As a boutique marketing agency owner, I’ve seen firsthand how important it is to stay organized, efficient, and within budget. That’s why I’ve tried and tested countless online tools to find the most cost-effective options that deliver exceptional results. In this post, I’m sharing my top three affordable online tools that arguably could be your only toolset for complete social media or content management – and all for under $50 a month!
Canva isn’t exactly unknown – in fact by now, your mom has probably heard of Canva. But the hype is warranted. If you’re looking for an online design tool that delivers professional-grade graphics without needing a design degree, Canva is your answer. This incredible tool is packed with features that allow you to create visually stunning designs, even if you have no design experience. From social media graphics to email headers, Canva’s templates, and drag-and-drop interface make it easy to create beautiful designs that will captivate your audience.
With Canva, you can customize your designs with your brand’s colors, fonts, and logos, making it an essential tool for maintaining brand consistency across all your marketing materials.
Why I love it:
I am a trained Graphic Designer and know all industry-leading software like the back of my hand. But sometimes less is more, and when trying to get content out the door, Canva is the “work smarter, not harder” option for me. I love that you can pre-enter multiple brand guides and easily switch between them. I love how easy it is to access stock photography, design, elements, etc. Plus, the pricing for this tool starts at FREE. Though if you can afford it, the paid plans (starting at $16.99 CAD) offer so many additional features it’s definitely worth it.
If you’re still manually scheduling your social media posts, you’re wasting valuable time that could be better spent on other tasks. That’s where Plann That comes in. This incredible social media scheduling tool allows you to plan and schedule your posts in advance, saving you time and helping you stay on top of your social media game. Plann That even integrates directly with Canva from within the platform.
Plann That offers a user-friendly interface that allows you to drag and drop your posts, add captions, and hashtags, and even plan your Instagram feed visually. Plus, with Plann That, you’ll never miss a post or forget to engage with your followers again.
Why I love it:
I really like the aesthetic of Plann That. Sure, there are loads of other scheduling software that do the same thing. But as a designer working in Plann That is a delight on the eyes. It’s also not bloated with a bunch of functionality you probably don’t need. But the features that it does offer are super helpful. I love the Strategy feature where you can add your Client’s themes and develop a content strategy. I love how you can visually see how your feeds will look so you can plan aesthetically (this is important to me). And finally, I love the hashtag feature – where you can search for or create hashtag sets that can easily be added to your posts. Plann That starts at $15/month – so if you are just starting out, this is a great cost-effective option.
As a marketing agency, you must be able to provide your clients with detailed and accurate reports demonstrating your services’ value. This is where Dashthis comes in. This online reporting tool allows you to create custom reports that integrate all your marketing data into one place. With Dashthis, you can easily create reports highlighting your successes and showing your clients how their investment is paying off.
Dashthis integrates with all the major marketing platforms like Google Analytics, Facebook Ads, and more, making it easy to gather all your data in one place. Plus, with its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, you can create custom reports in minutes, saving you time and helping you deliver exceptional value to your clients.
Why I love it:
I think Dashthis flies under the radar for most marketers, but it’s a super powerful tool. One of the features I really like about Dashthis is the ability to make year-over-year comparisons. As many of our clients are located in Whistler, it is more important to compare this December to last December rather than month-over-month comparisons, which are the standard (and limitation) for most reporting software. Also, it offers the ability to create custom client dashboards that you can link directly to, making it easy to share with Clients. It’s not as robust as some analytic and reporting software out there – but for the average client, it will be more than enough. Starting at $33/month, Dashthis is a great low-risk option for newbies.
In Conclusion
Canva, Plann That, and Dashthis combined offer a pretty solid and complete toolset for those looking to manage social media or content in general – and are perfect for small business owners, solopreneurs, social media managers, or consultants who are just starting out or don’t have much capital to invest in fancy-pants software. These tools will help you stay organized and efficient and deliver exceptional results to your clients without breaking the bank. Your monthly investment could be as low as $50 per month at the starting prices for each. So, do you need to spend hundreds of dollars monthly on social media management tools to do a great job? No, absolutely not. Of course, those fancy tools do have some serious perks – but unless you are managing several higher-profile clients, the bloat probably isn’t worth the buck.
Manage Social Media Like a Boss with Only 3 Tools (and all for Under $50/month)
As a boutique marketing agency owner, I’ve seen firsthand how important it is to stay organized, efficient, and within budget. That’s why I’ve tried and tested countless online tools to find the most cost-effective options that deliver exceptional results. In this post, I’m sharing my top three affordable online tools that arguably could be your only toolset for complete social media or content management – and all for under $50 a month!
Canva – The Ultimate Design Tool
Canva isn’t exactly unknown – in fact by now, your mom has probably heard of Canva. But the hype is warranted. If you’re looking for an online design tool that delivers professional-grade graphics without needing a design degree, Canva is your answer. This incredible tool is packed with features that allow you to create visually stunning designs, even if you have no design experience. From social media graphics to email headers, Canva’s templates, and drag-and-drop interface make it easy to create beautiful designs that will captivate your audience.
With Canva, you can customize your designs with your brand’s colors, fonts, and logos, making it an essential tool for maintaining brand consistency across all your marketing materials.
Why I love it:
I am a trained Graphic Designer and know all industry-leading software like the back of my hand. But sometimes less is more, and when trying to get content out the door, Canva is the “work smarter, not harder” option for me. I love that you can pre-enter multiple brand guides and easily switch between them. I love how easy it is to access stock photography, design, elements, etc. Plus, the pricing for this tool starts at FREE. Though if you can afford it, the paid plans (starting at $16.99 CAD) offer so many additional features it’s definitely worth it.
Plann That – The Social Media Scheduling Tool
If you’re still manually scheduling your social media posts, you’re wasting valuable time that could be better spent on other tasks. That’s where Plann That comes in. This incredible social media scheduling tool allows you to plan and schedule your posts in advance, saving you time and helping you stay on top of your social media game. Plann That even integrates directly with Canva from within the platform.
Plann That offers a user-friendly interface that allows you to drag and drop your posts, add captions, and hashtags, and even plan your Instagram feed visually. Plus, with Plann That, you’ll never miss a post or forget to engage with your followers again.
Why I love it:
I really like the aesthetic of Plann That. Sure, there are loads of other scheduling software that do the same thing. But as a designer working in Plann That is a delight on the eyes. It’s also not bloated with a bunch of functionality you probably don’t need. But the features that it does offer are super helpful. I love the Strategy feature where you can add your Client’s themes and develop a content strategy. I love how you can visually see how your feeds will look so you can plan aesthetically (this is important to me). And finally, I love the hashtag feature – where you can search for or create hashtag sets that can easily be added to your posts. Plann That starts at $15/month – so if you are just starting out, this is a great cost-effective option.
Dashthis – The Reporting Tool You Need
As a marketing agency, you must be able to provide your clients with detailed and accurate reports demonstrating your services’ value. This is where Dashthis comes in. This online reporting tool allows you to create custom reports that integrate all your marketing data into one place. With Dashthis, you can easily create reports highlighting your successes and showing your clients how their investment is paying off.
Dashthis integrates with all the major marketing platforms like Google Analytics, Facebook Ads, and more, making it easy to gather all your data in one place. Plus, with its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, you can create custom reports in minutes, saving you time and helping you deliver exceptional value to your clients.
Why I love it:
I think Dashthis flies under the radar for most marketers, but it’s a super powerful tool. One of the features I really like about Dashthis is the ability to make year-over-year comparisons. As many of our clients are located in Whistler, it is more important to compare this December to last December rather than month-over-month comparisons, which are the standard (and limitation) for most reporting software. Also, it offers the ability to create custom client dashboards that you can link directly to, making it easy to share with Clients. It’s not as robust as some analytic and reporting software out there – but for the average client, it will be more than enough. Starting at $33/month, Dashthis is a great low-risk option for newbies.
In Conclusion
Canva, Plann That, and Dashthis combined offer a pretty solid and complete toolset for those looking to manage social media or content in general – and are perfect for small business owners, solopreneurs, social media managers, or consultants who are just starting out or don’t have much capital to invest in fancy-pants software. These tools will help you stay organized and efficient and deliver exceptional results to your clients without breaking the bank. Your monthly investment could be as low as $50 per month at the starting prices for each. So, do you need to spend hundreds of dollars monthly on social media management tools to do a great job? No, absolutely not. Of course, those fancy tools do have some serious perks – but unless you are managing several higher-profile clients, the bloat probably isn’t worth the buck.
The Power of Colour in Branding: How to Create an Emotional Connection with Your Customers
The importance of color in branding cannot be overstated. Color has the power to evoke emotion, set the tone, and communicate the right message to your target audience. It is essential for creating a successful brand identity.
Color is one of the most powerful branding tools available to marketers. It can be used to differentiate your brand from competitors, create an emotional connection with the consumer, and convey a message about your company’s values and culture. Whether you’re creating a logo, making a website, or designing a product, color is an incredibly powerful tool for creating a powerful brand identity.
Studies have shown that people make snap judgments about a product within 90 seconds, and up to 90% of those judgments are based on color alone. This means that choosing the right colors for your brand is incredibly important. Different colors can evoke different emotions, from trust and reliability to excitement and energy. Therefore, it’s essential to choose colors that will create the right feel for your brand and appeal to your target audience.
When it comes to choosing colors for your brand, it’s important to consider the psychology of color. Different colors can evoke different feelings. For example, blue is often associated with trust and reliability, while yellow is associated with energy and optimism. It’s important to consider the emotional impact of the colors you choose, as they will create an immediate impression on your customers.
The right color can also help set the tone and mood of your brand. Colors can be used to create a specific atmosphere and evoke certain emotions. For example, a calming blue can create a sense of relaxation, while a vibrant red can create excitement and energy. Color can be used to create the perfect atmosphere for your brand and create an emotional connection with the consumer.
In conclusion, the right color can make or break your brand. It has the power to evoke emotion, set the tone, and communicate the right message to your target audience. Choosing the right colors for your brand is essential to creating a successful brand identity. Consider the psychology of color and the emotions it evokes, and use color to create the perfect atmosphere for your brand.
5 strategies to grow organically on social media
Organic growth on social media is essential for any brand or business looking to build a solid online presence. To increase your followers and engage with your target audience, it’s essential to have a clear strategy and effective tactics. Here are five strategies you can use to grow organically on social media.
1. Develop a consistent content strategy: Creating quality content that resonates with your target audience and actively engaging with them is the key to organic growth on social media. Developing a content strategy and schedule that allows you to post engaging content regularly will help you build a loyal following.
2. Utilize user-generated content: Incorporating user-generated content into your social media strategy is a great way to build trust and engagement. Encourage your followers to share their content featuring your product or brand, and thank them for their efforts.
3. Leverage influencers: Partnering with influencers in your industry can significantly increase your reach and boost your organic growth on social media. Find influencers who align with your brand values and mission, and ask them to promote your product or service.
4. Focus on relationship building: Social media is all about relationships. Take the time to build relationships with your followers by engaging with them and responding to their comments and messages. This will help you establish a loyal following and grow organically.
5. Analyze and adjust: Analyzing the performance of your posts and campaigns is essential to understand what’s working and what’s not. Use data to track your performance and adjust your strategy to maximize your organic growth.
How Good UX is Designing a Better Future for Online Shopping
As online shopping continues to grow, so does the importance of having a good user experience (UX) design. From navigating complex web pages to providing customers with the best possible product and service options, UX designers are creating a better future for online shopping.
Good UX design helps customers find the products and services they need more quickly and efficiently while providing them with an enjoyable shopping experience. UX design can also offer customers personalized product recommendations and tailored information, helping them make more informed decisions.
Good UX design can lead to higher conversion rates for businesses, as customers are more likely to complete a purchase when their experience is pleasant and intuitive. UX designers also create a better shopping experience for customers by ensuring websites are secure, fast, and user-friendly.
Good UX design is also helping to make the future of online shopping more sustainable. By providing customers with personalized product recommendations, businesses can reduce their carbon footprint and help conserve resources. Designers are also focusing on creating more efficient shopping experiences requiring less energy and resources.
The future of online shopping is being shaped by UX designers creating better experiences for customers and businesses alike. By focusing on creating more efficient, user-friendly websites, designers are helping to create a brighter future for online shopping.
The Impact of AI on Digital Marketing
AI is quickly becoming one of the most powerful tools in the digital marketing world, and its use for content development is becoming increasingly popular. AI analyzes existing content, generates new content, and optimizes content for search engine rankings. In this blog post, we’ll explore how AI is used for content development and how it can impact digital marketing.
First and foremost, AI can analyze existing content and determine where it can be improved. This is done through natural language processing. It uses AI to understand the scope and identify how it can be improved, from grammar and spelling to more complex analysis, such as keyword optimization. This analysis can help marketers ensure their content is of the highest quality and is optimized for search engine rankings.
AI can also be used to generate new content. AI-driven bots, such as chatbots and virtual assistants, can create unique, engaging content for websites, social media, and other platforms. These bots can understand natural language and generate content tailored to users’ needs. For example, a virtual assistant could generate FAQs based on customer questions and provide relevant information.
Finally, AI can be used to optimize content for search engine rankings. AI-driven tools such as Google Rankbrain can analyze existing content and suggest changes that can improve its search engine rankings. This can help marketers ensure their content is seen by the right audience and drives more organic traffic to their website.
Overall, AI is revolutionizing how we create content, and its use for content development is becoming increasingly popular. AI can help marketers analyze existing content, generate new content, and optimize content for search engine rankings. This can help marketers ensure their content is of the highest quality and is seen by the right audience. AI is quickly becoming a powerful tool in digital marketing, and its use for content development will only grow in the future.
2022 Graphic Design in Review
Every year, we see certain graphic design trends rise to popularity, and others barely gain traction. As we move into this hungry post-pandemic world, styles from across the decades are being given a second life. If you’re looking to stay ahead of the curve in the world of branding design, it’s important to know which trends are on the rise.
Here are four design trends to inspire your next creative project:
1. Childhood Inspired 90’s Vibes
Let’s go back in time to 90s graphic design for an aesthetic inspired by MTV, 90’s rave parties, Saved by the Bell, bold colour blocks and your family’s first computer. Millennials in particular will feel drawn to these nostalgic digital playgrounds. The typefaces in this decade were eye-catching, to say the least. They were characterized by a sense of not taking themselves too seriously. Perhaps this playful approach had something to do with the Comic Sans MS font, which debuted in October 1994. Its sans-serif script aesthetic captured the carefree approach of the decade.
2. Warm and Fuzzy Candy Colors
There are so many ways to ensure that a design is visually appealing and will stand out. Using Candy colours in your designs evokes a playful, youthful vibe. They work particularly well in 3D illustrations and character design. Understanding colour theory is central to knowing the right way to create bold and striking designs with candy colours. Triadic colour palettes will capture your audience’s attention, whether your tool of the trade is web design, animation, illustration, or typography.
2. No More Rules With Anti-Design
Whether you love it or hate it, in 2022, you’re sure to start seeing designs that are liberated from traditional design principles. Anti-design is an expression of rebellion – bending, stretching, and re-interpreting the rules of graphic design. The idea runs parallel to the rise of the ‘ugly’ aesthetic in furniture, product, and fashion design. Anti-design requires real confidence and skill, ironically.
3. The Human Touch With Doodle Desing
These meandering drawings inject a feeling of bespoke individuality to a sea of sameness. Doing so can bridge the gap between digital tools and the human touch, creating designs that are approachable. Doodle makes your story both powerful and comical. By combining, you have a compelling comic narrative to pique the audience’s interest.
4. Bring Stories To Life With Motion Graphics
The world of motion graphics has experienced a big boost over the last few years. While in-person events took a hit throughout the global pandemic, video creators turned to stock footage and animation and began experimenting with motion graphics to come up with fresh ways of delivering content. From subtle in-app motion graphics to looping gifs and animated collages, motion draws attention and brings stories to life.
Have fun with design. If you are looking for help harnessing new techniques, we at Cloud 9 would be happy to get involved! For help with services like digital marketing, SEO, and content creation, contact us for a free one-hour consultation today.
5 Ways to Increase Web Traffic In Searches
Why is everyone soo excited about SEO? Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is crucial because it makes your website more visible, and that means more traffic and more opportunities to convert prospects into customers. If you’re concerned about the way your business’s website is performing, try these 5 tips to improve your position on the search engine results page (SERP).
Here are five things you can do now to improve your website’s SEO rankings:
1. Publish Quality Content
Having high-quality content on your website is one of the best ways to increase traffic and improve your search rank. Authoritative content is the number one driver of your search engine rankings and there is no substitute for great content. Fine-tune your web writing skills and present yourself as an authority on the topic you are writing about. Make sure your content is mistake-free, keyword-rich, mobile-optimized, and includes valuable links to additional internal and external content.
2. Optimize Keywords
Identify and target a specific keyword phrase for each page on your website. For the best results, front load the keywords in the Tile of the page. This guide to Keyword Research for Social Media is a good resource for determining which keywords your audience is using. Try to think about how your target reader might search for that specific page and what kind of search terms and phrases they would use:
2. Update Content With A Blog
Try writing a blog, and make new entries as much as you possibly can. Regularly updated content is viewed as one of the best indicators of a site’s relevancy, so be sure to keep it fresh. Make sure your content is mistake-free, keyword-rich, mobile-optimized, and includes valuable links to additional internal and external content.
3. Don’t Use Click Here for Links
Improve your site’s credibility and ranking by adding relevant links within the text. Instead of having “click here” links, try writing out the name of the destination. “Click here” to for more on Cloud 9’s blog has no search engine value beyond the attached URL, whereas read our blog post on How To Create A Customer Persona is rich with keywords and will improve your search engine rankings.
4. Check Your Site Speed
Load time is one of the key measurements in Google’s ranking system. If your site is slow, you have little chance of a high search position. To increase the load times of your site, check to see if images are optimized and have descriptive filenames and include alt text. Squoosh.app is a great way to optimize web images for all different applications.
5. Use Header Tags
Not only do header tags (H1, H2, H3…) break up content and provide better visual hierarchy and readability, they are one of the most important ranking factors in SEO. Over the years, SEO has become much more about usability and accessibility and offering people a good user experience, rather than just hitting all of the right technical requirements. Read this article on how to properly use header tags to learn more. Unlike an HTML Title tag, an H1 tag doesn’t tell search engines what to display. However, it does affect user experience, which is important for SEO.
Good SEO involves many different techniques. We at Cloud 9 hope this list has helped shine some light on the ways you can improve your website’s SEO. For help with services like digital marketing, SEO, and content creation, contact us for a free one-hour consultation today.
Productivity Apps To Get Things Done
Productivity is personal. Whether you’re looking for a way to take better notes or track your hours at work, it’s time to take advantage of technology to do more in less time. You don’t have to look any further than your computer or smartphone to make simple and easy improvements for both in the office and at home.
Here are five apps that increase productivity in your everyday life:
1. Hive
How we use it: Project management
Why we love it: Hive’s productivity platform is one of the best project management tools on the market. Team members can check their to-do lists, communicate with one another in real-time, collaborate on schedules, share files, and check up on the latest project progress. When synced with Hive’s desktop and web applications, the mobile app provides yet another way to improve work ethic and productivity throughout the day.
Cost: Free to download. Hive Teams begins at $12/month per user.
Hive Solo is free forever for up to 2 users.
Download For: iOs, Android / Desktop
2. Todoist
How we use it: A time-management app that’s a great choice for small teams
Why we love it: Todoist is a simple task manager app that allows you to record and group tasks together based on projects. Todoist provides functionality in time management and to-do lists, with an element of project management. Despite its multiple features and uses, the tool remains easy to use. This makes collaborating with teams over multiple projects a breeze, and for us, visual learners; shows deliverables at a glance.
Cost: Free for the basic version (limited projects)
Premium version is $3.99 monthly or $35.99 annually
Download For: iOS, Android, Mac / Windows Desktop
3. Google Docs
How we use it: Collaborating on documents
Why we love it: Google Docs is one of the best tools for sharing documents and collaborating in real-time. This online word processor eliminates the need to save and send files back and forth when writing and editing a document. Depending on your settings, projects can be shared inside and outside of your organization. Google Sheets has similar benefits, such as the ability to import CSV into Google Sheets, which lets you keep all of your documents in one online hub.
Cost: Free
Download For: iOS / Android
4. Sprout Social
How we use it: Social Scheduling
Why we love it: Sprout Social is a comprehensive tool that lets companies schedule posts and campaigns across all of their social channels. View all the planned posts in a single comprehensive calendar, which is extremely helpful for aligning your campaigns, organizing your social media channels, and seeing the bigger picture. This format allows for easy communication between channels in the inbox, as well as access to post analytics.
Cost: Free 30 day trial.
The professional plan starts at $89 per month for 5 accounts managed by one login. Prices go up from there.
Download For: iOS / Android
5. Last Pass
Now it’s time to give your customer a name and a face. This might be strange, but it will help crystalize the idea of the ‘human’ you will later create content and other marketing materials for. Browse through stock images and see if you can find a picture to associate with him. Do not use images of actual people, find AI-generated images of faces for privacy purposes. Try browsing https://generated.photos/ for ideas.
How we use it: Storing and managing passwords
Why we love it: How much time do you waste every day manually signing into various accounts and searching for forgotten passwords? Last Pass is a password management app that stores all of your digital passwords in one place, making it easy to log into all of your various accounts while also keeping your digital information secure. Last Pass uses a browser extension to keep information secure on your computer, and their mobile app is a life-saver for people who are constantly on the move.
Cost: Last Pass has a free plan, but it does not include syncing across all devices.
Premium plans start at $3/month for personal use and $4/month for business teams.
Download for: Browser extension / iOS / Android
If productivity and marketing strategies have left you scratching your head, contact us for a free one-hour consultation. We are even more productive in person! Let Cloud 9 take your project to the next level!
How customer personas help define your target audience
If you can understand your top customers, you will be able to pinpoint their business pains, understand how they communicate and get on the right platforms to attract their attention.
It’s impossible to find out everything about every customer or prospect individually, but you can create a customer persona to represent your customer base.
A customer persona is a detailed description of someone who represents your target audience. This persona represents one fictional customer, not a group of people.
How To Build A Customer Persona
Have a look at who is already buying from you, following you, and interacting with your posts. When painting this picture of your target audience, note the following data points (with examples):
Age: Millennial / 38
Marital Status: Long Term Partner
Gender: Female
Education: BCIT E-Commerce
Children: None
Income: $90,000.00
Occupation: Project Manager
Personality: Ambivert
Home Ownership: Townhouse Owner
Start With Demographics
Basic demographics will help create a starting point for your persona. Try and provide as much detail as possible based on your market research.
Where in the world does your social media audience live? This helps you understand which geographic areas to target. Does your target audience include college students? New parents? Parents of teens? Retirees?
Psychographics Add Personal Detail
Next, psychographic data, such as interests and hobbies add more personal details to help form a better understanding of your customer prospects.
What does your target audience like to do? What TV shows do they watch? What other businesses do they interact with? What are the personal and business challenges they face in a day?
Understand Spending Behaviors
Finally, defining the users spending power and patterns allows us to understand purchasing behavior and estimated retail spending.
How much money does your target audience have to spend? How do they approach purchases in your price category? Do they have specific financial concerns or preferences you need to address? Do they purchase on the spot or take time to research before a purchase?
Put A Face To The Name
Now it’s time to give your customer a name and a face. This might be strange, but it will help crystalize the idea of the ‘human’ you will later create content and other marketing materials for. Browse through stock images and see if you can find a picture to associate with him. Do not use images of actual people, find AI-generated images of faces for privacy purposes. Try browsing https://generated.photos/ for ideas.
Paint A Picture With All The Parts
It’s time to gather all the data in one place and breath some life into this person. Create a short bio or “life story” for your customer persona. Explain how they have come to need your help. Many businesses have more than one customer segment they want to reach. Create a different customer persona for each of these segments.
The better you understand your target market, the more you’ll be able to focus ads and reach people who are most likely to convert into customers. This customer research will help you create resonating content, messaging, and ads. The next time you need to ask the question, “What does my customer want?”, ask your persona. Going through this process will give you valuable insights into how to create content that resonates with your target audience.
Top Design Trends of 2021: Year in Review
This year we embarked on a journey through the top design trends of 2021. We carefully selected trends that were being heavily utilized for UX, UI, social media, websites, and branding. Each month we did a deep dive on our social channels, carefully creating and curating graphics that portrayed the design concepts. If you didn’t happen to see the entirety of the collection, we wanted to share with you a high-level overview of this past year. Of course, if you want more, take a browse through our 2021 blog posts to get a more in-depth look at each trend. Or… just scroll.
Dark Mode
Dark Mode took the UX and UI worlds by storm this year. Besides the obvious cool factor of being dark and moody, this trend excelled because its fonts and elements stand out significantly more on a dark background, increasing the accessibility for sight-challenged people. While this is a good enough reason alone, there were a few more that caught our eye. Dark mode is great for captivating the attention of users, easy on the eyes (literally), and saves the battery life of your phone or tablet.
Natural Design
Natural design originally made its way into web design via eco-conscious brands. However, it made its way into the top trends of 2021 since growing in popularity across different industries. The natural imagery, calming colours, and soothing fonts aren’t just for eco-friendly companies anymore. Due to the pandemic, the past two years resulted in more of us spending more time indoors and on screens. It’s no wonder we wanted a more soothing and natural user experience online, bringing the outside in.
Monochromatic Minimalism
Monochromatic Minimalism was the cleanest design trend we highlight this year. While this style of graphic design isn’t new, over 60 years in the making, we’ve seen a huge growth in its presence today. The increased use of monochromatic minimalism in design is possibly a reflection of what users are desiring more in their own lives: simplicity. We found that not only does this speak to users, but when there’s less visual information vying for the user’s attention, what does remain has more of an impact.
Socially Conscious Design
Socially Conscious Design has been one of the most powerful design trends in recent years and had an incredibly strong presence in 2021. This design trend focuses on showing solidarity and support for social, environmental, and justice issues through graphic design. Essentially, it is artists using their talent and voice to promote the betterment of society. The need for social and environmental change has reached a tipping point in recent years, and creators and brands have stepped up to the plate to show support and create awareness.
Contemporary Boho
Contemporary Boho is a modern twist on Bohemian style. While bohemian style is known for opulence and excess, in current graphic design, the trend is dialled back a bit – accented with clean, modern lines, fonts, and empty space. The combination of the flowery excess of the bohemian style with modern touches can result in visually stunning and appealing graphics.
Duotone & Colour Monochromatic
Duotone & Colour Monochromatic has become more and more popular in recent years, and we have loved the resurgence of this throwback. This design trend implements a simple palette, but with a strong presence. This style of branding is creative, eye-catching, and customers love it.
Geometric Design
Geometric designs have been at the forefront of design trends this year and have the staying power to be around for years to come. The clean appearance of geometric shapes, coupled with the subconscious psychology of shapes, creates impactful graphic designs that connect with clients. You can learn more about the psychology behind the shapes here.
Gold
While gold has been a timeless design trend, it definitely worked its way into the ranks of the top design trends of 2021. We’ve consistently seen the rise of this trend over the years, and frankly, it’s not going anywhere. From delicate accents to elevate a brand’s sophistication to bold eye-catching metallics front and center, gold takes the cake.
Bold Design
The striking design trend of bold design stepped into the spotlight this year. Bold design is a multi-faceted design concept – it can be your messaging, colourway, typography (or absence thereof), graphics or photography. Bold Design isn’t simply eye-catching graphics or typography – the essence of bold design is captivating creatives and tactics that not only catch the eye of the user but hold their attention.
Typographic Chaos
Typographic Chaos might be the most symbolic trend for this past year. It perfectly embodies the chaotic nature of 2021, but at the same time, provides beauty, creativity, and inspiration. This trend breaks all the rules, and we couldn’t love it more.