Improve Your Instagram Design: Critiques, Tips & Advice PT 1
Chris Do deconstructs real-world Instagram carousels, revealing the critical design and strategy mistakes that kill engagement.
Chris Do
Founder, The Futur™ · October 28, 2020
Your Content Is Not Confusing. It's Irrelevant.
Most content on Instagram is noise. It’s a relentless stream of visual information competing for fractions of a second of attention. In this environment, creatives and brands often make a fatal mistake: they believe the path to engagement is through more complexity, louder colors, and trendier aesthetics.
They are wrong.
The battle for attention is not won with sensory overload. It is won with clarity. As educator and CEO of The Futur, Chris Do, demonstrates in a series of live critiques, the difference between content that connects and content that gets ignored comes down to a handful of foundational principles. These principles have little to do with mastering the latest software and everything to do with mastering communication.
Before dissecting a single pixel, Do establishes a simple but rigorous framework. Every piece of content, he argues, must be evaluated against five criteria:
- Clarity vs. Confusion: Can the audience immediately understand what is happening, or is the message muddled and chaotic?
- Fulfilling vs. Empty: Does the content provide genuine value, or does it simply take the viewer's time? This is the core of a value-based content strategy.
- Typographic Precision: Does the typography adhere to fundamental rules of legibility and hierarchy, or is it riddled with errors that distract from the message?
- Conceptual Harmony: Do the design decisions actively support the core idea, or is there a disconnect between visuals and text?
- The "X-Factor": What makes the content uniquely yours? This is the special sauce, the signature style that builds brand memory.
This framework moves the conversation beyond subjective taste. It forces creators to become strategists, to justify every choice not with “I like it,” but with “It serves the message.” Through a series of real-world examples, a clear pattern emerges: the most common failures are not failures of creative talent, but failures of intention.
The Unspoken Contract: Narrative and Flow
A carousel is not a collection of static images. It is a story. The swipe is a narrative device, pulling the reader from one beat to the next. When that narrative is broken, the story falls apart.
Consider a carousel designed by a creator named Daniel, titled “How to overcome anxiety in just 20 seconds.” Do praises the headline for its clear promise and defined timeline, a powerful combination that immediately signals value. The opening visual, a hand breaking free from a chain, conceptually links to the theme of overcoming distress.
But the execution of the narrative stumbles. As Do reads the copy aloud, he pinpoints a common writing flaw. “The way you write and the way you speak is different,” he notes. “And you want to make it sound natural when you're speaking.”
Daniel’s copy fragments a single thought across multiple slides. Do suggests simple typographic cues to guide the reader, such as using an ellipsis or a comma and starting the subsequent slide with a lowercase letter to signal continuation. This small adjustment transforms disjointed statements into a seamless, conversational flow.
The structure also reveals an over-reliance on filler. To meet the 10-slide format, Daniel uses several slides for introductory fluff. Do’s solution is surgical: remove the filler and use that space to unpack the core value proposition. Instead of a single slide listing the breathing exercise, “take this slide and break this across three frames.” One for each step: inhale, hold, exhale. This gives the most important information the space it deserves, making it more digestible and impactful.
This principle of narrative clarity is even more critical when the message itself is ambiguous. A carousel from a creator named Keith tackles the topic, “Five reasons we buy more things than we need.” The design is visually pleasing with a consistent illustration style, but the core message is lost.
Do is blunt in his assessment. “I'm not sure if you're trying to tell us not to buy things, or to buy things, or to become aware of things, or how to trigger other people to buy things,” he says. “You want to be very clear as to what you want people to think and feel after reading something like this.” This lack of a clear point of view leaves the audience without a takeaway. The content is interesting, but not fulfilling.
Great content doesn't just present information; it offers a perspective. It tells the audience what to do with that information. This is a crucial distinction Do explores in his work on building a brand, where having a clear point of view is what separates leaders from followers. Find out more on this in his talk on how to build a personal brand.
Visual Systems and the Trap of Inconsistency
If the message is the soul of your content, the visual system is its body. An inconsistent visual language creates a jarring experience that erodes trust and signals amateurism.
One creator, Melissa, submitted a carousel about brand loyalty, starting with a rich, photographic style. The deep chocolate tones and a beautifully rendered coffee mug create a premium, cohesive vibe. Do praises the aesthetic and the clever split-screen design. The first two slides are a masterclass in establishing a mood.
Then, on slide three, the system shatters.
Suddenly, the photography is replaced by a flat, two-dimensional clipart-style illustration. “It's really throwing me off,” Do admits. “What happened to the nice vibes from here?” The problem isn't that illustration is bad; it's that this specific illustration style is completely disconnected from the established visual language. This break in consistency feels like a mistake, pulling the viewer out of the experience.
The challenges of sourcing or creating consistent imagery are real, especially for solo creators. But as Do emphasizes, “that's the challenge that you have to solve.” The solution is often discipline. He advises newcomers to stick to a tight, defined palette. Start with a handful of colors, plus tints, shades, black, and white. This constraint fosters creativity and, more importantly, builds a recognizable visual identity.
Another creator, Amy, demonstrates a more successful approach. Her carousel, “How to use calligraphy in layout design,” pairs a decorative, hand-drawn script with the clean, geometric sans-serif Futura. The contrast is intentional and effective. “I think choosing Futura to contrast against hand-drawn calligraphy, I think that's a really smart choice,” Do affirms. The stark, minimal layout with ample white space allows the calligraphy to shine without overwhelming the composition.
Amy’s design successfully teaches the very principles it advocates: restraint, contrast, and hierarchy. However, even here, small inconsistencies creep in. A connecting arrow between two slides feels like a design afterthought, an element from a different visual language. Do’s advice is to integrate it into the existing system. “I would prefer it if you drew that by hand and added some texture to it so it feels consistent with what's going on.”
Every element must belong. This is the difference between a collection of assets and a cohesive design system.
The Devil in the Details: Typographic Precision
Typography is the architecture of information. When handled with care, it guides the eye, establishes hierarchy, and makes complex ideas easy to parse. When neglected, it becomes a barrier to comprehension.
Do’s critiques reveal a recurring pattern of typographic missteps, many of which are easily fixed but have an outsized impact on professionalism.
A frequent offender is the use of a prime mark (') instead of a proper apostrophe (’). It’s a subtle error, but one that signals a lack of typographic literacy. “I'm a stickler for this,” Do warns, flagging it in multiple submissions. He also points out the correct typesetting for ellipses, referencing the typographic rule of adding a space before the three dots to separate it from the preceding word.
Beyond punctuation, Do zeros in on spacing and hierarchy. In Daniel's carousel, the indented list items are pushed too far from their corresponding numbers. This violates the principle of proximity. “Proximity tells us relationships,” Do explains. “The closer something is together, you're saying to the reader this is important, these ideas are connected.” By increasing the space, the designer weakens the visual relationship between the number and the text.
In Amy's summary slide, the opposite problem occurs within the text block itself. The leading (line spacing) and paragraph spacing are too wide, causing the bulleted list to feel like a series of separate, disconnected thoughts rather than a unified group. The fix is simple: tighten the spacing.
These details matter. Lisa, a designer whose work is inspired by Russian Constructivism, creates a visually dynamic and sophisticated carousel. The bold, angular typography and layered elements are powerful. Researching this movement reveals its focus on social purpose and geometric abstraction, with artists like Alexander Rodchenko creating iconic posters that heavily influenced modern graphic design. Lisa channels this energy well. Yet, her final summary slide becomes a wall of text, a dense block of information that overwhelms the reader. The solution? Break it up. Use an extra slide to give the key takeaways breathing room.
The biggest typographic crime, however, is prioritizing style over readability.
- All caps for body text: Several creators use all caps for long sentences or paragraphs. This dramatically reduces reading speed and comprehension. All caps are for headlines, not body copy.
- Centered body text: Centered alignment creates a ragged left and right edge, forcing the reader's eye to find a new starting point for every line. It's best reserved for short headlines or quotes.
- Too many variables: Keith’s ninth slide is a mess of three-point sizes, two colors, and two fonts to deliver three pieces of information. “This is really hurting you here,” Do states. Simplicity is key, especially on a summary slide meant to provide clarity.
Good typography is invisible. It does its job without calling attention to itself. Bad typography screams for attention, distracting from the only thing that matters: the message.
The Strategic Disconnect: When Design Undermines Value
The most dangerous flaw is not a misplaced pixel or a clumsy sentence. It is a strategic disconnect, where the entire premise of the content is misaligned with its execution. This is where a potentially valuable piece of content fails to deliver on its promise.
A carousel from Goran attempts to teach a productivity method called the Eisenhower Matrix. This tool, developed by Dwight D. Eisenhower, helps organize tasks by categorizing them into four quadrants based on urgency and importance. It’s a genuinely useful concept, a perfect fit for a value-driven Instagram post. The initial slides build suspense, identifying the pain point of being overwhelmed with projects.
But the content never actually teaches the user how to apply the matrix. It presents the four quadrants—Do It, Plan It, Delegate It, Eliminate It—but offers no examples or application. The entire piece serves as a lead-in to the final slide: “Send me a message.”
Do identifies this as a flawed strategy. “My strategy would be to say, ‘Okay, so you have a lot of things that are stressing you out. The best thing you can do is to make a list of them and then to organize them according to the Eisenhower matrix,’” he explains. You must deliver the value first. Teach the concept fully. Build trust and authority. Only then might you earn the right to ask for the sale. Holding the solution hostage turns valuable education into a thinly veiled sales pitch. This approach is the opposite of what's taught in how to get your first clients, where providing upfront value is key.
Do is clear on his philosophy: “I would try to tell you just first create value, build an audience, and then eventually they're going to figure it out they need help… and they're going to hire you.”
A different kind of strategic disconnect appears in Sarah’s post about taking a “big jump” in life. She uses a bold, clean design with a strong color palette. But on the slide containing the core advice, she commits a cardinal sin of digital content: she creates a wall of text.
A list of five detailed bullet points is crammed onto a single slide. “If it were me just flipping through this, I would stop here and just not read anymore,” Do confesses. “And that's a shame because this is where all the meat is. This is where the value is.”
The design decision to save space completely undermines the content’s purpose. The solution is the same as with Daniel’s carousel: unpack the information. Dedicate one slide to each of the five points. Give the value room to breathe. People on Instagram are not looking for a dense meal; they want a series of satisfying, light bites. This is a fundamental principle of creating content for the platform, a topic Do has covered extensively when discussing why most social media strategies fail.
In both cases, good ideas were suffocated by poor execution. The creators failed to understand how the user would experience their content, prioritizing information density over user comprehension. The design, instead of supporting the concept, became its biggest obstacle.
The Last Slide: Your Final Impression
The final slide of a carousel is your last chance to make an impression. It's where you issue a call to action and, just as importantly, reinforce who you are. Many creators treat it as an afterthought, but it’s a critical piece of brand real estate.
Do’s critiques of the final slide reveal a common tension between asking for engagement and building a personal brand.
Keith’s last slide is a chaotic explosion of requests. “Comment below! Get involved! Give us some love! Love the Edge team! Save this for later!” It’s desperate and confusing. “My suggestion to you is to ask the audience to do one thing,” Do advises. Do you want a comment? Then make the entire slide about asking a compelling question. Do you want saves? Focus on that. Asking for everything guarantees you get nothing.
Clarity of purpose is paramount. This singular focus is a cornerstone of effective marketing and sales, a concept Do often revisits in contexts like how to close deals in sales calls, where a clear, single 'ask' is crucial.
The other function of the last slide is to build a human connection. This is often done with a photo of the creator. But what does that photo say? Daniel’s final slide includes a picture of himself, but Do challenges him on its effectiveness. “Does this picture in any way capture your personal brand? Does it convey a sense of who you are and what you stand for?” A generic headshot is a missed opportunity. Do suggests using a pose, an accessory, or a setting that instantly communicates your identity. It's about being memorable.
In stark contrast, Amy’s final photo is a masterclass in personality. The dynamic crop, the expressive look, the bold hair and glasses, all project a strong sense of self. “It shows so much personality,” Do remarks. “I see it. It's a good photo.” Here, the only mistake is cluttering the slide with unnecessary graphic elements. The photo is the hero; the rest should get out of the way.
Your last slide is not just an ending. It is a beginning. It’s the start of a conversation, a follow, or a deeper-held memory of who you are. Don't waste it.
Ultimately, designing for social media is not about chasing algorithms or hacking trends. It is a return to the first principles of communication.
Be clear. Be valuable. Be consistent. Be intentional.
Master these, and the audience will follow.
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“If everything stands out, nothing stands out.”
— Chris Do
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