1. Find your aesthetic.
What do you take photos of most? What's your style? If you could change your style, what would you do to it? These are all important questions you should ask yourself when finding your aesthetic. Try making a Pinterest board of what you want your Instagram aesthetic to be and use it as inspiration.
2. Pick a filter and stick with it.
Yes, we all know the built-in filters on Instagram are basic and gross. One makes you look too yellow and the other looks like it was taken with a camera from 1950. I get it. But if you want your Instagram to follow a certain aesthetic, try only using one filter. In my experience, there are 3 ways to get a killer filter on your pics. VSCO, we all know is the Holy Grail of filters. Polarr, a little less known but a whole lot better. With Polarr, you can download custom filters, create your own custom filters and you have a lot more control over how it works. Last but not least, Photoshop. If you own a version of Photoshop, upload your cute new selfie and throw a coloring template over it. You can find tons of coloring PSD's on Tumblr, DeviantArt, or even Etsy.
3. Color coordinate.
Wanna know why those popular Instagram pages look so pretty and pleasing to the eye? It's because they're sticking with the same colors. Your eyes will be automatically drawn to their page when it looks neat and organized as well as color coordinated. If you know you're going somewhere where you'll be snapping tons of shots, maybe wear some of those colors that fit in your aesthetic. Even better, use those plain colors as your Instagram Story covers! It'll look like a palette at the top of your page and it will be beautiful. Go ahead and look at some pages like @AcaciaKersey, @BritneyandBaby, or @CaraChatwin and you'll see that they have found their aesthetic and main colors, stuck with it, and have instantly drawn you into it.
4. Make a finsta.
If you're not familiar with what a 'finsta' is, you're not alone. Basically, it's a fake Instagram or almost like an archive. If you have a problem with continuous posting of not so aesthetically pleasing photos, that's what your finsta is for. Pretty much your own sh*tposting page for your friends that looks like your myspace page from 2012. With a finsta, you won't be tempted to upload those funny photos and destroying your aesthetic with it.
5. Try an actual camera.
If you have a camera laying around somewhere in your house, pick it up! Use it and see the difference it makes between your phone captured photos and your camera captured photos. You're going to see a huge difference. Now, with that being said, you don't need to go out and buy a camera to have a nice Instagram page. It's just something you may want to experiment with to see if you prefer it over taking photos with your phone.
