Content & Social Media
02 / Formats & Platforms
Key question
Which format suits the message?
The same idea can become a photo, a carousel, or a short video. Every format has its own strengths and its own dimensions. When you know them, you design properly once instead of starting over three times.
Learning objective: You can select the appropriate format for a message and design posts using the correct dimensions with safe zones.
Message first, format second.
2.1 / The three basic formats
Image, carousel, video.
Almost all posts can be traced back to three basic formats. The choice depends on what the message needs: a moment, an explanation, or a movement.
01
Single frame
A powerful moment. A work, a face, a detail.
02
Carousel
Multiple slides to swipe through. Ideal for guides, before and after, and lists.
03
Short video
Motion and sound. For processes, personality and reach.
Carousels are often saved, and videos are often shared. Both show that a post is genuinely being engaged with.
Each format has a purpose.
2.2 / Dimensions and Safe Zones
Design for the viewport, not for the file.
Every platform overlays its own controls onto your post: name, audio, buttons, description. Whatever ends up there won't be seen by anyone. That's why text, logos and faces belong in the safe zone in the centre.
Additionally, images are cropped differently in the feed than on your profile. A 4:5 portrait image is cropped to 3:4 in the profile grid. Plan your key content so that it works well in both crops.
Design for what is visible in the frame.
2.3 / Platform Logic
Every platform has its own habits.
On Instagram, it's the image that counts; on LinkedIn, the first sentence; on TikTok, the first second; on YouTube, the thumbnail. That's why a post is tailored for each platform, not simply copy-pasted.
Best practice: One idea, several versions. A workshop video becomes a reel, three stills for a carousel, and a short post for LinkedIn.
Customise rather than copy.
Exercise
One idea, three formats
Task: Turn a single message from Atelier Lumen into three posts across three formats.
STEP 1
Choose a message, such as ‘How a mug is made’.
STEP 2
Design a single image in a 4:5 format and check the 3:4 crop.
STEP 3
Design a five-slide carousel: introduction, three steps, conclusion.
STEP 4
Sketch a 9:16 reel and keep within the safe zone.
Evaluation: Which format conveys the message most clearly, and why?