Social Media Guidelines
The importance of social media to modern communications cannot be overstated, so preparing a set of graphics templates to promote events and spread your message in a shareable format will save you a lot of time in the long run.
In order to maintain integrity in the national DSA identity, designs for web/screen should be created using RGB colors.
Sizing and Multiplatform Design
Social media platforms are constantly changing their standards. Check out this Social Media Image Sizes Cheat Sheet by Sprout Social for current social media sizing guidelines.
As a general rule, on Facebook and Twitter images appear on the timeline in a landscape (16:9) format while profile photos and Instagram images are square (1:1). To ensure that your graphics look their best, you may need to create at least two versions. Instagram and Facebook stories are also 16:9, but in a portrait orientation, so you will need to create a third version of the graphic if you wish to use those platforms.
Images on Facebook and Twitter will often behave unpredictably on different platforms and in different contexts. For best results, consider using a wide margin on the left and right of your graphic to ensure that important content is not cut off.
When creating content for social media, consider that your design space (Photoshop, Canva, etc) may be higher resolution than the social media campaign you’re working on. Consider including testing as part of your design process. Upload images to private events or accounts to check for cropping or resolution issues.
NOTE: We can never predict when social media platforms will adjust their image dimensions. Even if you work from a template or example provided here, you should always check that the dimensions are up to date!
Examples
