LinkedIn Banner Design: Ideas and Best Practices for 2026

Your LinkedIn banner is the first thing people see when they land on your profile. Before they read your headline, before they scroll to your experience — the banner sets the tone. Yet most people either leave it blank or throw up a stock photo and call it done.

This guide covers what actually makes a LinkedIn banner work, the sizes you need, design ideas that stand out, and practical tips you can apply today — whether you're a freelancer, job seeker, B2B founder, or corporate professional.

Think of your LinkedIn banner as a billboard at the top of your digital storefront. You have a few seconds to communicate who you are, what you do, and why someone should keep reading.

A well-designed LinkedIn banner does three things:

Establishes credibility — it signals that you take your professional brand seriously
Reinforces your headline — it gives visual context to what you've written below it
Differentiates you — in a sea of blue default backgrounds and beach photos, a purposeful banner is memorable

The data backs this up: LinkedIn profiles with a complete, professional look — including a strong banner — get significantly more profile views and connection requests than sparse ones.

Before you design anything, nail the dimensions. The correct LinkedIn banner size is:

Recommended dimensions: 1584 × 396 pixels
Aspect ratio: 4:1
File size limit: 8MB
Supported formats: JPG, PNG, GIF (static)

A few things to watch for:

Mobile cropping: On mobile, the banner crops slightly at the top and bottom. Keep your key content in the central 60% of the vertical space.
Profile photo overlap: Your profile photo sits in the lower-left corner and overlaps the banner. Leave that area clean — no text or key visuals in the bottom-left quadrant.
Text safety zones: Anything important (your name, tagline, URL) should stay at least 100px from the edges.

If you're designing in Canva, Figma, or Adobe Express, just set your canvas to 1584 × 396px and you're set.

The simplest and most effective format: your background colour (or a subtle gradient), your name or role in large type, and a one-line value proposition.

Example:

"B2B SaaS Copywriter | I help tech companies turn features into revenue"

This works because it immediately answers the question: "What does this person do for me?"

Feature a recognisable client logo, publication logo ("As seen in Forbes, TechCrunch, Wired"), or award. This is particularly effective for consultants, agencies, and speakers.

Keep it clean: 3–5 logos max, white or grayscale versions for visual consistency, on a solid or minimal background.

Drive action directly from your banner. A URL to your newsletter, a free tool, or a booking link.

Example:

"Free LinkedIn Post Templates → hookedai.ai/linkedin-post-generator"

If you're actively trying to grow an audience or generate leads, this format turns passive profile views into clicks.

A high-quality photo of you — speaking on stage, at your desk, in your element — that reinforces your personality and niche. Works especially well for coaches, speakers, and creators.

Tip: Add a subtle colour overlay on the photo to make text readable and maintain a consistent brand palette.

A short, punchy statement of what you stand for. This resonates for thought leaders, founders, and anyone building a community around ideas.

Example:

"Building the future of creator monetisation"

Keep it bold, keep it brief, make the typography do the work.

If you're a founder or executive, your banner can reinforce the company brand — logo, tagline, product screenshot, or team photo. Consistent with your company's LinkedIn page and website.

Tailor the banner to your current job search or professional focus. "Open to opportunities in data science" or "Helping Series A startups build their growth function" — specific enough to attract the right people, generic enough not to look desperate.

Sometimes less is more. A clean solid colour (matching your personal palette), a single line of text, or your logo on white. Minimalism communicates confidence when done well.

Designers, writers, and creators can showcase a sample of their work directly in the banner. A collage of brand identities, a screenshot grid of published articles, or a product UI preview.

Promoting a book launch, a conference talk, or a product release? Use your banner as a temporary announcement space. Update it for the moment, then revert. This shows you're active and current.

Whether you're building from scratch or refreshing what you have, these principles apply across every format.

Keep it readable at a glance

If someone needs to zoom in to read your text, the design has failed. Use large, bold typography and high contrast between text and background. Aim for WCAG AA contrast ratios (4.5:1 for normal text).

Limit your colour palette

Two or three colours maximum. Ideally colours that match your personal brand or company colours. A chaotic colour scheme looks amateur regardless of how clever the concept is.

Match your profile photo

Your banner and profile photo should feel like they belong together. If your photo has a white background, a white or light banner works. If your banner is dark navy, a photo with a dark background reinforces the look.

Use professional fonts

Script fonts are hard to read at scale. Display fonts can work if used sparingly. Stick to clean sans-serifs (Inter, Montserrat, DM Sans) or carefully chosen serifs for body text. If in doubt, go with the font your company uses.

Skip the busy backgrounds

Texture-heavy, heavily patterned, or photo-collage backgrounds tend to reduce text legibility and visual clarity. The banner should support your message, not compete with it.

Canva

The most popular option for non-designers. Has a dedicated LinkedIn banner template category, drag-and-drop editing, and a large free tier. Search "LinkedIn Banner" and you'll find hundreds of starting points.

Adobe Express

Similar to Canva, with slightly more polished templates and tighter integration with Adobe fonts. Good if you're already in the Adobe ecosystem.

Figma

Better for designers who want precise control. No pre-built LinkedIn banner templates by default, but the design freedom is unmatched. Set up a 1584 × 396px frame and go.

Venngage

Strong for data-heavy or infographic-style banners. Useful if you want to incorporate icons, stats, or structured visual layouts in a more editorial style.

Photoshop / Affinity Photo

For photo-based banners requiring compositing, colour grading, or retouching. Overkill for most use cases, but right for the right job.

Using the default blue background LinkedIn's default grey-blue background communicates nothing about you. Even a solid colour in your brand palette is an upgrade.

Putting text in the profile photo overlap zone Your profile picture will cover the bottom-left corner of your banner. Place text or important visuals in the upper or right portion of the banner.

Overloading the banner with information Your banner is not your CV. One clear message is more powerful than five competing ideas.

Using a banner that contradicts your headline If your headline says "Product Designer" but your banner looks like it was made by someone with no design sensibility, that's a mismatch. Your banner is part of your credibility signal.

Not updating it Your banner should reflect where you are now, not where you were two years ago. Review it every six months — especially if your role, focus, or goals have changed.

Freelancer / Consultant

Goal: Generate inbound leads Format: Tagline + CTA → "Strategic Brand Designer for SaaS | Book a free 20-min call → calendly.com/yourname"

Job Seeker

Goal: Signal availability and speciality Format: Role focus + open indicator → "Product Manager | Open to Opportunities | Fintech & HealthTech"

Founder / Startup Executive

Goal: Build credibility and company awareness Format: Company branding + mission → Logo | "Building AI tools for solo founders"

Content Creator / Thought Leader

Goal: Grow audience and drive engagement Format: Value prop + free resource → "I post daily on LinkedIn growth. Get my free templates → [link]"

Corporate Professional

Goal: Reinforce expertise within their niche Format: Clean, professional, role-specific → Name | Title | Company | Professional colour palette

A great banner only works if the rest of your profile holds up. The banner pulls people in — your headline and summary keep them there.

Your LinkedIn headline (the text just below your name) should immediately clarify what you do and who you help. If you're not sure where to start, the LinkedIn Headline Generator from Hooked AI can help you write a headline that is specific, value-driven, and keyword-optimised in seconds.

And once you've locked in your headline, your summary section needs to do the same. Think of it as the paragraph that earns the connection request. The LinkedIn Summary Generator gives you a structured, human-sounding summary that matches the tone and intent of your banner.

Together — banner, headline, summary — they create a consistent, compelling first impression.

A few good triggers for a refresh:

New role or business: Update immediately to reflect the change
New offer or focus area: Adjust the CTA or tagline
Rebranding: Colours, fonts, or logo changes → update the banner to match
Major event or launch: A book, a conference talk, a product release
Every 6–12 months: Just to stay current and avoid looking stale

If you just want something clean and professional today, here's a minimal template you can execute in under 30 minutes:

Background: Solid colour in your brand palette (or deep navy, dark green, or slate grey) Left side (safe zone): Your name in large bold white type, your role/tagline in smaller regular weight Right side: A subtle geometric element, your company logo, or a single icon that relates to your work Bottom-left: Leave clear — profile photo goes here

That's it. Clean, readable, professional. No stock photos required.

Wrapping Up

Your LinkedIn banner is a small surface with a disproportionate impact on first impressions. You don't need to be a designer to create something that works — you need a clear message, the right dimensions, and a little intentionality.

The best LinkedIn banners are simple, specific, and consistent with the rest of your profile. Start with one clear idea: what do I want someone to know the moment they land on my profile? Build the banner around that.

And once your visual brand is sorted, keep the momentum going. Use the LinkedIn Post Generator to produce content that matches the professional presence you've just built — because a strong banner invites people in, but your content is what keeps them coming back.