How To Create An Aesthetic Theme
Creating an aesthetic Instagram feed is a necessary task for influencers who are seeking to attract quality brand partnerships and engaged followers. Just like how we judge books by their covers (even though we pretend not to), a beautiful theme is integral in setting your Instagram page apart from the rest of the pack.
For anyone new to content creation, the best advice I can provide you is to be patient with yourself and work consistently on improving your work. When I started my page over three years ago, my grasp on aesthetics was very different than it is today.
Over time, my skills developed as I learned from fellow influencers, upgraded my photography equipment, and experimented with new styles. By now, I’ve now reached a point at which it has become almost second nature to decide on what does (and doesn’t) work for my Instagram theme.
The Basics
Now to start at the very beginning, you will need a few things in order to start building an attractive theme for your page:
Equipment:
While your equipment doesn’t need to be incredibly high-tech and expensive, you will need a device that will take decent images (even an older iPhone would probably do). I personally use a Sony Alpha A6000 mirrorless camera and my iPhone 11 Pro Max for my photos and videos.
However, if I am creating content for an IGTV or require higher quality images, I have close connections to other content creators who have better equipment (the lesson here— try to build network with other influencers in your local area).
Composition:
When taking photos, you will need to study and learn the basics of composition. I would recommend closely studying accounts that greatly inspire you and understanding what angles or perspectives they most often use in their images.
(Pro Tip: If you are feeling stuck while taking photos, be sure to screenshot your favourite inspo posts and take a look at them if you need ideas for how to shoot a particular shot— i.e. a detail shot, outfit close up shot, a flatlay, or a landscape filler.)
Lighting:
Living in rainy Vancouver, it’s unfortunately become very apparent that good lighting is necessary for taking good images. Nowadays, I can quickly discern what type of lighting is okay for shooting and when I should just find another shooting location. For instance, if there is too much shade, my camera often shoots images with annoying blue tones that are very difficult to edit out.
Preset Filters:
While my choice for preset filters changes from time to time, I currently use the free “Lush” filter from the Tezza App (I usually turn down the filter level down to anywhere between 5-8). I personally like to keep my preset edits simple as I like to edit my photos quickly and in batches. This app, along with others like VSCO, allows you to copy a certain edit from one image and paste them on other images (which is helpful if you are editing a collection of similar images).
Editing Apps:
While I try to aim for good natural lighting in order to keep images as natural as possible, some apps have become essential to my editing process.
Retouch: This tool will allow you to quickly get rid of imperfections in the background or images.
Snapseed: Useful for editing lighting, perspectives, healing, etc.
PicsArt: If you like adding vibrant designs into your background or just like making some edits, this app has a lot of options for you.
Remini: You managed to get a good photo but it’s slightly blurry— what do you do? Use this app to sharpen and remaster that image.
Lightroom: This app is often used for creating presets— I usually use it to fix colour imbalances.
iPhone Image Editor: If you have an iPhone, you should have the option to edit your photos directly in your Photos album. I find this incredibly useful to fixing brightness levels, sharpening, perspective shifts, straightening, and other edits.
Planning
Use An App:
If you wish to create a beautiful feed, you can’t just rely on chance. Planning out your future feed on an app is a necessity for any serious influencers. This not only allows you to create a pleasing aesthetic, it will also permit you to plan ahead for different campaigns— something essential for any successful blogger.
I currently use the free version of the Preview App. However, as I recently shifted to being a full-time content creator, I might opt for the paid version so that I can view analytics such as most popular hashtags, etc. There are many other planning apps that offer great features as well— this is just the one that works best for me (for now)!
Format or Pattern:
Now the following sections are very personal and subject to your own style. However, I will share how I generally plan out my feed in terms of colour, theme, or image content.
At the moment, I use the ABAB format of “Outfit/Filler/Outfit/Filler.” The reasons for why I have chosen this format style are 1) it’s visually appealing to my eyes as the fillers usually provide visual resting spaces for the viewer’s eyes and 2) I receive anywhere between 600-800 comments on my outfit posts and fillers usually only receive around 300-500 comments. Therefore, my posting a filler is considered to be a “break day” for me in terms of replying back to comments.
Posting fillers every other post also forces me to be more creative, especially with regard to showing more of my personality and lifestyle. I usually choose travel throwbacks, hiking views, or home decor in my filler posts.
Colour Blocking:
I also tend to group certain images together in a block of 3-9 posts if they share a similar colour theme— for instance, I recently posted an image of myself wearing some purple silk sleepwear. Beside this post, I chose to place a filler image of a field with some purple wildflowers and another filler image of a home decor flatlay with hints of purple. Another nearby post was almost all white except for a purple gift bag.
(Please see screenshot below for reference.)
For me, images don’t need to be the exact same colours for them to be matched together in the same block. You just need to find some commonality that ties them somehow together.
Variety is Key:
As with many other areas of life, variety is essential to preventing boredom— especially when it comes to viewers visiting your page. Back in the day, I used to post three outfit photos in a row; however, I would at least try to change things up by posting three very different angles or close-up details.
When I am planning out which outfit images to post on my feed, I try not to post too many “full-body” outfit posts together (although it is tempting since these usually do the best for engagement). Instead, I will try to throw in some “half-body” shots to mix things up. As well, when I choose filler images, I try to alternate between landscape images and flatlay/home decor shots to keep things interesting.
Whatever you choose to do, make sure that you vary things up— don’t be that person posting three outfit posts that look identical except for one hand or leg movement!
Inspiration
Other Accounts:
Whenever someone asks me for advice on building their own aesthetic theme, my first suggestion is to find several successful accounts that appeal to their own taste and style.
Once you have gathered these up, try to study what elements made you love these particular accounts— is it the filler images or the outfits? Both? Do you like bright colours or moody edits? Do you like travel, beauty, or lifestyle posts the most? I would also recommend taking screenshots of these “inspo feeds” for future reference (or saving them on Instagram). As well, I would suggest writing down the aspects you admire most about them in a notebook and building out an Instagram feed game plan from there.
Pinterest:
Another wonderful source of inspiration is Pinterest (for anyone who is interested, my username is @TheStylishWordsmith). However, I would caution you to avoid using any aesthetic images you found on Pinterest on your feed. Other than it being a very lazy way of building an aesthetic feed, you are opening yourself up to litigation for using images that you do not own. In a future post, I will be sharing in greater depth about the potential dangers of using images to which you do not own the rights.
If you are greatly inspired by a Pinterest filler image, I would encourage you to make the effort to find the items required for the shot and take it yourself (you’ll also feel more satisfied when you’re posting your own hard-earned work).
Uniqueness
Unpopular Opinion: I greatly dislike seeing influencers post identical filler images and outfits that became a trend only after some larger account made those images popular. For instance, vintage cars, an iced latte close-up, or an inspirational quote that became viral.
When I see accounts with filler images or outfits that lack originality, I don’t feel like they are being very creative— the page ends up being just another “cookie-cutter” feed that doesn’t stand out from the rest of the crowd (and it’s a very saturated market). Don’t get me wrong— I think it’s fine to derive inspiration from such posts. However, find your own take on the trend and make it your own!
For instance, I try to create outfits that are both trendy and true to my personal style— colourful and comfy. As well, I use filler images from my own life: travel throwbacks, picturesque hiking viewpoints, beautiful scenery in Vancouver, beauty products I love, or home decor I own. I find that following these practices helps to set my page apart from many other accounts and also is a truer representation of my personality.
Need Assistance? Help Is On The Way.
Well, I hope that you found this blog post to be somewhat helpful if you are searching and struggling to define an aesthetic theme for your account. As I’ve mentioned, your aesthetic should be very personal to you and not copied from my feed or anyone else’s.
Don’t be afraid to experiment and fail— the great thing about social media is that you can try something out, have it bomb, learn from it, and keep going until you find something that works better! Trust me when I say that I have failed many times over the past 3 years of managing @TheStylishWordsmith. Instead of letting my frustration get the better of me, I’ve chosen to use these failures as learning experiences that will only make me more successful in the future.
Do you still feel uncertain about what to do in order to create a unique aesthetic for your page? Never fear! I have already shared with a few of you that I will soon be setting up one-on-one coaching services to guide you on this journey. In particular, this coaching will help you to build a beautiful, personalized aesthetic that you can maintain by yourself. Stay tuned for more soon!
Cheers,
Debbie (a.k.a. The Stylish Wordsmith)