Blogger Secrets - The Picture Perfect Feed

What's Your Feed Like?

If you've seen my Instagram you already know that I like my feed to look rather organized and aesthetically pleasing. Even on Steemit I like to organize my posts in a sense that they feel pleasurable to read and scroll through, but it hasn't always been that way...

If you happen to not know my Instagram, I'll give you a glimpse :

Why You Should Care

My feed certainly didn't always look that organized and now some of you probably don't care at all about a nice feed, but I think since you're on Steemit possibly blogging, it could be of value for you to have a look at it, since we all are visual beings and appreciate beautiful aesthetics... which means your audience has no other choice  (assuming they are human) but to appreciate it and love scrolling through your blog, just like we "eat with our eyes" we consume anything else with them and they decide whether or not will give it a try. Especially if you are building a brand (personal or not) this could be a game-changer for your establishment.

Have you ever wondered about those "blogger-ish" looking feeds that turn everyday situations like a coffee on a coffee table into art? Well, I have..

I remember the first two blogger feeds that truly inspired me and made me not want to stop scrolling, because everything looked just perfect, from color scheme to chronology...

1. Janice Joostema 

2. Marianna Hewitt

Like I mentioned in a blogpost series of mine ("Home Inspiration") where I shared with you my love for interior design, architecture and pretty much anything with beautiful patterns and color, you can imagine that when I saw feeds like the ones above I had to find out what it was about those feeds that made them so stunningly mesmerizing, kind of like a digital art wall and just beautiful to look at. For some reason when I took a picture of my food, or even a picture of myself behind a white wall they would never even be close to what those I had seen looked like.

The Perfect Feed

When I don't understand something I usually can't let go of it, until I do and so I payed close attention and looked behind the scenes. At first I didn't notice all the details and effort those bloggers put into their art of editing photos, after looking closely and doing some research  I found 5 main similarities between those "perfect" feeds:

1. Color Scheme

When it comes to color, every blogger has their favorite touch of color. Usually the color is gently positioned in every other picture for pattern recognition. For example Marianna chose to go with rosé as her color palette, while Janice sticks with white as her main "color" and changes the touch of color about every 4 rows.

2. Background

At first glance you don't really notice what many bloggers do with the background of their images, to make them more even. They simply turn them into Black & White. I used to always wonder why my photos when I took them outside wouldn't look as pretty as those of IG bloggers and I realized that they simply turn any color that would disturb their color scheme into black & white. Sometimes it's only small parts they turn into B&W or small parts they leave in color, so that the change looks natural.

3. Arrangement

Now this is a rather tricky one. I used to wonder what it was about those feeds that made them sort of flow while scrolling. They look perfectly arranged and here's why ..notice that the most aesthetically pleasing arrangement of images follows a pattern like the following:  

Selfie/Person/People - Things/Location/Writing - Selfie/Person/People

Things/Location/Writing - Selfie/Person/People -  Things/Location/Writing

Selfie/Person/People - Things/Location/Writing - Selfie/Person/People 

Things/Location/Writing - Selfie/Person/People - Things/Location/Writing

4. Whitening

This is a pro-tip to make your images stand out even more. Many bloggers use a whitening tool to increase the cleanness and brightness of their image and turn any semi-white detail into sharp white. 

5. Less is More 

Always think of what the eyes find pleasing. In general our eyes love cleanness, structure and appreciate simplicity. So a good advice (not just for images, but life in general) is to focus on quality rather than quantity. There doesn't have to be a lot in the picture, to make it more beautiful. 

Just like you want to have your room clean when people visit, keep your feed clean, you never know when you get visitors. 

Remember: your feed is your brand, your brand represents you.

 Oh and anything I mentioned above doesn't work if your image doesn't have at least decent quality. That doesn't mean you can't use your phone (if it has a good camera), which I do.. but you want to present to your followers images that are sharp and you enjoy looking at.

Finally, IG bloggers use special tools and different APPS to edit their images and test their feed. 

Here are Before and After - Editing Examples

Now my question to you:

Would you be interested in a list of those tools and tutorial that shows you  "how to edit images" and make your (Steemit) feed look much cooler? Let me know!

Lastly I challenge you to go to my Instagram, follow me and comment "your @steemitusername" on my latest pic, so I can follow you back (and message you something special).

I'm also curious know how many of you are active on other social media platforms like IG. If not Instagram, what is your main social media besides Steemit 

(if there's one)?

Much love,

- Mrs.Steemit