Design · Showcase
Showcase carousel ideas
for design.
103 showcase carousels about design beat their creator’s usual likes and comments, with a median of 1.7×. Here are the strongest 12, the first slides they opened with and how the format is put together.
- carousels above their creator’s usual
- 103
- creators
- 15
- median score
- 1.7×
- slides, typically
- 8
Top showcase carousels about design
40× usual
Make it out of cucumbers
10× usual
9.8× usual
happy mother's day we love you mom for mama Momly Mother's Flower Booth
8.6× usual
7.2× usual
4.2× usual
PASTEL FEVER DREAMS
3.7× usual
to lock in, one must first crash out
3.3× usual
3.0× usual
2.5× usual
(some of) our fave graphics as sticker packs
2.3× usual
P.s. some of them made me want to rebrand! Fave Instagram designs I've recently worked on
2.2× usual
How a showcase carousel is built
A showcase carousel lets the images do the talking: a photo series, a portfolio, product shots or outfits. Text is short or absent, so order and the first image matter most.
- Slide 1: the strongest image, sometimes with a short title
- Middle slides: one image per slide, ordered to build interest
- Last slide: a detail, a before and after, or the credits
Use it when: Your work is visual and stronger shown than explained.
First slides that stopped the scroll
The opening slide decides whether anyone swipes. These are the first slides of carousels that beat their creator’s usual, transcribed from the slide.
@endlesstools · 40× their usual · Showcase“Make it out of cucumbers”
@aluncreative · 9.8× their usual · Showcase“happy mother's day we love you mom for mama Momly Mother's Flower Booth”
@contemporary100 · 4.2× their usual · Showcase“PASTEL FEVER DREAMS”
@deathtostock · 3.7× their usual · Showcase“to lock in, one must first crash out”
@studio_2am · 2.5× their usual · Showcase“(some of) our fave graphics as sticker packs”
@contentwithsprouthive · 2.3× their usual · Showcase“P.s. some of them made me want to rebrand! Fave Instagram designs I've recently worked on”
@canva · 1.8× their usual · Showcase“We accept ALL aspect ratios in this house”
@endlesstools · 4.6× their usual · Showcase“Using Tools Artwork by @jerbosmans”
Turn one of these into your own post
- Pick the structure, not the subject. Choose a carousel whose shape fits an idea you already have: the hook pattern, the slide count, the way it ends.
- Keep what made it work. Note the first-slide promise, how much text each slide carries and what the last slide asks for.
- Write it about your world. Swap in your own topic, examples and voice. Credit the creator if you borrow something specific.
Frequently asked questions
What makes a good showcase carousel about design?
A specific first slide, like “Make it out of cucumbers” (@endlesstools, 40×), “happy mother's day we love you mom for mama Momly Mother's Flower Booth” (@aluncreative, 9.8×), “PASTEL FEVER DREAMS” (@contemporary100, 4.2×), then a clear structure: slide 1: the strongest image, sometimes with a short title; middle slides: one image per slide, ordered to build interest; last slide: a detail, a before and after, or the credits.
How many slides should a showcase carousel about design have?
Most design showcase carousels in the library use 8 slides, and 31% use 6–8 slides. Across all niches, carousels with 11–15 slides were the most likely to double their creator’s usual engagement (28%), and 2–3 slide carousels the least likely (16%).
What is an outlier carousel?
An outlier carousel got more likes and comments than its creator usually gets. Top Carousels divides each carousel’s likes + comments by the median of up to 20 carousels from the same creator posted around the same time, so 3× means three times that creator’s usual engagement.
Browse every design outlier
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