Design Basics for Real Estate agents

As a real estate agent, you have to wear a lot of hats.

One moment you’re a market analyst. Then next, a photographer, and tomorrow, an accountant. One day never looks like the next as an agent, and while this can be fun, it can also lead to times of stress if you need to put on a hat you don’t feel quite comfortable with.

Your clients will never expect you to be a professional graphic designer – but you may want to create your own Facebook posts, add a great image to an email, and decide between postcard A and postcard B. Here are some simple tips and tricks to give you the confidence you need.

“Good design is good business.” – Thomas Watson

Design Best Practices

Design is meant to be creative, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any systems and tips to help you easily create a beautiful and effective design. With the tips below, keep in mind the following quote:

“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” – Pablo Picasso

There isn’t one correct way to a beautiful design. So, learn the rules or principles of design to get yourself started on the right foot, and then push your boundaries down the road.

Principle #1: Simplicity

Good design isn’t overcomplicated. White space is one of the most valuable tools in design! White space – or empty space, like the sky in the image below – allows you to clearly focus on your vision, so what is presented in the design is only essential information.

A design that utilizes a simplistic approach or “white space” can oftentimes present itself as more of a “luxury” home. If you’re in the luxury market, pay extra special attention to your use of white space.

Principle #2: Visual Hierarchy

Visual hierarchy is the principle of arranging elements to show their order of importance. Not only does this help the viewer to recognize the key pieces of content in a design, but it also helps organize the way they read a design.

Unlike reading a book, good design isn’t always read from top to bottom. This allows you to get more creative with where you place pieces of content. Look at the example below. What’s the first thing that draws your attention? Does “New Listing” scream at you from the design? “New Listing” isn’t at the top of the design like a book would read, but instead, draws you in anywhere on the design because of the visual emphasis.

In contrast, the design below doesn’t have much visual hierarchy at all, which makes it extremely difficult to get yourself motivated to decode what this poster is trying to tell you.

A good rule of thumb is to use the largest text for the main “point” of your visual piece. This should answer the question: Why are you making this design? Then follow the details about that specific item.

Principle #3: Accessibility

A good design is one that is accessible to everyone. This might mean a variety of things, but one way to make sure a design is accessible is to make sure the colors you’ve selected contrast great enough for those with visual impairments.

The three designs above all have the same information and images, but one is much more accessible than the others. If you guessed #3, you are right!

The first design has such little contrast between the background color and the font color, that someone who might’ve lost their glasses or has a greater visual impairment may not be able to read it on their screen. Image #2 isn’t lacking contrast in their color choices; however, the font contrast is not so great; with colors that don’t complement each other it makes it hard to reach for essentially anyone.

If you’re having difficulty understanding what is accessible and what isn’t, or simply want to ensure you’re hitting the mark, you can utilize adobe, which has a color contrast analyzer – simply upload your graphic into the site and it’ll tell you whether you’ve passed or failed the test! Cool, right?

Principle #4: Consistency

As people, we like to play around with different colors, styles, etc. To show off different points in our personality, but as a brand and a company, it’s extremely important to stay consistent in these efforts, as it is what makes a brand so recognizable. Let’s play a quick game:

Can you identify which company this is just by the photo?

If you say Tiffany & Co., you win! This isn’t a “graphic”, but it gives you an understanding of how important it is to stay consistent in your graphic design. Tiffany & Co. has stayed so consistent in their branding and specifically, their brand color, that consumers can now recognize them based off this single shade.

Let’s try one more:

I know you can recognize that golden arch from anywhere, even if it’s just a corner of it. McDonald’s only utilizes their brand colors from their logo in this image. Their logo has become so recognizable that if they only show a piece of that arch with the famous yellow and red combination, you know a burger is just around the corner.

You might not be a major brand (yet), but now is the perfect time to establish your brand design and maintain consistency as you scale and grow your career. Soon, the logo you’ve chosen, or font you’ve used, may become recognizable to consumers when they pass your sign on their street.

Principle #5: Balance

Creating visual balance in graphic design is offsetting how the graphical weight of components balances with each other on either side of a design to create satisfaction, completion, and cohesion. Your composition should be balanced diagonally, horizontally, vertically, or foreground versus background to achieve visual balance.

The examples in this article are helpful when planning out your graphic element.  Always think about the composition of your design and if one area looks heavier than the other. This doesn’t necessarily mean that your design must be balanced in every direction.  Explore different ways of playing with balance to avoid “imbalance”, which isn’t as visually appealing. Have fun and remember, don’t overthink it.

Some helpful design tools for non-experts

There is SO much to the world of design, and you don’t have to be an expert – but you should be knowledgeable with a few simple skills to uplevel your business with confidence. And remember, you are not on your own for this! Here are a few resources to consider:

• Canva: Canva is a great (and free!) resource for you to create simple, complex, or multi-page designs. You can even save your brand colors, fonts, and so much more in the system itself for easy access.
• Fiverr: Got a project that’s just too big to tackle yourself? Fiverr is a website that sources freelance artists. You can find anything from an artist to create a flyer for you, a new logo, or even a whole new website!
• MoxiImpress: Got MoxiWorks? Lucky for you, you have beautifully crafted designs at your fingertips by our MoxiWorks experts.
• MoxiPromote: The easiest way to create and publish ads for your listings on the Facebook and Google display networks. Images and data are pulled from your MLS, the ad copy and designs are created for you – you just set it up and let it run!

We hope these tips give you more confidence when you put on your “designer” or “marketer” hat – and help you create marketing that impresses your current clients and attracts new ones.

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