How to Create an Instagram Theme

This post was originally published in 2016 and has been updated with new and improved tips for 2019!

Instagram is my FAVOURITE social media platform. It allows you to show off your personality and artistry, and if you’re a blogger or any type of creative, it can be a total game changer!

Before I understood the real power of Instagram as a blogger, I would post whatever pictures I wanted. I used the built-in Instagram filters and tried to make them look pretty, but I didn’t have a real vision, plan, or theme.

After a couple years of on-and-off experimenting with the platform I’ve learned how to create an Instagram theme to grow your following and make your followers want to double tap.

If you’re an type of creative, Instagram can help you grow your personal brand like none other! And an important part of any brand is finding a theme and sticking to it. This way, people will come to recognize you and your aesthetic, whether it’s in real life or online.

For example, as you can tell from my blog, I really love a clean template, with bright, colourful accents and photos. This theme is carried through on my Instagram and Pinterest accounts. I hope that when people visit each of these places, they can get a real feel for “me” wherever they are!

Over the past couple years I’ve worked on and grown my Instagram account to 13K+ followers, and theming my account has been one of the biggest things I attribute this to.

I often get asked how I make my page look so nice and how I’m able to make all the photos look so good together. So today I’m going to let you in on some of my Insta-secrets so you can start growing your account too!

Related Post: How to Get Your First 10K Followers on Instagram

Let’s get to it!

1. FIND INSTAGRAM INSPIRATION FROM OTHER ACCOUNTS

There are so many gorgeous Instagram accounts that have inspired my photos, and guess what? They all have similar themes. Check out some of my favourites below:

 Instagram/jillian.harris

1/ Jillian Harris

2/ SF Girl By Bay

3/ The Everygirl

4/ LC Lauren Conrad

5/ The Simplicity Blog

6/ Blueberry Pancake

As you can see, all of these pages are colourful, airy, feminine and crisp. I’ve picked up tips from all of these accounts, from how to angle food photos to what backdrops look best for style shots.

Instagram/thesimplicityblog

Take a look at your favourite Instagram pages. What is it about them that you absolutely love and makes you want to follow and come back for more? Whatever it is, start implementing these things into your own photos and your theme is sure to blossom!

Related Post: 9 Ways to Use Instagram Stories to Build Your Personal Brand

2. BE THOUGHTFUL ABOUT WHAT YOU POST ON INSTAGRAM

Think about the photos you’re posting. What’s going to look best on your page? Will the photo fit with your theme? Does it fit with your colour scheme? If not, it’s probably best not to post it.

And don’t post a photo just to post a photo. Most successful Instagram pages have nicely photographed pictures of pretty objects, landscapes, desktops, etc.

Take the time to create nice flat lays or move things around until you have proper lighting and your objects are organized in the most flattering way. It truly makes a world of difference!

PS. Not a strong photographer? I recommend investing in a stock photo membership like Haute Stock. I use these photos when I don’t have time to snap a branded photo or if I feel a lack of creativity.

They’re perfect if you’re looking for gorgeous, styled (and affordable!) photos that you can use on your social media platforms. They’ve helped grow my Instagram so much!

3. BE CONSISTENT WITH COLOUR ON YOUR INSTAGRAM FEED

                                                          via Instagram/blueberrypancake

Having a consistent colour scheme will do wonders for your Instagram theme! If you take a look at Blueberry Pancake, you’ll notice there are a lot of purples, pinks, and greens on her page.

And it totally works!

For me, I’ve been trying to stick with pinks, blues and greens, but it doesn’t always happen. I think if you stick to similar colours, or make sure all your colours are brights or pastels, for instance, it can work wonders!

4. INVEST IN INSTAGRAM APPS & EDIT

I used to think spending money on an editing app was totally ridiculous. Then I saw what a difference it could make and jumped on the app train RIGHT away. I use PicTapGo to edit my photos and it has been LIFE changing (you know, in a social media kind of way)!

It’s only $1.99, so it’s really not a huge investment for something so magical. They have a bunch of different editing filters, as do many other apps such as VSCO Cam, which is another blogger favourite.

When using editing apps, stick to the same filters each time you edit your photos so they’re consistent to your theme. I use 2 to 6 of the same filters each time when editing on PicTapGo and that keeps my photos looking consistent and on brand!

5. BRIGHT IS ALWAYS BETTER

Instagram/katebialowas

I think this pretty much goes for every Instagram page, but bright photos always look better than dark and saturated ones. People are visual creatures and our eyes are drawn more to bright, beautiful photos. That’s just how it works!

If you use an editing app, you can brighten your photos, but good lighting is always key! If you can, take photos with natural light as it will always look better than indoor lighting. Having bright photos is sure to help your Insta-theme!

6. THE WORD ON DELETING INSTAGRAM PHOTOS

I honestly hate deleting photos, but if I post a photo and it doesn’t fit in with the rest of my page, I delete it. And it always makes a huge difference – in a good way.

Sometimes I’ll re-edit it and try to make it fit the overall theme, but other times I know it’s just not going to work. It could be due to bad lighting, saturation, or whatever else, but if it doesn’t work, it’s gotta go!

7. BE AN EXPERT IN YOUR FIELD

This one really depends on you and your brand, but posting photos of the same thing (ONLY food, ONLY fashion, ONLY fitness) can establish you as an expert and make your page look great!

Since I’m a lifestyle blogger and cover multiple topics I don’t do this (nor would I be able to post that much of ONE thing) but it works really well for recipe bloggers like Kale and Caramel, for example.

RELATED POST: 7 Quick and Easy Steps to Improve Your Instagram

Instagram is fun, mildly addicting, and if used strategically it can really help to grow your personal brand! Theming your page is the first step and I hope these tips have helped!

If you want to check out my page, you can click here and say hello! And if you have any more tips for how to theme your Instagram, let me know in the comments below, with a link to your page so I can check it out!

And if you loved this post, don’t forget to share it on Pinterest with the image below 🙂