Common Design Mistakes To Avoid
You may have seen over on our socials that we have started a new series called ‘Tuesday Tips’. This is where we share what we have learned in the world of business, marketing, design and print. We have enough experience in these sectors to know what works and what doesn’t. Whilst we will be continuing this series over on our social media accounts (@Boldcoloursuk if you want to follow) we thought we would put together a little blog post highlighting some common design mistakes and how to avoid them. So without further ado, lets get into it!
1. Poor readability
It’s so important for the end user of your printed product to be able to read what it is that’s been printed. So it’s vital to ensure that all text is legible. Ways to avoid this are – Don’t go below 7pt on text if you can, ensure colours contrast well enough (no yellow text on a white background!)
2. Too many typefaces
As a general rule of thumb, two to three typefaces are the maximum amount to use in a design. Any more than that and it starts to become way too busy and mismatched, which can leave your design looking unprofessional and tacky.
3. Not leaving white space
It’s crucial that designs have room to breathe. Don’t try and cram all the content in. it’s better to cut some things or print over more pages than having everything trying to fight for attention on the page.
4. No alignment in designs
We often see designs come in that are all over the place. Nothing lines up with anything and it makes it look as if everything has just been pasted randomly into place. That’s why it’s good practice to use grids and lines to make sure everything is aligned properly. There’s loads of information and resources online to help you with this if you aren’t a designer by trade.
5. Overload of colour
We get it. We love colour here at Bold Colours (clue is in the name!) But there is such a thing as too much colour. Focus on 4/5 colours maximum to maintain brand consistency and prevent your brand from being too garish. If colour isn’t your strong point you can use online websites such as Coolors or Adobe Colour to generate a palette for you.
6. Pixelated/blurry images
This is probably the most common thing we see on a day to day basis. Blurry or pixelated photographs really bring down the value and quality of your printed product, so try and get the highest possible image you can. Unsure of what image type you need? We recently put up a blog post highlighting when to use which image format.
7. Inconsistency
If you want people to trust your brand, and continue buying from you or working with you, then making sure the brand is consistent is key. This combines all elements from above such as ensuring typeface, colour and style is all the same. That shows that a brand is professional and cohesive and comes across as more trustworthy.
8. Not adding a bleed
Have you ever printed something out and half the image has been cut away? Yeah, you probably didn’t add a bleed. Just a simple 3mm bleed around the outside of your document ensures that nothing will ever get cut out. It really is that simple.
9. Not proof reading
There’s few things worse than receiving your printed products and noticing a spelling mistake front and centre. We understand that sometimes these things slip through the net, but a way to really minimise this risk is proof reading. When you think you’ve read over it enough, read again! And then get someone else to read over it too. There’s no such thing as too much proof reading.
10. Using RGB colours for print
Last but not least… Please make sure your document is using the RGB colour space and NOT CMYK. The latter is used exclusively for web, whereas RGB is for print. This will ensure that your product comes out the way you saw it on your computer.
We hope you found those tips helpful! Don’t hesitate to contact us if you need any advice with your documents. We have an experienced team of artworkers that can answer any question you may have.