10 Graphic Design Tips for Beginners and Non-Designers
                     10 Graphic Design Tips for Beginners and Non-Designers
A good set of graphic design tips always comes in handy when you are a beginner graphic designer, or  
even a non-designers on the journey to teach yourself some practical graphic design skills. Here are  
some practical graphic design tips for beginners and non-designers.
1. Select the Right Fonts:
Clarity in design and readability is highly important. Make sure not to restrict your designs to one font  
only. Try to experiment with different styles of fonts and stick to a unique font style for your current  
project you’re focusing. Explore different opportunities, instead of picking those dull default fonts.
2. Use a small color scheme:
Choose a color scheme that has 1-3 primary colors and an additional 1-3 secondary colors that contrast  
and complement each other. Use different tones of the same color for consistency by adjusting  
brightness for contrast. Finer typefaces will need stronger distinction against a colored background.
Honey Jar Mockup Collection
3. Use white space:
Create a fluid design by surrounding words with white space to let elements breathe. The application of  
space around text boxes, images and other graphic elements makes a design easier to read. It’s also  
more likely to attract attention than a cluttered composition.
4. Select Consistent Images:
Ensure that the quality of images remains absolutely consistent throughout your design. The quality,  
framing, style, proportions, and lighting of those elements should stay constant all through your design.  
The graphics, diagrams, images, and illustrations that you use should add a perfect meaning to your  
project. Pouch Mockup 2020
5. Contrast is key:
Contrast is one of the most imperative parts of the design for mood, legibility and to make it stand out.  
Use a contrasting color palette background, fonts, and graphics. Use photo filters to enhance the  
positive/negative space in an image and apply black or white to copy to create optimum contrast against  
a background image. A good rule of thumb is if you have a light colored background then you should use  
a dark font (and vice versa).
6. Align your objects:
This helps to keep design elements in a presentable order, regardless of their differing sizes. Proper  
alignment is an easy way to give your images a sophisticated and professional look.
7. Use a line (or two) to create a sense of order:
Lines help to anchor items in an image and create the sense that there is an overall order. Use lines in  
your image by putting them around blocks of text – there by anchoring the text.
You can also put lines as “separators” between various elements in the image. In this latter case, the  
sense of elements being separated furthers the feeling of planning and coordination in the design.
8. Add text over images by adjusting brightness levels:
When your design involves putting text over images, adjust the brightness level of the background  image 
or add a color overlay. This way the background image will offset the color of the text, causing the  text 
to be readable and the design to still look clean and clear.
9. Keep your designs simple:
Keep it simple, but don’t forget your basics. Make sure every element has a reason to be in the design  
and keep the number of fonts, colors, shapes and frames to a minimum. Use contrasting tonal color  
combinations to text is sharp and easy to read. Applying a solid frame to contain your copy will enhance  
the compositional structure of a design.
10. Use hierarchy to order your content:
The most visually dominant feature in a design should be the most important part of the message. Apply  
color or scale to a graphic to see how it changes the hierarchy of elements and what grabs attention  
first.