Five Apps to Help You Design Amazing Images for Social Media
by Mica Olinghouse
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Most of us see dozens of attention-grabbing designs all over social media every day. Whether we’re scrolling through Facebook during our coffee break or glancing at Instagram between meetings, we are constantly barraged with countless images of furry pets, breathtaking landscapes, and elegant stock photos adorned with humorous, inspiring, or encouraging quotes. While some of these fancy, micro-art pieces are actually created by professional designers, most of them are made by some tech-savvy twenty-something who knows how to effectively use a few inexpensive apps to generate attractive art while on the go.
Because this generation is accustomed to receiving messages on multiple sensory levels, it’s now crucial for churches and ministries to combine both content and design into their online presentations to capture a younger audience. Of course, many larger churches have fully-outfitted media or communications departments that create and curate all their social media platforms, but if you’re a smaller church or ministry with less manpower, you may have to stretch your creative wings a bit to reach out in a relevant way to this generation.
If you have graphic and computer skills, you have probably mastered the art of pairing excellent content with beautiful design through Photoshop or InDesign. But don't worry…if you have no idea what I just said, then this article is for you! Even if you have no background in graphics and don’t want to hire a professional, you CAN create amazing artwork with your messages in minutes…for as little as 99 cents!
Due to the mobile and tablet craze, photo apps are booming. With just a few taps on your iPad or iPhone screen, you can download some pretty cool apps that will have you creating like a pro with just a little practice. Although the app stores are full of hundreds of various apps, these are our top five picks. All of them are relatively easy to use and can be maximized under $5 each.
1. CANVA
While Canva is the most complicated of these apps, its ROI is by far the most lucrative. Not only does Canva come with pre-made customized templates for every major social media platform, but it also provides layouts and sizes for business cards, presentations, ebook covers, mailers, and more. The program has literally thousands of options, from color and design choices, to font options, shapes, lines, and text holders. If you prefer to use one of their images for your background, all you have to pay is $1 per image! And best of all, Canva is available as both an app AND as an online program. Just search for canva in the app store or go to www.canva.com to create your account today.
2. WORD SWAG
If you’re on the go, Word Swag is perhaps one of the most convenient, efficient apps on the market. Just simply download the app, upload a picture from your mobile device, tap in your quote, and boom! WordSwag will automate the text layout for you in a variety of styles and colors. If you’re looking for more detailed photos, you can also browse through their wide selection of free images to use for your Word Swag creation. And if you’re not satisfied with the font options, you can always unlock more choices for 99 cents each.
3. PIC LAB
If you’re looking for an all-in-one app, Pic Lab is another great option. You can create your unique social media presentations by choosing from a variety of filters, borders, light effects, textures, patterns, and fonts. While arranging your text will require a little more skill with this app, you can generate some great social sharing images through a little practice and creativity! To unlock more app choices, simply download the in-app purchases for only a few dollars.
4. WALLPAPERS PLUS
You might be wondering just where people are coming up with all these cool backgrounds. Chances are they are downloading (and paying) for some great stock photos from www.istockphoto.com or www.shutterstock.com. While this is the most effective way to create a large photo gallery, it will cost you a pretty penny. (Note: If you’re going to purchase stock photos, be sure to subscribe to the monthly or yearly packages. These options are much more cost-effective!)
If you’re looking for an inexpensive and legal way to use images for your social media work, we suggest downloading a wallpaper app like Wallpapers Plus and using the wallpaper images for your photo backgrounds. However, before you use any of these images, be sure to check the copyright information. If the image is listed under creative commons, then you are free to use it for your purposes.
5. INSTAGRAM
Most of you are familiar with Instagram, the giant image-sharing social media network. What you may not know is that as of December 2012, over 130 million people were reported to be using Instagram to share their photo art (cited source: Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk). With so much of the world posting, sharing, and commenting on Instagram, your church or ministry should be ACTIVE on this social media network daily!
Once you’ve created artwork from any app or computer program, simply upload to Instagram, type in a short but powerful description, label it with a sensible hashtag (examples: #God, #Bible, #wisdom, #nameofyourchurch, #yourcity, etc.), and then post it for the whole world to see. Not only is this a tremendous tool for your church to advertise its various ministry events to the world, but it also allows you to minister the life of God to a desperately hurting and lost world.
So what are you waiting for? Grab your phone or tablet and start sharing the Gospel message in beautiful design on social media today!
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