Hello Smile Spreaders! 😊🌟 How do you create those adorable graphics? 🎨✨

Let me be the first one to share! 😀

I am just naive at making graphics, but but.. what I love is.. spreading smiles! It makes my day to make another's day so I pour out my love in the posts when I make them. Believe it or not, doing so heals me. It's like sweet balm to a wounded heart sometimes you know? 😮 I am very happy to have a rewarding role such as the smile spreader role in our community. Try it out!

@Fristo, oo thank you for this amazing question! I'd love to hear what everyone comes up with.

My process of making graphics takes me way less than the process of posting it. If I had to say, I'd say graphics take me about 30 minutes and posting takes me 30 minutes up to even 2 hours sometimes!

Sometimes I feel like personalizing and adding little touches to it that has to do with the
appreciated person but when my creativity isn't feeling it yet, I tend to do something cute that I feel I would appreciate!

Something I always try to personalize is the font on the graphics. If I feel like the person is a gentle, elegant kind of person, I try to find a font that resembles elegance for me. If I think the person is funky, groovy, fun, I try to find something funky! And so on.

A few times, some people might have noticed ribbon borders or dividers on my posts (check the last 2 posts on my profile for references). I try to personalize these at all times. For example for @WeEarth 's appreciation I tried to make it earthy, added clouds into the dividers, used green and brown colors, etc because I have taken note that WeEarth is very into nature and the earth (duh!).

So one semi-unique thing I do recommend are dividers. Dividers can be thin png images running along another graphic or image, gif, etc (but doesn't necessarily need to be!) or cute text dividers. I can share links for anyone that is wondering where to find them. :P

@Fristo firstly, I don't use a template. I can never find the right one. Secondly I put a lot of effort into my fonts and colors and how they will relate to the final post. I do try and create an experience rather than a graphic, so everything matches and I do tend to talk a little in my posts, making me seem less robotic if that makes sense 🤭

@Fristo Thanks for tagging me!

As someone with a lot of things and responsibilities on their hands, it's not easy for me to spend a lot of time writing sweet personalized note along with each appreciation graphic.

That's the reason I sometimes make use of templates available in Canva. I do edit the chosen template to personalize the graphic :)

My tip is going to the appreciated peer's profile, and finding something to personalize the graphic. The graphic can be inspired by username, profile picture, or a fun fact in their bio.

In case you can't find anything interesting from their profile, look at the appreciation message itself. For example, if the appreciation message mentions the word 'canvas', I make an art-canvas themed graphic.

@Fristo when making an appreciation, I always check the appreciated peers account. I take a look at their profile and see if there is something I can use. This can be anything from a post history, their bio or their profile picture. I let them inspire me and then work around that. Sometimes, usernames can be a great inspiration too. When there is no information avaible at all, then i take a look at the appreciator´s message and see if something stands out to me. Whether it is a mention of something specific or the general mood of the message, it often helps coming up with the mood of the post.

While making the appreciation, it takes me a wide range of times, as i´m trying not to get stuck in one style or pattern. Although I have my constants like the 600x800 or 800x600 size of the graphics, I am trying to keep the rest a variety of themes, colour and technique. Sometimes I go for a template base that I later edit. Sometimes I go for a pure photo and text block combination. Sometimes I use multiple graphics elements to make a collage. And other times I make a mix of techniques and looks. I try my best to switch things up a bit and keep it fresh. Sometimes, I find the right tune for the appreciation very fast, other times I keep returning to it for days and redoing it repeatedly until I find the right tune.

I also try to make the graphics of the post be in some relation to each other and make the elements of the virtual gift, traits and message look like a collection that belongs together.

I´m still learning to write personal notes tho, as I don´t know a lot of peers. That´s something I deffinitely need to get better at.

I'm a canva girl too. Sooooo easy to make bespoke images that suit any mood or subject matter.