Want to create eye-catching graphics but don’t have time to learn complex professional design software or the principles of design and typography? Then Canva is the perfect choice for you! Canva can help bring your vision to life with it’s easy to use interface and vast array of features.

And one of the great features about Canva is the thousands of templates that are ready for you to customize to your needs. They’re a good shortcut to design and are fully customizable, allowing you to change the colors, images and more to suit your needs and brand.

But sometimes you need something that is more outside the box and custom-made. That’s where this article comes in! We’re breaking down the process of creating a custom-made graphic in Canva from scratch, with tips from choosing your dimensions to making your design look good.

Tip 1: Look for inspiration

Before you even open Canva, take some time to think about what you want to create and how you want it to look. Browse images online, and research exactly what you want to create. If you’re creating a large-scale project, you may also want to come up with a mood board containing a collection of images, colour swatches, and other visual pieces to help you organize your thoughts. It can also help to create a common colour palette or theme that can then be applied to your project.

Sketching a rough draft of your design on paper before you begin can also help bring your vision to life. Think about what you’d like to include in your design and where it might look the best, then use that sketch to get started in Canva.

Take a look at various images on social media, websites, and print. Find designs that you love and try to replicate the same general layout, use of filters and elements. Don’t be afraid to replicate, just make sure that you are not creating the exact same image. Put your own spin on it with your brand colours and fonts to make it a design you truly love.

Tip 2: Choose the right dimensions

To start, choose what type of design you’d like to create from the Canva homepage. There are a number of pre-set dimensions available to use for your graphic, whether it’s a social media post, flyer, or newsletter, to name a few. If you don’t find the dimensions you need, you can also use custom dimensions by searching for custom size. Here you can choose from pixels, millimetres, or inches.

Tip 3: Choose a background 

The background you choose for your design can be either a solid colour, image, or textured background. Your background image should support the message of your content and should be simple enough to allow images or texture to be placed over top.

When choosing a colour, think about what colour best suits your needs and brand. You can also use Canva’s colour palette tool to help you find colours that work well together.

If you choose to use a photo as a background, first add a grid. Once in a grid, the photos can be resized, cropped, flipped, or layered to create several visual effects. You can choose a photo from Canva’s library or upload your own.

Tip 4: Add elements to your design

Once you have decided on your background, it’s time to add elements to your design. This can include text, icons, photos, illustrations, or graphics. These should be added to your design in a way that is both visually appealing and balanced. In other words, elements shouldn’t just be placed haphazardly on the page, they should be laid out in a balanced way. Look at your design and ask yourself, “Are the elements balanced? Are they centered? Are they too close to other elements or too close to the edge of the page?”. If you answer yes to any of these questions, go back and move things around to create a more cohesive design. Remember not to overload your design with too many elements as it can detract from the overall message of your design.

And don’t be afraid of negative space, also known as white space. Negative space can be any area within a design that is free from images, text, or elements. Having areas of negative space within your design can help with grouping, adding emphasis and improving overall legibility of your design.

Tip 5: Choose your font

Fonts can make a huge difference when it comes to the overall look and feel of your design. Choose a font that matches the feel of your brand as well as the message you are trying to convey. You may also need to choose more than one font for your design, although it’s recommended that you don’t use more than two fonts in your design at one time. Using more than that can make it appear messy and disorganized.

When choosing your fonts, make sure they complement each other. Fonts that complement each other also add visual interest to your design and can make it look more cohesive. Canva also makes it easy to choose complimentary fonts. They have hundreds of pre-set font combinations to choose from. You can also create your own combinations, but remember, keep it simple. If you choose an elaborate font, then pair it with a simpler font so your design remains balanced. Also ensure your message can be read easily and clearly with your chosen font.

Tip 6: Enrich your image with a filter 

Don’t be afraid to use filters in your design. Filters are a great tool for changing the tone of an image. What’s more, using a specific filter on a number of posts or designs can create a theme and enhance your brand recognition.

To add a filter in Canva, select your image, click on the filter button, then choose from any one of the 14 custom filters available in Canva. You can also change the intensity of the filter, the brightness, contrast, and saturation.

With Canva, you don’t have to have a degree in graphic design to be good at creating eye-catching graphics. Don’t give up if your first design doesn’t turn out exactly how you had hoped. As with many things, practice makes perfect, and your designs will improve the more you work at it. Keep practicing, keep creating and you might just surprise yourself with what you come up with. However, if designing in Canva is still too intimidating, then reach out to a graphic design team like Trilogy Solutions. We can definitely help bring your design vision to life!

In the world of digital marketing, Canva has become somewhat of a buzzword. Anyone from social media managers to small business owners have been using the free online design tool to create eye-catching graphics, social media images and web banners to name a few. Whatever marketing image you need, guaranteed it can be made on Canva!

So, what is Canva exactly?

Canva is an easy to use, complete graphic design tool made for both the beginner and experienced designer. You can design anything from posters and business cards to social media graphics and web banners, and everything in between. Depending on your experience and comfort level, you can either start from scratch or with one of their amazing templates.

Who should use Canva?

The great thing about Canva is that it is a user-friendly tool and can be used by anyone with the app or desktop version. It is best suited for small business owners, online entrepreneurs and marketers who want to design things quickly and easily. 

How do you use Canva?

Canva makes it easy to create graphics using their free, professionally designed template library filled with thousands of templates perfect for any project. The templates are customizable, so you can change the layout, background, colours, and fonts to match your brand. You can also add in additional elements like icons, illustrations, or frames – with a simple drag and drop!

If templates aren’t your thing or if there isn’t one that fits your needs, then you can also build your design from scratch. You can easily choose a blank design with the exact dimensions you need for your project. From there, you can build your image with elements, text, photos, and backgrounds.

One thing to note about Canva is that there is both a free and paid version of the program. With the free Canva account, you’ll still have access to templates, photos, and graphic elements which is more than enough to get started. However, if you want access to everything Canva has to offer, it may be worth looking into the paid Pro version instead. In the Pro version, you have access to all stock photos, fonts, elements, and templates. You also have more storage as well as additional editing options. Choosing between the free version and paid version will depend on how often you plan on using the program, and how you intend to use it. For the occasional graphic, the free version is more than enough!

Our 10 Canva tips and tricks

1) Create your very own brand kit

One of Canva’s best features has to be their brand kit feature. It allows you to save specific colours and fonts related to your brand. This helps maintain consistency and brand recognition, especially when creating social media graphics. It’s also a great way to save frequently used colours and fonts.

2) Get perfectly aligned text and images

Canva makes it super easy to align text, elements, and photos in your graphic projects. Instead of manually positioning each object or relying on your own eye, you can easily use the position tools to align and group your text and images. You can also group and ungroup elements in your project to make it easier to position them where you want them to be.

3) Canva also works in layers

As with many other design programs, you can layer your design elements in Canva too. You can bring certain elements forward or back, which creates depth in your design. You can also use layers to create shadows, transparent overlays or to change the shape of the elements in your design.

4) Background remover

This one is probably pretty self-explanatory, but it is one of the most useful features in Canva. With just one click you can remove the background from any headshot, product, or logo. The image eraser makes it easy to remove specific areas of the image once the background has been removed. It’s by far one of the most used tools in the Canva toolbox.

5) Filter elements and sort fonts by style

Canva has a wide range of elements that you can add to your graphics. You can search for the elements by name, type or even by color. To search by color, type what you’re looking for in the element search bar, click the filter icon and select the colour palette you’re looking for. You can also filter the elements by orientation (square, vertical, horizontal) as well.

Canva also allows you to search and sort fonts by font type. You can search categories including handwriting, website heading, title, modern, bold, and retro. When you type in any one of these keywords in the font search bar, Canva will curate a list of relevant fonts for you to choose from.

6) Use Pixabay and Pexels inside Canva

Finding the right stock image or photo can be tricky but Canva makes it easy with Pixabay and Pexels libraries right inside its editor. Through Canva, you get access to a large variety of stock images that you can use directly in your designs! This makes things easier for you as you don’t have to search for images to add to your design on various websites.

7) Use Smart Mock-ups

You can easily create product mock-ups directly in Canva with Smart Mock-ups. Smart Mock-ups allows you to place your visuals on t-shirts, mugs, or magazine covers. You can also add your image on to mock-ups of phones, laptops, greeting cards and more – perfect for social media posts. To get a Smart Mock-up, simply add your photo to your design, click “edit image” and scroll down the options until you see Smart Mock-up.

8) Use Tidy Up for even spacing

Have a bunch of elements on your page that are just spread around all over the place? You can spend all your time aligning them manually or you can try Canva’s tidy up feature. First, select the elements that you wish to align and click on position. Then choose a direction to align (left, right, centre, middle, top, bottom). Finish by selecting the tidy up feature to apply equal spacing between the elements in your graphic.

9) Canva templates

It’s been mentioned before but it’s worth saying again – Canva’s templates are one of the best things about the program! Their template library is filled with thousands of pre-formatted designs that are easily edited to fit your needs and brand. The templates are a great starting point for those new to Canva (and new to designing) as they give you an idea of where to place elements, and which font and colour combinations to use.

10) Magic resize tool

This one is just for those who choose to upgrade to Canva Pro, but it’s a good one to know as it can make your life so much easier! The Canva Pro magic resize tool allows you to create a design then magically resize it with just one click. The tool resizes your design to pre-set dimensions without stretching or cutting off images, so your graphics look professional every time!

Canva is an amazing graphic design tool and one that you should seriously consider using. From speeding up your design workflow to elevating your brand visuals, it’s one of the most helpful tools out there. If you haven’t already, sign up for the free version of Canva. Play around with it a bit and see if it’s right for you. If you want access to more features, consider upgrading to Canva Pro. It will be well worth the investment! And remember to keep these handy tips and tricks in mind when you decide to take the Canva plunge!

The Importance of Branding

Your brand is one of the most important parts of your company. It showcases your tone, style, and gives your consumers an experience that helps distinguish your services or products from a competitor’s. In short: people will remember your company by its brand, so it’s worth investing time and energy in to ensure it is exactly what you want it to be. 

Strong branding not only helps your company or product stand out, but it also gains trust from your audience. Consumers are likely to choose a company based on how clear and professional looking the branding is, or from a positive experience.

Branding is an important investment that ensures your product or service will be remembered, which will then create consumer loyalty over time. 

If you don’t have a brand yet, or if your brand needs a refresh, here are some quick and easy steps to get you started:

STEP 1: Relating to your Target Audience

Revisit your content strategy and identify the audience you are trying to reach. While creating your brand, you’ll want to keep your target audience in mind. You want people to relate to your brand and immediately feel inspired to choose your product or service over a competitor’s. One of our most recommended services to reach your niche audience is through Search Engine Optimization (SEO). If you need support reaching your target audience in the online marketplace, we recommend looking into SEO services in Vancouver after you’ve updated your brand! 

STEP 2: Generate Brand Definition and Identity

Once your audience is clear, the second step is to define your company’s purpose and values. You’ll want to create a statement that gives new customers a clear idea of your company’s values and the cause behind the brand; think of this as your mission statement. You want the name of your company, visual distinction, and your brand’s message and tone to immediately appeal to consumers and draw them in. 

STEP 3: Create the Visuals

Now that you’ve generated your brand’s identity, it’s time to get to work on the visual representation of your business. This includes aspects such as a colour scheme, logo design, and typography to help visually set the stage for what your brand is all about. It is important that the visual aspect of your brand matches the overall identity of your brand, and these go hand-in-hand in reinforcing how you want the world to perceive your business. Once you have some ideas of the direction you want to take, investigate graphic design studios in Vancouver, like Trilogy Solutions, to help make your vision a reality. 

STEP 4: Your Brand Voice

A brand voice is how you connect with your audience. What would your brand sound like if it had a conversation with your consumers? You want to make sure your brand resonates with people to make that instant impact and have them coming back for more. It is also important to make sure that the tone of your language is consistent in every area of your social media and marketing efforts. 

STEP 5: Marketing Updates

Once you have the above aspects of your brand configured, you’ll want to update your website and other social media accounts to stay consistent with your new brand. Make sure that the colour scheme and the wording reflects your brand and is updated across all social media channels. Don’t have a website yet? Don’t stress! Start by finding a website designer in Vancouver BC. Need help with your social media accounts? Look for an Instagram management service; Trilogy Solutions can help in each of these areas… and more.

Whether you are creating a brand from scratch, or doing an update on an existing brand, this process can be intimidating at first but the results of strategic branding are well worth the effort. A clear and successful brand can help you quickly connect with customers, which will help your company grow to its full potential.