Did you know that 80% of people remember what they see? Compare that to only 20% remembering what they read – it’s no wonder graphics and images are pretty crucial for businesses.
Creating your own graphics suited to your business may seem like something best left to those flash, fresh out of uni, young go-getters – but it’s not.
Check out these top online graphic design programs that can help your business stand out.
BeFunky lets you be funky with your graphics. No joke. The online photo and graphic editing program have an array of tools – most with simple icons that don’t require a whole lot of reading up on their uses. BeFunky allows you to edit photos using filters, crop and resize them and remove the backgrounds to create a ‘main subject’ with a customised view behind. Furthermore, their design templates are perfect for someone looking to create something new and unique but without investing hours of time.
Super awesome for: Creating flyers or posters with your own photos.
Cost: Free with a $6.99 US/month premium option.
Graphic Fact: 650% higher engagement rate for online posts with images compared to text-only posts.
A staple in the graphic design world, Canva is literally for whenever you need graphic design, but don’t want to pay a professional. It’s available on the web and mobile. Think social media posts with templates, business cards and flyers. Super simple to use with its drag-and-drop options, easy tools and a huge array of templates. Common feedback from users includes comments like “we use it every time we need something that has to look good”. For the newcomer, Canva has a large number of resources and helpful tips. Canva is also Australian – founded and owned. You can also log in with Facebook, even making that process easy.
Super awesome for: Professional advertisements, posts and media without the need for expertise.
Cost: The free option covers a lot, but there’s a $13.99 AU/month paid option with even more.
Graphic Fact: 90% of the information processed by human brains is visual.
Crello claims to be one of the easiest online design tools out there. “No design skills needed” as quoted. Make sure to look at that claim as a plus as Crello isn’t overly simplified. The program has an image library of over 140 million files and over 12,000 templates. There is a paid option which allows you to remove the Crello watermark too. A huge brag of the program is the ability to specify designs for social media, promotions, flyers or professional office content. When we say ‘specify’, we mean it – Crello allows you to select between Facebook, Twitter and Instagram sizing to optimise your post. Crello is usable on phones too.
Super awesome for: Creating eye-catching social media posts.
Cost: Upgrade to the Pro plan for $9.99 US per month.
Graphic Fact: 60,000 times faster for human brains to process images than text.
Infogram serves the need to create visually appealing statistics. If your business needs to explain heavy amounts of data to clients (quickly), this program is your friend. Think eye-friendly pie charts and other infographics displaying complex figures simply. You’ll be able to measure metrics too – the analytics are ultra handy if you’re sharing reports and data with an audience online. For example, see how many people clicked on what or where they’re losing interest and exiting your media.
Super awesome for: Showing large amounts of statistics and reports.
Cost: Infogram has a few price options from free to a team option for $179 US/month (when paid monthly) which allows for up to 3000 projects and all analytics.
Graphic Fact: 12X faster traffic growth with visual content compared to text.
This platform is aimed at allowing users to create their own graphics. For example, icons, how-to images and even mobile app design. It also offers social media post design, brochures and photo editing but the main selling point is custom illustrations. An example of when Gravit Designer can be a solution is if you’re tasked with creating instructional images for clients. They may be prompted to click, download and fill out a form – you’ll be able to illustrate the process with eye-friendly images.
Super awesome for: Creating modern and simple instructional graphics.
Cost: Basic package is free, the $70 AU per year upgrade allows for working offline and more tools.
Graphic Fact: 13 milliseconds is all it takes for a human brain to process an image.
The bottom line…
Never fear competitors with stunning websites and crowd-friendly graphics – never be envious either. With any of the above online graphic design programs, you’ll be able to improve your media and avoid stagnation.
