I’ve previously discussed how difficult it can be to juggle a full time job with a blog, and offered some advice on how to maximise your time and efficiency. One of the most time consuming elements of blogging, running your own website and social media channels is undoubtedly the design and creative aspects of it. There is just so much to be done, from overall design, to small graphics, logos, social media icons, the list is never ending. Design Bundles is a design marketplace that can help you out in so many ways, especially when it comes to quality, cost, and saving time.

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Design Bundles, but as always all opinions are genuine, and if I wouldn’t use something myself, I wouldn’t suggest you do either.

For many who aren’t technically skilled graphic designers, the time it would take us to produce the type of quality creations we all desire just isn’t worthwhile, and often the cost of hiring professionals to do it for you isn’t an option especially if you’re just starting out. Design Bundles brings independent, very talented creatives to you at an affordable cost, allowing you to create content that really stands out.

I’m going to go on to talk specifically about the products I would use personally, but I just want to mention that the range of products they have extends far beyond just these. As well as online templates, graphics and mock ups, there is a whole other section for crafters. Just some of the categories here include patterns, illustrations, embroidery, scrapbooking, greeting cards, invitations, fabric patterns…the list goes on.  

I’ve picked out some of the product sections that I think are the most useful for online creators, so bloggers, social media, small businesses and freelancers. 

Mockup Logo Templates on design bundles

Under the ‘Templates’ section you will find the mock up category, and these are broken down further into sub categories. The one I’d go for is Branding, as your personal branding is so important to keep consistent and of a high quality. It brings up pages of products and their pricing, so you can click on any to get a more detailed description of what you get and what requirements such as editing programs you might need.

Some are individual products that you can brand up, but for the purposes of blogging and social media, it’s the social media bundles, and mockup logo products that are really worth considering. They basically provide you with templates where the hard work is done for you, including the sizing, layouts and graphic artwork. All you need to do is customise what’s already been created with your own imagery and text. You keep the flexibility and individual creativity for your own content which is absolutely key, but save on the hard work of creating templates from scratch. 

Bundles work brilliantly because they stick to a theme, or similar templates for consistency. For example if you’re writing a fashion blog post, you can transform your posts with imagery using media packs that follow a pattern, but each image in your post will be your own and flow nicely among your content.

Pinterest Templates

Also under Templates there is a Social Media section, broken down into sub categories for each platform. Depending on your content you might want templates for any social platform, but by far the most used for me is Pinterest.

Pinterest is the platform that can really skyrocket your blog traffic, and beautiful pins are a must to ensure that happens. Although Pinterest is essentially a search engine, and the format of your pin titles and descriptions are so important, it’s also a highly visual platform, so your pins need to look beautiful, clear and eye catching to ensure they get pinned and not scrolled past.

The Pinterest mock up templates will save you a lot of time when creating multiple pins per blog post, and a lot of them work with Canva too, one of the most popular editing apps for creating pins. 

Photoshop Add On design bundles

If you are a bit more technically capable on programs such as Photoshop or Illustrator, and perhaps prefer to have a bit more creative freedom because you can do it yourself then there’s plenty for you too. Under Add Ons, you can browse the downloadable add ons specific to the program you use. Brush bundles, palettes, effects and layer styles all fall under here.

Lightroom Presets

The holy grail of Instagram photo editing has to be Lightroom, and presets are becoming more popular than ever. There are pages of Lightroom presets to browse, covering all sorts of photo styles, colouring, edits and themes. If you really want to take your Instagram to the next level lightroom and strong presets are essential, especially if you aren’t confident or experienced at photo editing yourself.

These are just four specific elements of Design Bundles that I would personally use, and think could really help a lot of people make the best use of their time. I love the idea of helping out independent designers, as you’re getting something much more carefully created and affordable. There is a membership option of Design Bundles, but the free to use marketplace offers so much in itself.

I’ve just invested in a brand new iPad Pro, and I’m hoping to get the Apple Pencil to go with it soon. One of my lovely graphic designer friends has it and says it’s life changing, especially for creatives and would be perfect to use alongside the templates and bundles I’ve mentioned. It’s a lot of work to keep on top of everything you need to do to keep a blog or creative business running successfully, so hopefully this points you in the right direction of some ways to save time without compromising quality.

Disclaimer: As mentioned earlier This post is sponsored by Design Bundles, but as always all opinions are genuine, and if I wouldn’t use something myself, I wouldn’t suggest you do either.

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How to juggle a blog with a full time job