Aesthetics on social media

Okay kids. It’s time to talk aesthetics on social media - namely, instagram.

[spoiler alert - a clean, cohesive feed is tres-importante if you have a business].

Let’s start with images. Newsflash - instagram is all about them visuals [and killer content to back it up, of course!]. When people click on a profile, they see the first 9 squares – aka your brand’s ethos. The aesthetics will probably make them stay and play [read: follow] or pounce and bounce.

Yup, a clean, cohesive look is pretty important if you have a brand, business or product. Not only does it help your business stand out, it highlights your brand’s attitude too. And peeps do judge a book [read: business] by its instagram feed so make sure you’ve got great, high res images backing up your great content - the two go together like Nutella and a spoon, really.

People often ask about my IG + FB images and/or weigh in on the look + feel. As a service based biz, I don’t have many images of my own so I pilfer - and credit! - from pinterest, google or other like-minded accounts.

I do try and upload a mix of my own [questionable] photography too. Once I have a few images in the ol’ image bank, I use the @plannthat app. it helps ‘plann’ my images for visual appeal + conceptual cohesion. Ooo. Ahhh.

So over to you. Are your images bold and colourful? Dreamy and ethereal? Monochromatic? Are you going for a consistent pattern of posts? [ie quote, photo, product, quote, photo, product]. What’s the mood you’re trying to convey? Nail your account concept and away you post.

Some ideas to help you get a fresh AF IG feed [hint: consistency is key]

- Choose 3 - 5 colours and roll out these colours across your IG tiles, making sure the colours you have chosen feature in each photo. Pick a colour that suits your content + aesthetic.

- Choose a pattern on your grid - another popular theme is repeating a pattern of around three different types of images. Like quote, image, selfie <eek> so it looks cohesive on your feed. Mix up the photos, quotes, whatever but try not to make your feed to ‘busy’ and if it is busy make sure all photos work nicely next to each other.

- Pick a common subject. If you have a bizzo or brand which sells something in particular - let’s say juice - then make sure the juice is your hero in your imagery. And then base other images around it like fruit etc..

- Pick a filter and use that for every post.

- Play with the colour tool in instagram to get the right shadows / highlights.

- Use an app like Plann, VSCO or A Color Story.

All this not only looks pleasing on the eyes, but it can help improve engagement + connect with your audience. And that’s a win win.

Neon Moose is an Adelaide based creative with over 15+ years of experience in social media, marketing, PR and copywriting.