Working with Canva: Smart, Not Hard.

We’re an instant-gratification nation, so it’s no surprise many of our clients want to be able to create things on the fly. Things are always happening, inside an organization and in the news. Sometimes, an organization needs to get something out quickly. For instance, social posts may need to be created the same day they’re posted. And it may not be practical to bring in an outside designer for every timely post or quick flier. For these situations, we recommend working with Canva as part of your brand strategy.

As the famous industry saying goes: “You can have it fast, you can have it cheap, you can have it good: pick two!” Working with Canva is a great way to maximize all three.

Fast

This part is self-explanatory. Working with designers requires time! Depending on the relationship, they may need time to fully understand the brand before working on the project at hand. Other factors — like email response time, copywriters, and serving other clients — means that designers generally need several days, minimum, to create something.

When utilized properly, Canva allows an organization to create something in a hurry. Well-made templates will set users up for success and allow on-brand graphics to be made quickly.

Cheap

Canva’s main draw is affordability. Adobe software is the design industry standard, but the price is high. The cheapest plan with Photoshop is $10 a month for a single license. (If you try to install it on more than two computers, it will uninstall itself.) Instead of paying for software that might be rarely used, Canva offers an alternative with more valuable features. For the same price as that single Photoshop license, Canva offers Canva Pro for a team of up to five. If you are an eligible non-profit organization (link) you might even be able to get Canva Pro for free, for a team of up to ten. Either way, that’s a much better deal.

Good

So why not replace outside designers with a Canva Pro license? We understand why that’s tempting, especially if the budget is tight. However, we do not recommend making Canva your primary design resource. While Canva is a useful tool, its primary selling point is its large library of pre-made templates and graphics. Many of them are gorgeous! But, using Canva’s built-in options means you run the risk of looking like everyone else. Hard to stand out in the crowd when you’re all using the same library of assets.

For that reason, we recommend using Canva along with a professional graphic designer. It’s really the best of both worlds. We’ve already covered what Canva brings to the table – affordability, file sharing, and custom templates for an entire team. A good designer will incorporate good visual communication, compose on-target messaging, and produce graphics uniquely suited to a specific brand. These graphics could then be exported and transferred into Canva. Because anyone on the team can share these assets, adhering to the brand couldn’t be easier.

Fast, cheap, and good – working with Canva can help deliver all three. Doing the work up front to prepare your designer helps to nail down the “good.” Canva brings affordability. And the templates created with your internal team ensure a quick design solution whenever you need it.