Welcome back!
Before we get too far into fonts, layouts, or images, there’s a foundational choice that shapes your entire design, and it happens before you place a single element.
Your graphics for Instagram (posts/stories/reels), LinkedIn, Facebook, lead magnets, flyers, etc., are best designed with specific aspect ratios. In graphic design, choosing dimensions first lets your spacing, hierarchy, and layout work with you instead of against you.
You can think of it like you're framing a photo before you know what wall it’s going on. You will end up resizing, reworking, and second-guessing decisions that could have been avoided if only you had sized the frame appropriately.
And while Canva provides searchable templates for each platform, they might not always be 100% up to date so I usually do a quick web search if I'm not sure!
Here are some of my most used design ratios:
