6 Best Platforms for DIY Graphic Design
Thanks to the internet, it’s easier than ever to manage your business’ social media platforms without the help of an expert. While graphic design used to be a niche school only acquired in art or technology schools, there is now an abundance of online platforms that can help anyone become a graphic designer. So, which of them are best for small business owners to learn and design by themselves? Read below to see our recommendations!
#1 Canva
Canva is the best graphic design platform for beginners and business owners because of its ease of use, time-saving templates, and cost.
Best feature: Canva’s best feature is the templates it offers that make it easy to create what you want without starting from scratch.
Difficulty level: Low. Canva is very easy to use and navigate, and truly anyone could figure out how to use it.
Drawbacks: Because Canva is easy to use, many amateur designers take advantage of the program. That means it’s pretty common to see other businesses and sites with the same designs as you. If you want to remain original, go with a different program or don’t use the templates.
Cost: Free. Canva does have a premium paid option, but the free version is helpful enough that paying isn’t really necessary. They also have a la carte options for users who want to buy a single icon or element, rather than pay for a premium plan.
#2 Vectr
Vectr is a desktop design platform especially great for website design. It supports a lot of image formats and is very user friendly and easy for beginners to learn.
Best feature: Vectr has a WordPress integration, so if you want to design graphics for your site and your CMS is WordPress, Vectr is a great option.
Difficulty level: Low. Vectr is easy to use.
Drawbacks: This platform needs an internet connection, so don’t plan on getting things done on the road.
Cost: Free*, up to 100 projects. After 100, you must start paying for the platform.
#3 Adobe Spark
Adobe Spark is very similar to Canva, with a wide range of templates that make it easy to create designs, especially for social media, quickly and efficiently.
Best feature: Spark is a bit of a hidden gem, because most Adobe users design with other Suite platforms. It offers many templates and unique designs and colors, so it’s unlikely that you’ll see other businesses with the same designs.
Difficulty level: Low. Spark is by far the easiest to use of all of the Adobe platforms, making it best for beginners.
Drawbacks: Plan and cost. While Adobe Spark is a great platform, the plan doesn’t include much, and other platforms offer similar options to Spark for free.
Cost: $10/month. For the baseline Spark options, users can sign up for a free ‘trial’. However, this won’t give you full access to the platform — similar to other software, only part of the platform will be available for free. After the trial, Spark will cost $10/month.
#4 Inkscape
Think Microsoft Paint, but for more advanced graphic design. Inkscape’s interface is similar to Paint, but lets you create vector graphics that are ready to share.
Best feature: Inkscape is the only program that is completely free to use (no, actually).
Difficulty level: Medium. If you’re just starting out with design, the platform may be a little tricky to figure out at first. However, once you spend time learning the interface, everything else should come naturally.
Drawbacks: If you don’t have your family’s artistic genes, this one might not be for you. It’s difficult for some to use this platform since it relies on a lot of drawing skills.
Cost: Free! Inkscape is definitely among the best free graphic design software out there.
#5 Adobe Creative Cloud
The full Adobe Creative Cloud includes more than 20 different applications that help with not only graphic design, but also writing, animation, illustration, and more. However, for the price, it wouldn’t be great for beginners unless they would learn to use all of the platforms.
Best feature: Creative Cloud Subscribers have the opportunity to create so many unique projects for different mediums and audiences. It includes everything the career graphic designer needs.
Difficulty level: High. Adobe’s platforms are not the easiest to use, especially for beginners. Most people starting out need to take classes or watch tutorials on how to create relatively simple designs.
Drawbacks: The cost of the entire Creative Cloud is ~$50/month, which is a good deal for those who use various apps every day, but wouldn’t be good for a beginner starting out who may only use two of the platforms.
Cost: $50/month. Adobe also offers a free trial of the entire Suite, however, like Spark, after the trial is over, you are accountable for monthly payments.
#6 LucidPress
This platform uses images and illustrations to help users create truly unique designs. It mainly focuses on brand and social media management, which is perfect for a business owner.
Best feature: For a social media manager or business owner, LucidPress is a great option because it includes options for branding and most of its templates are for social media. It’s also easy for beginners to use.
Difficulty level: Low. LudidPress is great for beginners to use as it’s easy to learn and navigate.
Drawbacks: If you’re creating more than a few posts per month (you should be!), you’ll need to upgrade to the next plan. However, other platforms offer unlimited documents per month for free. If you’re going to be posting at the very minimum once per week, other platforms would probably be better.
Cost: Free*. With Lucid’s free plan, you get a few features with limited amounts of content you can create. However, the next plan up is only $10/month, which is reasonable if you like the platform and will be using it a lot.
Still not sure if you’re ready for DIY graphic design? Not to worry: our digital agency specializes in all areas of marketing, including graphic design! Ready to spice up your website and social media platforms with some graphics? Contact us today for a free quote.