How to Instagram Theme LIKE A BOSS!

Having an Instagram theme is a fun and creative way to give your Instagram that eye catching aesthetic you’re going for! But as easy as it is on the eyes, it’s not as easy as it looks to accomplish! There’s about a billion stunning ones out there, so how do you find THE ONE? The one that you love, that you can maintain, and that flows perfectly with the kind of pictures you tend to take?

Finding a Theme That You Like…

What are some Instagram accounts that you really admire for their aesthetics? Make a list of your favorite themed accounts and take a moment to “study” them. What is it about their theme that you love so much? The colors? The brightness? The darkness? The photo subject? Notice that though their actual pics are different, there’s something of the same in each photo that makes it flow with the ones before and after it! This “pattern” that you begin to see in their pictures or the way they are edited is the “theme”. This is what you try to keep in each or most of your pictures to tie them all in together when they go live in your feed! After kind of getting a feel for what Instagram themes you like, it’s time to take that inspiration and create your own!

Editing For Your  Instagram Theme…

Theming can be pretty detailed. But the main two things that make up a theme are the lighting and the colors. There are sooo many different combinations of the two, so it can be pretty overwhelming to nail down what you like best. But don’t worry! I’ve made a list of five key things to break it all down and give you a better layout of the direction you’re going!

• Lighting: Do you want a bright theme? Or a dark theme? Do the photos you enjoy to take tend to be brighter or darker?
• Contrast: High contrast increases the exposure of your photos. But lower contrast fades them! It definitely effects the lighting of your photo, so play around with it and discover what works best for what you’re trying to achieve!
• Tint: Do you want a theme with warmer, saturated tones? Or cooler, blueish tones?
• Saturation: Do you like really bright colors? Faded colors? What are you drawn to?!
• Color Schemes: You can keep it really colorful! Or try to stay within a palette of colors that you like best (such as neutrals, pinks, blues, white etc.)

If you still don’t have a solid idea. THAT IS PERFECTLY OKAY. Most people’s themes kind of “evolved” over time, so don’t think that you are alone in being indecisive, or that you just can’t get it. If you haven’t done it before, it honestly takes practice. Play around with it! Try different things, and you’ll quickly find out what you like and don’t like. There’s no rule that says you can’t change your theme later. It’s YOUR Instagram!

Taking Pictures For Your Theme…

The biggest part of your instagram theme is your photos! When taking pictures, keep your theme in mind. Keep colors consistent! If you’re going for a really bright theme for example, taking a bunch of pictures with dark backgrounds isn’t going to cut it. In this case, you’d want to think about using brighter backgrounds. Not that you can’t have dark pictures in your theme at all, but remember that there is a pattern you are trying to keep here. And if you use too many “out of pattern” photos, you’ll still have a theme, but not the one you’re going for! Every photo you take isn’t going to “fit” your Instagram theme, but it’s entirely up to you whether you post it or not. There are no rules! The fun part of your theme is making it unique to you, your creativity, and photography!

(If you want some tricks for taking higher quality photos, read my post here on how you can take better Instagram pictures!)

 

Developing & Maintaining Your Theme…

Take the pictures that you’ve edited and are Insta ready and put them somewhere where you can see them together! This helps you to make sure they flow well as well as plan your content! I recommend an app called UNUM! You can upload your pictures to a grid that has your Insta feed underneath it, swap pictures around, and get a visual of how it’ll all look on the gram!

My biggest tip when it comes to theming is PLAN AHEAD. Plan for editing while you’re taking pictures, plan ahead for posts if you can, and plan ahead for your feed! Something like UNUM is the biggest help with maintaining your theme!

To Sum It Up!

• Stay inspired! Through other instagram accounts or Pinterest boards!
• Figure out what you want and practice, practice, practice! (A great way to practice is to use apps like UNUM!)
• Stay consistent!!
• Plan ahead!
• ENJOY IT!

Happy theming, friends!