The Pros and Cons of Canva

I’m sure most of you have heard of Canva. I occasionally work in this program to help my clients. In the design world, Canva has a mixed reputation. On one hand, it’s a great, user-friendly tool that has made design more accessible for everyone, especially since you can open a free account (and their pro option is very affordable compared to a tool like Adobe Creative Cloud). However, some designers have worried that Canva has made design too accessible and that it will take away from their business, especially since they offer templates that anyone can use.

When Canva Works 

I think that Canva is a great tool to help clients do some of the design work themselves. I can go in and add the brand assets to Canva for clients so that they can use those to make social posts or other items, such as posters or flyers, that can be printed internally or sent digitally. I recently worked with a client in the medical device industry to create an on-brand company newsletter template in Canva. This allows them to go in and add their content/articles themselves. I added all of their existing brand assets so that it is easy to use.

Tip: It is a good idea to work with a designer to set up and add all of your brand assets, colors, fonts, and images to Canva so that the marketing you create there will still look like your brand and stay consistent.

When Canva Isn’t Ideal

Canva is great for digital purposes, but it is still not quite there for print jobs. I’ve had clients come to me when they run into issues with a printed piece not turning out the way they wanted, and I’ve had to make adjustments to the artwork to get it to turn out correctly. Canva files are not always in the correct format, and there can be issues when you have complicated bleeds (when the ink bleeds to the edge of the page). If you are looking to create a high-quality printed piece such as a brochure, I will need to recreate or re-work the artwork to make sure the images are the correct resolution and that it will print correctly.

I also think you need to be careful when it comes to using Canva’s pre-made templates. While these may be fine for personal use, these templates run the risk of looking generic and unprofessional. As a brand, you want to stand out visually and be recognized at a glance. A pre-made template won’t help you accomplish this — especially if other businesses are using the same one!

Internal Communications in Canva — Done Right! 

Here is a recent project I created in Canva that checks all the boxes. This client needed a poster and flyer using existing brand and design elements. The poster was for an employee nomination program. I set up the template with all of the artwork and files needed directly in their Canva account. This intern bio sheet gets posted on a wall in their facility for other employees to get to know their interns, helping foster inclusion in the workplace. The client was very happy with how this project turned out — with professional, on-brand collateral pieces that they can customize in-house as new interns are hired.

Looking for a designer?

I’m curious, are you using Canva for any of your marketing materials? I’d love to have a conversation to hear how it is working for you. If you have been struggling to create pieces that look unique to your brand, I can help set you up for success with templates and brand kit items to help you navigate these new tools in the changing design/marketing landscape.