HOW TO: Design for a Blog Post

salve, friends! That’s hullo in Latin.

This post is to help all of you who are just starting a blog/site… or just don’t have any design skills. Hats off for trying, though! so much braver than me

Honestly? I was trash when I started (cough, two weeks ago, cough). But I was persistent and I kept trying. I DIDN’T EVEN HAVE A BUTTON. OR FEATURED IMAGES. OR GRAPHICS. OR PICTURES- you get the idea. To help you along, I’ve put together a handy-dandy guide for all of you that don’t know what you’re doing… cuz no one ever told you!

I was talking to a blogger today, all like wait you can add photo text on Canva? and she face-palmed… but actually, I didn’t know! So for you loves… here goes everything!

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Number 1:

Get an app/ website to help you. For beginners, the best one is probably Canva. Try it out- you have a selection from HUNDREDS of free pictures, graphics, and fonts. In addition to that, Canva offers templates to help you along your way if you are completely talentless  aesthetically challenged.

I had Canva… and I still do, and I still am using it for lots of my pictures. However, there’s another site as well that I use for adding photo-text:

As you can see, I left it watermarked……… lemme get to that.

Photo text is super cool:

Go to “add text” in Crello and, well, add your text. Then change your fonts and sizes and all that fun stuff… then in the top middle, there will be a section called “edit text/ photo text”. Click on it- it should show “photo text” now. Drag a photo from the “photos” section onto the text.

Voila! You have photo text! Canva sorta has this option, but unlike in Crello, Canva has frames of which some are letters, so there is only one font for your photo text… I’m not a huge fan.

Number 2:

Use a template. Guys- templates are really, really helpful. Seriously! Canva and Crello have templates for your every need. Actually, though: you don’t need to start from scratch every time. (bonus: use templates for logos and buttons. they’re really handy)

Number 3:

Take your own photos. The free stock-photos are great, but if you want somethin’ more personal, it’s best to take your own photos. You can edit them, blur them, whatever you want. Both websites allow photo-editing, so that’s great!

Number 4:

Premium. I don’t have premium on either of the sites… no way would my parents pay for it! Even without, you can make great photos, though. If you want to use premium pictures but can’t pay, you can download it with a watermark and artfully cover it up… or, just pick a thin graphic from Canva so you can’t see the words. The vines on the beautiful photographs design above is watermarked.

Number 5:

Let your creativity flow! Check out other blogs and other designs- contact me if I can be of some use… I would love to help! I’ve actually designed some send-offs for Vaishnavi, and I think she likes it?

Don’t be afraid to start over. D’ya know how many times I’ve completely scratched a design? (only a couple because I’m very new )

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And that’s it for today, folks. I hope this was useful!