there waiting for you on your Review screen.

When you’re ready, return to this screen and either download all your images by hitting the download button, or tap the green Go Schedule button to seamlessly send your designs to your Tailwind social media scheduler drafts. It couldn’t be easier to create your social media posts, schedule, and post them with this workflow! ✨

Have any questions about branding your social designs or using Tailwind Create? Drop them in the comments below – we read every one!

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Read our guide for in-depth tips on branding and designing your social media posts - and find out why branding social media posts is so important!

Instagram Story Template Guide: How to Find + Use Them

Instagram Story templates are a life-saver for busy marketers.

Whether you need a little something in your back pocket for creating beautiful Instagram Stories designs, need inspo for Stories content, or just want to save yourself some time – a good set of templates can make all the difference!

But how do you find a good set of Instagram Story templates, or even make your own?

That’s what we’re here to answer! In this blog post, we’re covering what an Instagram story template is, why you should use it – and our favorite apps and tools for creating Instagram Stories.

Benefits of Instagram Stories

Sooo… what is an Instagram Story template? Basically, it’s a pre-made Instagram Story sized design (9:16) with graphics, text, and even animations that you can customize to your brand.

In the past, most templates were made in programs like PhotoShop or apps like Canva, and allowed you to customize font styles, text placement, color palettes, and more!

However, Tailwind has launched our own version of “templates”. You upload your website and brand colors, your logo, and give us the text and the photos and we’ll mix it up and give you dozens of pin designs that you can just automatically select and load into Tailwind.

You can get ideas for designs you’d never have otherwise thought of, and the best part is, it only takes seconds to create a design.

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You Should Be Using Instagram Story Templates – Here’s Why!

If you haven’t already started looking for an IG Story Template or two, now is your chance! After all, having a stash of branded Instagram Stories templates is a smart move for your social media marketing strategy.

Here are the three main reasons why:

IG Story templates create recognizable Instagram branding for your business.

As your followers interact with more and more of your content and begin to recognize your distinct color palette, fonts and voice on Stories or Instagram posts, brand awareness is being built. And that’s valuable!

Instagram Story templates save you major time and energy.

When you have a stack of Instagram templates for all your content types (think: photos, text posts, collages, product features, etc.), you don’t have to puzzle over design details and putting everything together. Just pop in your content and go!

This is also important because Instagram Stories only last for 24 hours. You want to create quality content, but not spend a ton of time on a post that’s only there for a day!

Story templates will help you “Stop the Swipe.”

Clean, professional-looking designs are so eye-catching in a sea of (usually) unpolished photos and videos in the Stories feed. Your followers are more likely to pause and take notice of your Stories post when they look well-crafted. This gives more time for your various calls to action to be noticed!

So, you get the picture. Stories templates can really help you make more impact in less time!

Now that we have you convinced, let’s talk about the different types of Instagram Story templates and where you can find them in our resource list below!

Types of Instagram Story Templates

When you’re on the hunt for the perfect set of templates, it’s important to know where to look and what you need.

Depending on your technical skill, editing preferences, and branding needs, one type may make more sense than another!

The three types are Story prompt templates, mobile app Story templates, and downloadable Stories template packs. We’ll get into the details below:

1. Story Template Prompts and Inspiration

Figuring out how your Story should look is often just the first (and easiest!) step. Next, you’ll need to figure out what to post, and create enough content ideas to keep followers engaged and interested day after day!

That’s where Story prompts like Tailwind’s new Story Starters come in handy!

With this free download, you’ll get the best of both worlds: Story content inspiration, and free templates and instructions that help you make world-class Stories in just minutes.

Did we mention it’s free? That’s 4 weeks of daily content at your fingertips!

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2. Mobile App Story Templates

There are several popular mobile and web apps that make personalizing IG Story templates with your personal branding a breeze.

Template apps are usually favored by novice and beginner social graphic designers because you don’t need a lot of technical know-how to create and customize template designs. That’s why Tailwind Create is ideal, you don’t need any design or branding experience to create beautiful, engaging posts for your feed. 

Another major bonus? Tailwind Create is free, so you won’t break the bank!

Story creation in StorySwag mobile app
Editing a story in StorySwag

Our Favorite Instagram Story Templates

These are a few of our favorite examples for mobile or desktop. These come from our amazing users (who have some amazing brands of their own, if we may say so ourselves)!

If these seem like something you’d love to create for your own brand (in seconds might we add) give Tailwind Create a free trial!

Instagram Story Templates

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Schedule Your New Instagram Stories with Tailwind

Now that you have tons of templates and inspiration for new Stories content, why not take advantage of Tailwind’s new Story scheduling feature?

You can schedule Instagram Stories from your desktop or phone. Just upload your images and videos, add text, and find the best hashtags for your Story to increase reach!

You can try it out here [sc name=’get-a-free-trial-of-tailwind-for-instagram’] – no credit card required!

[sc name=”instagram-boilerplate”]

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