Designing Instagram posts, reel covers and carousels

Instagram shows the same image in several places: the feed, the profile grid, the Reels tab and search. A cover that works in all of them needs a little planning.

Social · 6 min read

Which format to use

itistitle exports the formats Instagram uses today:

  • Portrait post, 1080 × 1350 (4:5): takes the most space in the feed, so it’s the best default for static posts and carousels.
  • Square post, 1080 × 1080 (1:1): works everywhere and sits well in grids.
  • Reel cover, 1080 × 1920 (9:16): for Reels and Stories.

Mind the profile grid

Profile grids crop to a 3:4 area. Keep the key words inside the centre of a portrait post, with at least 8% margin on each side, so nothing is cut off in the grid.

Reel safe zones

Reels and Stories overlay buttons and captions on the lower part of the screen and the top. Keep your title between roughly 15% and 75% of the height. The Reel templates in itistitle are laid out with this in mind.

Carousels: design the first slide to stop the scroll

People decide on the first slide. Use a short title, a strong contrast and a clear “swipe” cue like a number (“7 ideas →”). Keep the same font, colours and layout across the slides so the set feels like one piece.

Keep text short

Eight words or fewer on a post cover. Put the detail in the caption.

Keep reading

Questions, ideas or a design you’d like to see?

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