The Cool Girl’s Guide to Instagram Stories

GUIDES

Feb 18

In the digital world, Instagram Stories are the ultimate way to show off your style & personality. that girl you follow with the effortlessly cool stories aren’t so effortless—there’s a formula & a set of unspoken rules. lucky for you, we’re telling all in this guide.

Rule 1 — The iPhone Camera

No fancy equipment necessary. trashy® founder, ash, takes most of her story photos on iphone — outside of the instagram app. using the iphone camera creates consistency.

HERE’S YOUR STARTER KIT:

1. TAP AND HOLD TO LOCK AUTO FOCUS ON THE SUBJECT.

2. LOWER EXPOSURE CREATES A MOODY LOOK & ALLOWS TEXT OVERLAYS TO POP.

COOL POINTS: TRY SHOOTING LANDSCAPE FOR A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE.

Rule 2 — The Edit

if you followed rule 1, you should have some cute content to edit. here we use THE TRASHY® STUDIO APP to fine tune the look. you’ll want to go with a minimal edit. pick your favorite preset and try turning the intensity down a bit — or just add a film grain over top. don’t forget to tap the ♡ to save your favorite presets in one spot!

ASH’S GO—TO PRESETS FOR STORIES:

ASH’S FAVORITES ♡ CHROME, EFFY, TEDDY, MAXINE & CINDY PRESETS IN THE TRASHY® STUDIO APP.

Rule 3 — The Layout

you’ll want to lay your photos out in a unique way. WE LOVE OPTIONS — Here are a few layouts that can’t miss.

Rule 4 — The Overlays

Instagram has many options when it comes to overlays on stories… too many. let’s get right to the ones you’ll want to use.

FONTS

The latest instagram story update gave us new fonts — ugh thank god. the most chic are elegant, editor, classic, signature, and literature. try pairing two together!