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Designing for Impact: How to Create Graphics That Make a Difference

Olivia Chenier

Updated: Jul 22, 2024

As a graphic designer, you have the power to make a difference in the world by creating designs that have a positive impact on your audience. Whether you're designing for a social cause or a nonprofit organization, your design choices can help communicate important messages, influence behaviour, and inspire action.


Here are some tips on how to create graphics that make a difference:

crowd of people overlayed in neon yellow

Understand your audience: Before you start designing, it's important to understand your audience. What are their interests, values, and beliefs? What motivates them to take action? By understanding your audience, you can create designs that resonate with them and effectively take to your message.

Pink Megaphone on pink background

Choose the right colours:Colour can have a powerful impact on your audience's emotions and behaviour. Choose colours that support your message and evoke the desired response. For example, blue can create a calming effect, while red can create a sense of urgency. Colours also have pre-existing notions such as political parties, and organizations, in the case of Canada, red would represent a liberal party, and blue would represent a conservative party.

Bottle washed up on beach overlayed in Purple

Use strong visuals:Visuals can be a powerful tool for communication. Use solid and compelling visuals to convey your message and capture your audience's attention. Consider using photographs, illustrations, or info graphics to create a visual impact. You can often find the messages you're hoping to communicate through methods such as cropping images.

Person with beige overlay walking by

Keep it simple:When it comes to design, less is often more. Keep your designs simple and easy to understand. Avoid clutter and excessive detail that can distract from your message. using Occam's razor approach to imaging can create powerful moving graphics

Assortment of font faces overlapping each other, overlayed in neon yellow

Use typography effectively:Fonts speak louder than the words themselves. Typography can be used to create a visual impact and enhance your message. Choose fonts that are easy to read and support the tone of your design. Consider using bold typography to emphasize important points. Typography choices can create a tone through visually how it looks, rounded fonts are more friendly, while big but sharper fonts can create an authoritarian tone.

view of a lamp with radial motion blur, with a pink overlay

Consider accessibility:It's important to ensure your designs are accessible to all audiences, including those with disabilities. Use contrast and font sizes that are easy to read, and ensure that your designs are compatible with screen readers. Watch out for 'Visual Vibration' This happens when very high contrasting colours create the illusion that the text is wiggling!

Group setting in office with laptops, listening to man standing giving a presentation, overlayed in purple

Test and iterate:Sometimes at the first attempt your message may not come across as clearly as you thought. Once you've created your design, it's important to test it with your target audience to ensure that it has the desired impact. Gather feedback and make iterations as necessary to create a design that truly makes a difference.


Designing for impact is about creating designs that communicate important messages and inspire action. By understanding your audience, choosing the proper colours, and strong visuals, keeping it simple, using typography effectively, allowing it to be accessible, and testing and iterating, you can create designs that truly make a difference.


So go ahead and use your design skills to positively impact the world!

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