Q&A: A “Non-Designer’s” Guide to Professional Visuals (ft. Mateo Vargas from Adobe)

Introduction: The “Visual WordMess”

We’ve all been there. You spend hours writing a great blog post, but then you get stuck. You need a featured image that matches the topic, but you aren’t a designer.

Or maybe you hit publish, but the page just feels plain and “blah.” Even worse, when you try to fix it, the images end up blurry or just don’t fit the layout pattern.

It’s what I call a “Visual WordMess.” You have a powerful engine (WordPress), but the paint job looks amateur.

I know many of you aren’t graphic designers. You need a workflow that is fast, consistent, and doesn’t require a degree in Photoshop.

To help solve this, I connected with Mateo Vargas, an Outreach Coordinator at Adobe Express. I asked him how solopreneurs can use their tools to fix the “WordMess” and create a consistent brand identity on WordPress.

Here is our conversation on how to get that “one-two punch” of strategy and design.

The Interview

Brian (bpnWebTech): Mateo, a lot of my clients love WordPress because it gives them ownership. But they struggle to make their pages look “campaign-ready.” Why is that gap so hard to bridge?

Mateo (Adobe): It’s a common struggle. If your website runs on WordPress, you already own a powerful engine for publishing and selling. The problem usually isn’t “Can I do this?” but “How do I make it look good, fast, without hiring a full creative team?”.

That’s where Adobe Express slips in. WordPress gives you structure for the pages, posts, and publishing control. We give you the on-brand visuals and graphics that you can drag, drop, and download. Together, they cover the two big jobs of modern marketing: telling the story and making it look worth reading.

Brian: A lot of business owners try to solve this with stock photos. It’s a quick fix, but it often feels “less you,” and finding the exact image to match a specific topic can take hours. And while AI generation is exciting, it’s still hit-or-miss for most people. How does Express bridge that gap?

Mateo: Exactly. You want to avoid relying on stock photos that don’t match your actual brand. Adobe Express sits in the middle. It allows you to take a stock photo (or your own photo) and customize it with your brand colors, logos, and overlays. It stops the visual from looking generic and makes it look like your business.

Brian: I preach “clarity is king.” If a graphic is messy, it confuses the customer. What is the actual workflow you recommend for a busy business owner to keep things clean?

Mateo: Think of it as a loop. You shouldn’t treat design as a separate, expensive project. Instead, visuals become part of your everyday publishing rhythm.

Here is the simple 5-step checklist we recommend:

  1. Pick the goal first. Are you publishing a blog post or a banner? Decide that before you open the tool.
  2. Start with a template. Open Adobe Express and choose a template close to your goal.
  3. Brand it. Drop in your specific colors, logo, and fonts so everything looks like your business, not a generic template.

Brian’s Pro Tip: Don’t eyeball your colors! Check under Appearance → Customize or your theme’s Global Styles to copy your exact Hex Code (like #1D4E89). Pasting that code into Adobe Express guarantees a perfect match every time. Or you can use a free browser extension like ColorZilla or Eye Dropper. Just click on your logo or header to grab the exact Hex code instantly.

  1. Export & Import. Export your design from Express (JPG or PNG usually works best) and upload it directly to your WordPress Media Library. Now it is ready to use as a featured image, a section background, or an in-post graphic.
  2. Lock in the pattern. Don’t start from scratch every time. Save your design as a template in Express, and save your block layout in WordPress. Next time, you just swap the text and images to save a ton of time.

Brian: This sounds great for the owner, but what if they have a Virtual Assistant or a junior staff member? Can non-technical team members handle this?

Mateo: Yes. That’s one of the main advantages of pairing these tools. WordPress’ editor is block-based and visual, and Adobe Express is template-driven and guided. With one or two short walkthroughs, most staff can follow that “create in Express → upload to WordPress” loop.

Brian: One technical fear my clients have is that using external design tools will create huge files that slow down their site. How do we handle that?

Mateo: Great question. It doesn’t have to slow down your site. The key is exporting images at sensible sizes. Large enough to look sharp, but not so large that they bloat your pages.

  • For images and blog graphics, export as JPG or PNG.
  • For video snippets, export as MP4.

Brian’s Pro Tip: Adobe Express also has a free Quick Action to resize images specifically for web use. If you are on one of my Care Plans, I also have premium optimization tools running in the background to act as a safety net!

Brian: Let’s talk about specific use cases. Where do you see WordPress users getting the most value out of this integration?

Mateo: It’s really ideal for “campaign bursts”. Things like new offers, seasonal promos, or blog refreshes.

Here are a few specific ways to use them together:

Brian: One thing I notice is that tools like Adobe Express have thousands of templates with text right on them. They look great, but I often see clients run into trouble when they use those graphics as website headers.

Mateo: That is a valid concern. Those text-heavy templates are amazing for social media or specific blog graphics where the size is fixed. But for a responsive website banner? You have to be careful.

If you “bake” your headline into the image, it might look perfect on a desktop screen. But when that image shrinks down for a mobile phone, your text often gets cropped off or becomes illegible.

Brian: Exactly. And there is an Accessibility & SEO downside, too. Site readers & Google/search engines can’t read text that is trapped inside a JPEG.

So, my advice to clients is usually a “Hybrid Approach”:

  1. Use Express for the Art: Use the tools to remove backgrounds, create cool gradients, or arrange your product photos.
  2. Use WordPress for the Text: Upload that clean background to your site, then use the WordPress Block Editor to type your headline over the image.

Mateo: That is the pro move. That way, your text stays live, readable, and responsive.

Brian: One other design caution I’d add is about Font Discipline.

It is tempting to grab a template because it has a cool, funky script font. But if your website uses a clean sans-serif font, dropping in a graphic with a totally different typography style creates visual clutter.

Mateo: 100%. That goes back to the branding step. Even if you love a template, swap the font to match your website’s identity before you export. Consistency is what makes it look professional.

Brian: Once a client has this system in place, how often should they update visuals on their WordPress site?

Mateo: A simple rule of thumb:

  • Update banners and hero images for major campaigns, seasonal changes, or new offers.
  • Refresh blog graphics whenever you update older posts.
  • Revisit core pages (home, services, pricing) every quarter to keep visuals aligned with your current positioning.

Conclusion

Brian: Thanks for the insights, Mateo.

The takeaway here is consistency. Whether you use Adobe Express or another design tool the goal is to start building a system.

If you’ve been putting off fixing your site’s visuals, here is a challenge for you:

Try the “One Banner Test” Adobe Express offers a 30-day free trial of their premium features (and a robust free plan). I challenge you to try it on just one piece of content this week:

  1. Sign up for the trial.
  2. Pick one old blog post that looks “blah.”
  3. Create a fresh header image using your exact brand colors (remember those Hex codes!).
  4. Upload it to WordPress and see the difference.

It’s a low-risk way to see if this workflow cures your “Visual WordMess.”

  • Need a strategy before you start? If you don’t know what your brand colors or message should be, we need to back up. Let’s build your Marketing Roadmap first.
  • Need help executing? If you want to set up these templates but feel stuck, book a Flexible Service Block for a “Show-Me-How” session.

Brian, Your WordPress Ally, because your WordPress shouldn’t be a ‘WordMess’!

About the Guest

Mateo Vargas is an Outreach Coordinator at Adobe Express. He helps businesses explore how to maintain unified brand voices and visual identities across different channels.

Brian Newhall

I have been working as a full-time WordPress consultant since 2018. Before that, I directed after-school programs in urban neighborhoods. In my free time, I play guitar and enjoy listening to music. My wife and I have two adult children and twin grandsons! My main goal is to help you get your website looking and working exactly how you want it to. I'll take care of all the fiddly bits and pieces that you might not know how to deal with or just don't have time for.

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