Social media creatives, ads and print production

Designing for social media

Social creatives must stop the scroll and be understood in about two seconds on a small phone screen.

• Sizes (check current platform specs): Instagram feed 1080×1350 (4:5) or 1080×1080; stories/reels 1080×1920 (9:16) with safe zones at the top and bottom; LinkedIn 1200×627 for links, 1080×1080 for posts; YouTube thumbnails 1280×720.
• One message per creative, a strong focal image, big readable text (minimal words), brand colours and logo placement, a clear call to action.
• Carousels: a hook on slide one, one idea per slide, a consistent template, a call to action on the last slide.
• Build templates in Canva, Figma or Photoshop for recurring formats (quotes, offers, hiring posts) so the brand stays consistent and production is fast.
• Motion: short animations and reels outperform static posts on many platforms; basic After Effects, Premiere Pro or CapCut skills are increasingly expected.

Performance creatives

For ads, design variations to test: different hooks, images, headlines and CTAs. Work with the marketing team on what wins (click-through and conversion rates) and iterate. Designers who understand metrics are more valuable.

Print production

• Set up documents in CMYK at 300 DPI at the final size.
• Add bleed (usually 3 mm) where colour or images run to the edge, and keep text inside the safe area.
• Outline fonts or embed them; export print-ready PDF/X; include crop marks if the printer asks.
• Use rich black carefully, check overprint settings, and ask the printer for their specifications.
• Proof before mass printing: colours on screen and on paper differ.

Tools

• Photoshop: photo editing, compositing, retouching, mock-ups.
• Illustrator: logos, icons, vector illustration.
• InDesign: multi-page layouts (brochures, magazines, reports).
• Canva: fast templated work; widely used by marketing teams.
• Figma: UI design and increasingly social templates and collaboration.
• After Effects / Premiere Pro: motion graphics and video.

Portfolio and clients

• Show 8–12 of your best pieces, organised by project with the brief, your process and the result. Include real or self-initiated briefs (a rebrand of a local café, a campaign for a college fest).
• Host on Behance, Dribbble or a simple personal site; keep a PDF version for applications.
• With clients: get a written brief, agree on rounds of revisions and timelines, share work in progress early, name and organise files properly, and present designs with the reasoning, not just "here are three options".

Check yourself

• What is bleed and why is it needed?
• What size and safe zones would you use for an Instagram story?
• How would you present three logo concepts to a client?