A detailed walk through on how to design your Solsea marketing images with free templates!

I recently made my first NFT collection on Solsea called Monofroogs, but quickly realised there were limited resources on how to design marketing images for the NFT collection, and also limited templates.

So I created some to help make this process just a little bit easier in the future.

In this post, we’ll go through:

1. Why it’s important to have good marketing images for your collection.
2. What dimensions each of your images should have.
3. What you should and shouldn’t have in your images, with examples from Monofroogs!

Feeling ready to design already? Here’s the Figma template to speed up the process!

Why is it important to have great marketing images for your NFTs?

1. Impressions & clicks.
2. Educate.
3. Build trust and leave a good impression.

What marketing images do I need for my collection?

On Solsea, a collection should have:

1. collection header
2. collection icon
3. vertical banner
4. horizontal banner

Let’s break down the best layout and design for each image.

A collection header

A collection header should act like a blurb or a 3-second intro to your collection. Its aim is to showcase your group and what people expect to find when they click on it.

A collection header image should:

• show off some of the NFTs in your collection clearly.
• Be 1920px by 960 px, so the image is clear and crisp.
• Bonus points for laying out your NFTs in a creative way or complimenting the icon that will be placed over it.

A collection should not have:

1. The collection’s name is in a boring font unless it’s part of NFTs. You can see the name of my group in both images where the collection header is shown; there is no need to repeat it. (I know I did this for my collection above, but it doesn’t add value.)
2. Overly detailed. On the search version of your collection, details will be lost.
3. Have a vital part of the image in the bottom middle of the top corners. We want to make sure the essential bits are seen clearly, so put them in a spot where they won’t be hidden.

Some layouts for your header might look like this:

The top row focuses more on negative space and showing off your amazing NFTs. (Don’t forget to be creative with the background colours & designs).

The second row is more about showing off the variety of your collection; if you have 100s of NFTs that are not overly detailed, this is a terrific way to show a glimpse of your collection.

Notice all the designs leave room for your collection icon, which will sit in the lower middle of the header.

A collection icon

Your collection icon is going to be seen and used EVERYWHERE! Maybe it will also be your display picture on platforms like Discord and Twitter. You want to make sure it’s eye-catching and clearly shows a single NFT or element of your NFTs.

My icon for Monofroogs actually sucks, in my opinion. It doesn’t clearly show my NFT, and it takes up way too much of the frame, taking away from the outline of the froog!

My best tip for designing an icon is to design it while it’s a circle, and not a square. It will save you from going back and forth.

Ideally, your collection icon has:

1. The image is in the centre with space around the edges, so we can clearly see the outline of your NFT or element of your NFT.
2. It’s 512 x 512 px.
3. A simple image with not too much detail. Icons are small, and excessive detail will be lost!

Bonus tip: make it more iconic by using a contrasting background, usually solid colour or gradient, to make your image pop!

Better versions of the Monofroogs collection icon would have the following characteristics:

1. A neon/bright background or black background to contrast the monochromatic froog.
2. Increase the outline width to make the froog more defined.
3. Reduce the size of the froog, so it is clearly identifiable.

I know you will be fine with the icon if you leave a little space between your image and the edge. So let’s move on to vertical banners!

Vertical banner

A vertical banner is usually displayed in line with many other collection banners. It will not have the name of your collection under it.

Because of this, your design for a vertical banner will be a little different than the last two we talked about.

Your vertical banner should have:

1. The name of your collection
2. Show off at least 1 NFT
3. Be 300px by 476px for the best resolution.

If your NFT doesn’t have a background, it could also be worth adding a background to help your NFT stand out or compliment it.

In the image below, ‘BOTS LIFE’ has an outstanding banner, in my opinion.

• The name of the collection is easy to read and matches the collection's theme.
• The NFT bot is clear and high resolution.
• The background complements the NFT and the name really well.
• Overall it’s a cohesive and well-designed image.

Some sample layouts for the vertical banner might look like this:

The first two layouts focus on the NFT and would be a fantastic layout for detailed NFTs. You can see the examples screenshotted from Solsea above using these templates.

The third template would be perfect for landscape NFTs or NFTs with scenes behind them.

The last one is amazing for simpler NFT designs (like Monofroogs) and allows you to showcase the variety of your collection.

Horizontal banner

The last asset you need to design is a horizontal banner. This will have a lot of the same elements like the vertical banner.

A horizontal banner should be:

• 476px by 300px
• Have the name of your collection, as it probably won’t be shown with the banner. It can be easy to fall into making the text too big and overpowering the image. As previously mentioned, the sweet spot is having it work cohesively with your NFT.
• Most of the space shows one or more NFTs.

I have created 6 templates I would use for a horizontal banner below and explained what cases I would use them:

The first column is perfect for detailed NFTs or NFTs collection with a clever collection name.

The last column is perfect for simple NFT designs (like Monofroogs). It would also work if you just showed off the elements of more complex designs, e.g. eyes, sunglasses, hair etc.

The last template is probably best for a collection with a cheeky name or where text/font plays a crucial role in your collection. I love this design because the text and NFTs work together to create a harmonious design!

To finish up

These are just a couple of my opinions so take them with a grain of salt. Rules are meant to be broken in the art world, so be creative and experiment!

Tweet me all your fabulous designs @nivaaz_nft, or ask me some questions!

Find all the templates and layouts in the Figma community here.

Support out Monofroogs below

https://froogs.netlify.app/