How To Create an Eye-Catching Instagram Aesthetic [Ideas and Themes]

Why Is Your Instagram Aesthetic Important?

The Instagram aesthetic is all about the overall look and feel of your feed to your audience. Your Instagram aesthetic can be seen as your business card. One that will make your audience either shake hands with you or return the card politely. Only in this case, it will become a case of your audience either hitting that “Follow” button or choosing a different business.

Obtaining a great Instagram aesthetic isn’t complicated, though. You can use colors, filters, or graphic elements to obtain a balanced, yet effective look. However, keep in mind that your Instagram aesthetic will be related to your brand’s vision, as well as the type of posts you want to add to your feed.

You will also need to take into account the Instagram image sizes in order to obtain a harmonious feed. Also, keep in mind that sometimes, words can speak louder than your images, cases in which Instagram captions make their way in. Your Instagram caption can also add up to your aesthetic, so don’t forget about it. 

Instagram Aesthetic Ideas

There are a few ideas you can use for your Instagram feed, and they rely on colors, filters, and structures. Let’s take a look at them:

1. Instagram Colors

One of the first elements you need to take into consideration to create an eye-catching Instagram aesthetic is color. Colors can influence decisions, moods, perceptions, and Instagram colors are no strangers to that. But Instagram colors should not be chosen randomly, and we’ll tell you why.

Your business has an overall personality. From values, tone, message – they all create a bigger picture for the audience. Take a look at your brand’s logo first. What colors does it incorporate? 

Is it a nice shade of pale pink that is also applied to the rest of your website? Bingo. You’ve just got what you need for your Instagram colors. You can create an eye-catching Instagram aesthetic by adding different shades of pink to your posts.

There could also be cases when your business doesn’t have a chosen color. Yet. In this situation, what you need to do is take a look at what your business promotes. If your business is concentrated on promoting vintage objects, a black and white Instagram aesthetic will not work. However, golden, pale pink and white tones might work better.

Your Instagram theme can be tied to the colors you use. You can go for a black and white theme, an all-white theme, a dark theme, or a very bright one. We’ll talk a bit about each of them later on in the article.

Also, if you’re looking for a tool to help you get a detailed color palette from your Instagram profile, Colorkuler works wonders. Here’s how SocialBee’s color palette looks like: 

2. Instagram Filters / Editing

The next point on our list of Instagram aesthetic ideas is the usage of Instagram filters. Nowadays, Instagram offers an impressive number of filters that one can use. Thus, you can make your Instagram pictures go from vintage to new age in an instant. However, using multiple filters might take its toll on your Instagram aesthetic. Too many unrelated filters could create a less harmonious aesthetic.

Find the filter that works best for your Instagram pictures and stick to using it constantly. Just like with colors, you could blend in other similar filters, but make sure you don’t do that too often. Consistency is key when it comes to Instagram aesthetic ideas.

You can use the same filter or filters that don’t stray too far from the one you’ve chosen to create a simple, yet structured theme.

Or, you can use different filters that make your Instagram theme go vintage.

Editing Instagram pictures is no sin – unless they feature a different edit each day. Stick to an editing plan that won’t have you questioning the exposure, contrast, or brightness levels. If possible, use presets, or have a guideline to help you make the best of your Instagram pictures.

3. Instagram Grid

Randomly posting Instagram pictures or videos is a no-go if you want to obtain an eye-catching Instagram aesthetic. Let’s think about it for a second: your first post is a motivational quote. Your second post is a picture of a delicious poke bowl, and your third post is a person working out. Looking good, so far!

However, your next posts are of another person working out, and then you post a video. And maybe another picture of a poke bowl. Before it gets too repetitive, why not try a creative layout? There are many fantastic photo collage ideas that can enhance your Instagram aesthetic.

Your Instagram feed can be seen as a puzzle: every piece creates the final picture. And that’s why using a grid for your Instagram feed is a must. And the best part about it is that you can manipulate it however you want. Let’s take a look at some of the grid examples you could use for making the best out of your Instagram feed:

1. Checkerboard – the black and white board – the first post covers one theme, the second one covers a second theme, you repeat it.
2. Row – all the pictures on the row are the same.
3. Column – all the pictures on the column are the same.
4. Post repeat (usually a 2-2-2 pattern) – two pictures of a kind, two pictures of another kind, two more pictures depicting something else.

These are a few of the grid examples you could use as part of your next Instagram aesthetic ideas. If you’ve already decided on the Instagram aesthetic ideas you want to use, you might also want to take into consideration posting them. 

Post on Instagram with SocialBee and you won’t have to worry about forgetting a piece of your puzzle. We also offer an Instagram grid preview, so you can keep a clean theme. You can schedule your posts and preview them, and see that eye-catching Instagram aesthetic you’ve just created!

Instagram Aesthetic Themes

Now that we’ve looked at some ideas you could use, it’s time to get inspired by these Instagram themes: 

1. Black and White Theme

If you’re looking to attach the word “classy” to your Instagram theme, then the black and white theme is the best fit for you. Of course, classy isn’t the only word to define a black and white Instagram theme.

Choose a black and white Instagram theme if you’re looking for these effects:

• Elegant
• Gloomy
• Mysterious
• Sophisticated

You can go around this theme in two ways:

• You can choose to shoot in black and white directly (phones provide the mono, silvertone, or noir tones)
• You can choose to later add a black and white effect to your colored pictures. You can do that in apps such as VSCO, Photoshop, or any other photo editing program.

A black and white theme is suitable for an Instagram page that concentrates on:

• Portraits
• Urban landscapes
• Urban photography

However, a black and white theme can work on any Instagram page, as long as the brand’s values are also in check with it. 

2. All-White Theme

An effective, yet simple Instagram theme could be the all-white one. An all-white Instagram theme is also considered one of the cleanest types of feeds.

Let’s see what you can do to obtain that clean and simple theme:

• Use a white background – thus can include a wall, a white bedsheet, or even a piece of white paper.
• Choose the right lighting – you can go for strobe or natural lightning.
• Use objects and clothes that are also white.
• Edit your pictures by playing around with the white balance, shadows, and brightness.

An all-white theme can work on all Instagram accounts, depending on your brand’s strategy. 

3. Bright-Colored Theme

Bright colors are eye-catching and effective, as long as they’re in tone with your business, of course. This playful theme is the best for businesses that target young people or have a very specific product that needs this sort of theme. If your company sells tourism packages, you might want to boost that tropical vibe with a colorful Instagram aesthetic.

However, there are a few elements you need to take into consideration if you’re looking at this theme:

• Color association – if you’re going for that vacation vibe, go for colors such as blue, green, or orange.
• Structure – choose a grid for your pictures and stick to it – don’t randomly add pictures.
• Edit your pictures – you can make your pictures even brighter by enhancing the colors in editing apps.

4. Vintage Theme

Image credit: Pinterest

An Instagram theme that contains brown and natural colors forms a great vintage vibe. However, brown and natural tones aren’t the only ones to make up your vintage theme.

You can use the following elements to form your vintage theme:

• The grain effect (can be used in apps such as Photoshop)
• Apply filters (either Instagram filters or filters found on any photo editing app)
• Play around with photo settings – decreasing saturation, increasing the warmth, or adjusting the contrast could be some of the examples.
• Use brown tones, and take into consideration that you can also mix in some green or red tones.

Choosing the right content to match the vintage Instagram aesthetic is also important. Nature, travel, or portraits pair well with this kind of theme.

5. Checkerboard Theme

If you’re interested in adding an interesting structure to your Instagram page, there’s one example to look at.  You could choose a checkerboard Instagram theme.

Just like in a game of chess, all your images are structured in a way that creates an alternating movement.

You can use the following ideas to create a checkerboard theme:

• Alternate black-themed pictures with white-themed pictures to create the chessboard illusion.
• Use a quote on a background of your choice for every photo you’ve posted (you can choose the color of your brand’s logo, for example).
• You can also alternate filters or colors for every other post.

Final Words

Finding that eye-catching Instagram aesthetic might sound like a lot of work, but the end results will definitely be worth it. Starting to work on your Instagram feed will be the hardest part. You might not know what colors, filters, structures, or themes to choose from at the beginning, and that’s alright. In the end, practice makes perfect, doesn’t it?

Yet, your business will be the one to dictate how your Instagram feed will look like. A black and white theme might not be the best choice for a brand that sells candy. Or, a colorful theme might not work the best for a brand that has a collection of only black and white clothes.

If you’ve already discovered that perfect mix for your Instagram feed, then make sure that not a day goes by without a post.

SocialBee offers a 14-day free trial, so try it out and continue making awesome posts for your Instagram feed. Without the fear of forgetting to post them!