👋 Beyond the Like: Designing for Authenticity and Engagement on Social Media

Hello from SamBohon.Digital!

For years, the design mandate on social media was simple: polished, perfect, and corporate. We chased high-resolution photography, minimalist graphics, and color palettes that looked like they belonged in a corporate annual report. And for a time, that worked.

But times have changed. Our audience—especially Gen Z—is weary of highly curated feeds that feel sterile and inauthentic. They can smell a stock photo from a mile away, and they instinctively scroll past anything that screams "advertisement."

The new mandate? Authenticity drives engagement.

This isn't just a trend; it's a shift in consumer behavior. People don't want to follow brands; they want to follow people and join communities. This means designers must move beyond the perfect grid and embrace the beauty of the imperfect, the immediate, and the genuinely human.

1. The Design Shift: Embracing the "Anti-Polished" Aesthetic

To move past the corporate look, we must intentionally introduce elements of humanity and spontaneity into our visuals.

• Mixed-Media Mayhem: This is the antithesis of the flat vector graphic. Use layers! Mix real photography with hand-drawn scribbles, digital collage elements, or paper textures. This creates a tactile, three-dimensional feeling that commands attention and feels less manufactured.

• Hand-Drawn & Sketch Elements: Nothing says "human" like a shaky line or a quick sketch. Overlays of handwritten notes, sketched arrows, or rough doodles immediately lower the barrier to entry and make the content feel like it was created by an actual person on the fly.

• Analog Textures: Bring back the grain! Add texture overlays that mimic film, newsprint, or recycled paper. These subtle imperfections break the glass-smooth digital surface and offer visual warmth.

• Low-Fi Honesty: Sometimes, the most engaging content is the one shot quickly on a phone—a messy desk, a genuine laugh, or a candid mistake. Your graphic templates should be flexible enough to incorporate these moments without imposing a rigid corporate filter on them.

2. Designing for Interaction, Not Consumption

Engagement is not a metric; it’s a dialogue. Your visuals should encourage the audience to stop scrolling and start participating.

• Design for the Comment Section: Use graphic design to pose questions directly. Large, bold, animated text that asks for an opinion or a quick-fire answer is often more effective than static explanatory text.

• Carousel as Conversation: Treat a multi-slide carousel not as a static brochure, but as a short, visual story. Start with an attention-grabbing, imperfect hook (e.g., a zoomed-in, textured graphic) and use each slide to reveal one part of the narrative or one step in a tutorial.

• User-Generated Content (UGC) Integration: When sharing customer photos or testimonials, frame them using your new, authentic aesthetic. Add a hand-drawn circle or a mixed-media background rather than a stiff, corporate frame. This validates the customer's post while maintaining a cohesive, community-focused feel.

3. Community Building Through Visual Vulnerability

Authenticity is fundamentally about trust. When your visual identity is willing to be a little messy, a little vulnerable, and a little less "on-brand," you signal that your priority is connecting, not selling. This is where real community building happens.

• Behind-the-Scenes Vibe: When designing visuals for "day-in-the-life" content, ensure your graphics are minimal. Let the rawness of the video or photo shine. The graphic elements should simply support the story, not steal the show.

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• The "Mistake" Post: I’ve found that posts admitting a design failure or sharing a funny outtake with a simple, sketched frame often generate the highest response. It's relatable, and relatability is the express lane to loyalty.

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The era of the overly-polished corporate look is fading. The brands winning on social media are the ones using graphic design to act more like people—dynamic, layered, and delightfully imperfect. By incorporating mixed-media, hand-drawn elements, and a greater tolerance for the low-fi aesthetic, you shift the conversation Beyond the Like and start building genuine, interactive communities.

I’m curious to know: What's one perfectly polished graphic template you’re ready to retire, and what new, authentic design element (like a hand-drawn arrow or a grainy texture) will you replace it with? Share your retirement plans in the comments below!