My Instagram Secrets: Cultivating a Beautiful Feed
Hey, friends! Do you have a favorite social media platform? I have to confess that right now I’m most obsessed with Instagram. I love the visual nature of it, and can spend entirely too much time scrolling through my feed. As far as my own account goes, I’ve seen exponential growth this year ever since I started focusing on it and applying a few basic strategies.
Back in March, I shared 5 Instagram Tips That Doubled My Following. In the three months since then, my following has almost doubled again! Today, I want to share with you two more things I do in the hopes that they’ll be useful to you too. Neither of these are fool proof strategies for growth, but they will certainly help you cultivate a beautiful Instagram feed that your followers will love.
Creating a Pattern
If you click on my Instagram profile, you’ll see that my feed has a very intentional pattern. My posts form a checkerboard that alternates between black and white hand lettered quotes and colored project & lifestyle photos.
It’s an easy pattern for me to maintain, because I just have to remember to alternate. I also like that it always looks “right.” Previously, I attempted to do two lettered pieces to every one photo, but then my feed only looked balanced every third post.
You certainly don’t have to copy the pattern I use, there are lots of ways to create your own aesthetic, based on the types of things you like to share. Maybe you want to alternate black and white photos with color ones. Or perhaps instead of a specific pattern, you might unify your photos by sticking to a similar color palette in all your photos. Lindsay from the Blushing Script is a gorgeous example of this; she uses only neutrals plus the occasional pop of pink/blush.
Whatever you choose to unify your account, the key is to have a feed that’s visually appealing. Although your followers don’t necessarily view your whole feed on a daily basis, it’s a great way to make your account as attractive as possible to folks who are just finding you and make them choose to follow along.
Editing Hand Lettered Pieces
This tip is geared for those of you who like to share hand lettered art, specifically black pen on white paper. I get a lot of questions about how I edit and filter my posts to make them so bright white. Today, I’m going to share my secrets. It starts with the photography, then when it comes to editing, there are certain settings I use every time I post one of these quotes.
First, I have two very specific locations where I photograph my lettered pieces. If it’s light outside, I place my notebook on the windowsill of the large bay window in my kitchen to catch that natural light. If it’s dark out…I take my photos on the toilet. Literally. The room in our home with the most natural looking overhead lighting is Little Crafter’s bathroom. I place my notebook on top of the toilet, and snap a photo. While in my pajamas. Honestly.
You would never have known, would you?
Once I have the photo, these are the filters and adjustments I use. Note: This is for black and white lettered pieces only.
Filter:
Inkwell
Edits:
Brightness +100
Highlights +100
Shadows -100
Contrast +100
That’s how the magic happens.
For photos with color involved, each one is different. I start by making the highlights and brightness as high as possible without making it look washed out, then playing with saturation, shadows, and contrast until I get a look I like. No matter what type of photo I’m sharing though, I never use any filters other than Inkwell.
What do you think?
Are these tips that would be helpful for you and your own Instagram feed? What are your favorite Insta-tricks?
Keeping it real!! I love that you shared taking the picture in your pjs. My children and I are bad about staying in our pjs for days at a time. Take a shower and put on clean pjs and back we go!!
I love the patterned idea but wanted a more complex pattern of one text montage followed by 5 photos. Is there an app that can help me think about the order of uploading the post?
Thanks
Hmm…there may be. I don’t know of any personally, but you might be able to find something…
Thank you. Great idea re quotes and pictures. I really like this feed setup. Julia
Thank you, Julia!!