diff --git a/src/components/Form/Fields.tsx b/src/components/Form/Fields.tsx
index dab1ddd451..3eb5b9d888 100644
--- a/src/components/Form/Fields.tsx
+++ b/src/components/Form/Fields.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 import * as React from 'react'
-import { TextAreaStyled, Input, TextAreaDisabled } from './elements'
+import {
+  TextAreaStyled,
+  Input,
+  TextAreaDisabled,
+  ErrorMessage,
+} from './elements'
 import { FieldRenderProps } from 'react-final-form'
 import Calendar, { CalendarProps } from 'react-calendar'
 
@@ -17,9 +22,10 @@ type YearPickerProps = IFieldProps & CalendarProps
 
 export const InputField = ({ input, meta, ...rest }: IFieldProps) => (
   <>
-    <Input {...input} {...rest} />
-    {/* CC - removed clunky error reporting until better solution implemented */}
-    {/* {meta.error && meta.touched && <span>{meta.error}</span>} */}
+    <Input invalid={meta.error && meta.touched} {...input} {...rest} />
+    {meta.error && meta.touched ? (
+      <ErrorMessage>{meta.error}</ErrorMessage>
+    ) : null}
   </>
 )
 
@@ -28,18 +34,20 @@ export const TextAreaField = ({
   meta,
   disabled,
   ...rest
-}: IFieldProps) => (
-  <>
-    {disabled ? (
-      // want disabled textarea to just render as styled div to remove scrollbars
-      <TextAreaDisabled>{input.value}</TextAreaDisabled>
-    ) : (
-      <TextAreaStyled {...input} {...rest} />
-    )}
-
-    {/* {meta.error && meta.touched && <span>{meta.error}</span>} */}
-  </>
-)
+}: IFieldProps) =>
+  disabled ? (
+    // want disabled textarea to just render as styled div to remove scrollbars
+    <TextAreaDisabled>{input.value}</TextAreaDisabled>
+  ) : (
+    <>
+      <TextAreaStyled
+        invalid={meta.error && meta.touched}
+        {...input}
+        {...rest}
+      />
+      {meta.error && meta.touched && <ErrorMessage>{meta.error}</ErrorMessage>}
+    </>
+  )
 
 export const YearPicker = ({ input, meta, ...rest }: YearPickerProps) => (
   <>
@@ -53,7 +61,6 @@ export const YearPicker = ({ input, meta, ...rest }: YearPickerProps) => (
         input.onChange(v)
       }}
     />
-
-    {/* {meta.error && meta.touched && <span>{meta.error}</span>} */}
+    {/* meta.error && meta.touched && <ErrorMessage>{meta.error}</ErrorMessage> */}
   </>
 )
diff --git a/src/components/Form/ImageInput.field.tsx b/src/components/Form/ImageInput.field.tsx
index 8ed9a7e1cc..74a63291e1 100644
--- a/src/components/Form/ImageInput.field.tsx
+++ b/src/components/Form/ImageInput.field.tsx
@@ -1,18 +1,21 @@
 import React from 'react'
 import { ImageInput } from '../ImageInput/ImageInput'
 import { IFieldProps } from './Fields'
-import { FieldContainer } from './elements'
+import { FieldContainer, ErrorMessage } from './elements'
 
 export const ImageInputField = ({ input, meta, ...rest }: IFieldProps) => (
-  <FieldContainer>
-    <ImageInput
-      {...rest}
-      // as validation happens on blur also want to artificially trigger when values change
-      // (no native blur event)
-      onFilesChange={files => {
-        input.onChange(files)
-        input.onBlur()
-      }}
-    />
-  </FieldContainer>
+  <>
+    <FieldContainer invalid={meta.touched && meta.error}>
+      <ImageInput
+        {...rest}
+        // as validation happens on blur also want to artificially trigger when values change
+        // (no native blur event)
+        onFilesChange={files => {
+          input.onChange(files)
+          input.onBlur()
+        }}
+      />
+    </FieldContainer>
+    {meta.error && meta.touched && <ErrorMessage>{meta.error}</ErrorMessage>}
+  </>
 )
diff --git a/src/components/Form/LocationSearch.field.tsx b/src/components/Form/LocationSearch.field.tsx
index 99dc3ded9a..8abf2088ba 100644
--- a/src/components/Form/LocationSearch.field.tsx
+++ b/src/components/Form/LocationSearch.field.tsx
@@ -25,5 +25,6 @@ export const LocationSearchField = ({
       }
       input.onBlur()
     }}
+    placeholder="Search for a location *"
   />
 )
diff --git a/src/components/Form/Select.field.tsx b/src/components/Form/Select.field.tsx
index 9dd1cf493d..5e5f2ae478 100644
--- a/src/components/Form/Select.field.tsx
+++ b/src/components/Form/Select.field.tsx
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 import * as React from 'react'
+import ReactFlagsSelect from 'react-flags-select'
 import Select from 'react-select'
-import { IFieldProps } from './Fields'
-import { Styles } from 'react-select/lib/styles'
 import { Props as SelectProps } from 'react-select/lib/Select'
-import { FieldContainer } from './elements'
+import { Styles } from 'react-select/lib/styles'
 import theme from 'src/themes/styled.theme'
-import ReactFlagsSelect from 'react-flags-select'
 import { getCountryName } from 'src/utils/helpers'
+import { FlexContainer } from '../Layout/FlexContainer'
+import { ErrorMessage, FieldContainer } from './elements'
+import { IFieldProps } from './Fields'
 
 interface ISelectOption {
   value: string
@@ -63,19 +64,22 @@ const defaultProps: Partial<ISelectFieldProps> = {
 }
 export const SelectField = ({ input, meta, ...rest }: ISelectFieldProps) => (
   // note, we first use a div container so that default styles can be applied
-  <FieldContainer style={rest.style}>
-    <Select
-      styles={SelectStyles}
-      onChange={v => {
-        input.onChange(getValueFromSelect(v))
-      }}
-      onBlur={input.onBlur}
-      onFocus={input.onFocus}
-      value={getValueForSelect(rest.options, input.value)}
-      {...defaultProps}
-      {...rest}
-    />
-  </FieldContainer>
+  <FlexContainer p={0} flexWrap="wrap">
+    <FieldContainer invalid={meta.error && meta.touched} style={rest.style}>
+      <Select
+        styles={SelectStyles}
+        onChange={v => {
+          input.onChange(getValueFromSelect(v))
+        }}
+        onBlur={input.onBlur}
+        onFocus={input.onFocus}
+        value={getValueForSelect(rest.options, input.value)}
+        {...defaultProps}
+        {...rest}
+      />
+    </FieldContainer>
+    {meta.error && meta.touched && <ErrorMessage>{meta.error}</ErrorMessage>}
+  </FlexContainer>
 )
 
 export const FlagSelector = ({ input, meta, ...rest }: ISelectFieldProps) => (
@@ -89,7 +93,6 @@ export const FlagSelector = ({ input, meta, ...rest }: ISelectFieldProps) => (
       {...defaultProps}
       {...rest}
     />
-
-    {/* {meta.error && meta.touched && <span>{meta.error}</span>} */}
+    {/* meta.error && meta.touched && <ErrorMessage>{meta.error}</ErrorMessage> */}
   </>
 )
diff --git a/src/components/Form/elements.ts b/src/components/Form/elements.ts
index ec5f770982..668e549654 100644
--- a/src/components/Form/elements.ts
+++ b/src/components/Form/elements.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,12 @@
 import styled, { css } from 'styled-components'
 import theme from 'src/themes/styled.theme'
 
-export const inputStyles = css`
-  border: 1px solid ${theme.colors.black};
+interface IFormElement {
+  invalid?: boolean
+}
+
+export const inputStyles = ({ invalid }: IFormElement) => css`
+  border: 1px solid ${invalid ? theme.colors.error : theme.colors.black};
   border-radius: 4px;
   font-size: ${theme.fontSizes[2] + 'px'};
   background: white;
@@ -16,12 +20,12 @@ export const inputStyles = css`
   }
 `
 
-export const Input = styled.input`
+export const Input = styled.input<IFormElement>`
   ${inputStyles};
   height: 40px;
 `
 
-export const TextAreaStyled = styled.textarea`
+export const TextAreaStyled = styled.textarea<IFormElement>`
   ${inputStyles};
   height: 150px;
   font-family: inherit;
@@ -32,8 +36,15 @@ export const TextAreaDisabled = styled.div`
 `
 
 // generic container used for some custom component fields
-export const FieldContainer = styled.div`
+export const FieldContainer = styled.div<IFormElement>`
   ${inputStyles};
   border: 'none';
   padding: 0;
 `
+export const ErrorMessage = styled.span`
+  position: relative;
+  bottom: ${theme.space[2]}px;
+  color: ${theme.colors.error};
+  font-size: ${theme.fontSizes[0]}px;
+  height: ${theme.space[0]};
+`
diff --git a/src/pages/Events/Content/EventsCreate/EventsCreate.tsx b/src/pages/Events/Content/EventsCreate/EventsCreate.tsx
index 6a29137c0d..68767c03e2 100644
--- a/src/pages/Events/Content/EventsCreate/EventsCreate.tsx
+++ b/src/pages/Events/Content/EventsCreate/EventsCreate.tsx
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ export class EventsCreate extends React.Component<IProps, IState> {
                       validate={value => this.validateTitle(value)}
                       validateFields={[]}
                       component={InputField}
-                      placeholder="Title of your event"
+                      placeholder="Title of your event *"
                     />
                     <Field
                       name="tags"
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ export class EventsCreate extends React.Component<IProps, IState> {
                       validateFields={[]}
                       validate={value => this.validateUrl(value)}
                       component={InputField}
-                      placeholder="URL to offsite link (Facebook, Meetup, etc)"
+                      placeholder="URL to offsite link (Facebook, Meetup, etc) *"
                     />
                   </BoxContainer>
                 </form>
diff --git a/src/pages/Howto/Content/CreateHowto/Step/Step.tsx b/src/pages/Howto/Content/CreateHowto/Step/Step.tsx
index 8fa51bef9e..09b26e8609 100644
--- a/src/pages/Howto/Content/CreateHowto/Step/Step.tsx
+++ b/src/pages/Howto/Content/CreateHowto/Step/Step.tsx
@@ -65,30 +65,36 @@ class Step extends Component<IProps, IState> {
           <Field
             name={`${step}.title`}
             component={InputField}
-            placeholder={`Title of Step ${index + 1}`}
+            placeholder={`Title of Step ${index + 1} *`}
             validate={required}
             validateFields={[]}
           />
-          {/* Left */}
-          <FlexContainer p={0} pr={2} flexDirection="column" flex={1}>
-            <Field
-              name={`${step}.text`}
-              placeholder="Describe this step"
-              component={TextAreaField}
-              style={{ resize: 'vertical', height: '100%' }}
-              validate={required}
-              validateFields={[]}
-            />
+          <FlexContainer p={0} flexWrap="wrap">
+            {/* Left */}
+            <FlexContainer p={0} pr={2} flexDirection="column" flex={1}>
+              <Field
+                name={`${step}.text`}
+                placeholder="Describe this step *"
+                component={TextAreaField}
+                style={{ resize: 'vertical', height: '100%' }}
+                validate={required}
+                validateFields={[]}
+              />
+            </FlexContainer>
+            {/* right */}
+            <BoxContainer p={0} width={[1, '305px', null]}>
+              <Field
+                name={`${step}.images`}
+                component={ImageInputField}
+                multi
+              />
+              <Field
+                name={`${step}.caption`}
+                component={InputField}
+                placeholder="Insert Caption"
+              />
+            </BoxContainer>
           </FlexContainer>
-          {/* right */}
-          <BoxContainer p={0} width={[1, '305px', null]}>
-            <Field name={`${step}.images`} component={ImageInputField} multi />
-            <Field
-              name={`${step}.caption`}
-              component={InputField}
-              placeholder="Insert Caption"
-            />
-          </BoxContainer>
         </FlexContainer>
       </BoxContainer>
     )