How to Request Blog Graphics

One of the biggest challenges for bloggers, content marketers, influencers, or any brand that owns a blog in today's digital world, is creating graphics that stand out in a sea of competitors.

You probably already know why 👉🏻 posts with better graphics are easier to read and get more shares. Human brains process images 60,000 times faster than text, which means your readers are more likely to engage with your graphics than with your words. 

Adding more graphics to your blog posts can help you with: 👇🏻

1. user engagement - articles with relevant graphics get 94% more views than those without.
2. post shares - the ones with graphics get 50% more shares.
3. readability and structure - graphics are a great way to give a better structure to your posts by dividing the content into different sections.
4. brand awareness - following your own graphic templates for your blog posts makes your brand recognizable and consistent.

Below is our latest guide with tips & tricks for submitting an efficient blog design brief to your ManyPixels designer. 🙌🏻

1. Define the purpose of your blog

This first section of the creative brief must contain all the necessary information to answer the most important question of all 👉🏻  What is the project about? 

Whether it is to sell, raise awareness, engage readers, or increase your blog traffic, the scope of it must be correctly defined.
Below are a few questions that might help: 👇🏻

• What is your blog about?
• What is it that you want to obtain? 
• What is your target market? Who are your readers and what do they think about your brand?
• What feelings and associations do you want to evoke?
• What are the functional and emotional benefits your post will deliver to customers? What problem does it solve? 

2. Sizes and formats

Different blogs require graphics of different sizes, depending on your platform and theme. A standard WordPress featured image size, for example, is 1200 x 628 pixels. Here are a few other standard examples of blog graphics: 👇🏻

• header image - commonly, an optimal header or featured image is 700x400 or 810 x 450 pixels. 
• in-post images - square graphics (1:1) and high vertical ones (800 x 1200 px) are displayed well on both larger and mobile screens.
• infographics - the recommended standard size for both desktop and mobile screens is
  800 x 2000 px. or vertically elongated image 800 x 1200 px. 

In terms of format, blog graphics are usually uploaded as .JPEG or .PNG files.

🚨 Make sure you always mention the exact sizes and formats you need, in the brief, before submitting the task to your ManyPixels designer, as a way to avoiding delays and misunderstandings.

3. Content 

Not every piece of content works well when visualized. For your posts, limit your text to:

• infographics and charts - short, concise text lines (not recommended more than 4)
• quotes - be always mindful of copyright issues
• value proposition - a title or catchphrase that stands out 
• CTA - text or button, it encourages readers to click/share  

💡Tips & Tricks! Keep your text simple and your graphics memorable, always matching your brand identity (brand guidelines). Does your design project require custom illustrations/icons? If the answer is yes, don't forget to mention in the brief all details related, so that an illustrator along with a graphics designer can be assigned to your project right from the start, avoiding delays. 

4. Inspiration 

What are your aesthetic preferences or reference materials you are inspired by? Always provide a visual direction for your designer 👉🏻 What other similar concepts do you like and why? You can upload them as attachments, share them as links or even save them and select them as your brand profile.

• upload images of similar graphics that you like or assets you already have and want to use
• provide links to similar concepts that you like, on platforms such as Dribbble, Behance, Pinterest, ManyPixels Portfolio, etc. or any other inspirational source you might find convenient. 
• provide already used blog graphic templates. 

☝🏻Where to find inspiration? Check our Ultimate Guide to creating efficient Mood Boards.

🙌🏻 After you've successfully completed all sections of the brief and submitted the project, your assigned designer will start working on it and will deliver the first draft on the next business day (sometimes 2 for complex requests). If revisions are needed, no worries, you can easily communicate with your designer using the chat in the ManyPixels app.

Ready to submit your first blog design request? Pick the right plan for you here.

Didn't find what you were looking for? 👀 Check out our Scope of Service or contact us directly.