Best Video and Graphic Design Tips for 2026

Design for the phone first

Most social content is viewed on a phone, often with the sound off. Start every design with that in mind. Our design team checks every graphic and video at phone size before it goes out, because what looks balanced on a laptop can feel cramped on a screen the size of a hand.

• Vertical 9:16 for Reels, Shorts and Stories.
• 4:5 or 1:1 for feed posts, which take up more of the screen than a landscape image.
• Keep text away from the edges and the bottom of the frame, where captions, buttons and profile names sit.

Hook in the first two seconds

Decide what the viewer should understand before they scroll past. Put the main message on screen at once, with a clear subject and a headline. Show the result first and explain it after, rather than building up to it.

Captions and subtitles are not optional

Many people watch without sound. Add captions to every video, and keep them short, large and high-contrast. Captions also help accessibility and make your content easier to search and repurpose.

Build a simple brand kit

• Two fonts: one for headings, one for body text.
• Three or four colours: one main colour, one accent and neutrals.
• A fixed logo position on every design, so people recognise your posts before they read them.
• A template for each format: carousel, story, reel cover, post. Build once, reuse.

Graphic design rules that still work

• One message per graphic. If it needs three ideas, make three graphics.
• Large headlines. Check every design at thumbnail size on a phone. If you cannot read the headline, make it bigger.
• Real faces and real work. Photos of your team, your product and your customers build more trust than generic stock images.
• High contrast. Dark text on light backgrounds, or the reverse, with a clear focal point.

Keep videos short and test them

For cold audiences, shorter videos usually hold attention better. Make two or three versions of the same idea, with different hooks or thumbnails, and keep the one that holds people longest. Review the data every week, not only when a post does badly.

Design images for search, too

• Save website images in WebP or compressed JPEG, and keep file sizes small.
• Write descriptive alt text that explains what the image shows.
• Use the file name to describe the image, for example ppc-campaign-dashboard.webp, not IMG_0042.jpg.

Who this is for

This guide is for business owners and in-house marketers who make their own content, or who brief designers and want to know what good looks like. 909 Digital designs and edits video and graphics for social media, websites and ads. See our social media services or talk to our team about your next campaign.