Since Canva’s release in 2013, people around the world have been able to unlock the power of graphic design without extensive graphic design experience. In the past decade, Canva has evolved to allow businesses and associations to easily craft visually compelling content. This ease of use enables associations to maintain a consistent and polished brand image while saving time and resources. Additionally, Canva’s collaborative features allow teams to work together seamlessly, ensuring visual communications are not only effective, but also align with their strategic goals.
In order to create a visually dynamic presence, consider the following tips and tricks to take your designs to the next level.
Understand Your Brand Voice
It’s easy to get excited with Canva’s thousands of templates to switch a few colors, add a logo and move one. However, it’s imperative to ensure you are capturing the feeling of your association when you are creating a design. Try to have a list of adjectives in your brand that you want members and outside stakeholders to think of when they think of your association. Sharp? Sleek? Clean? Whimsical? These adjectives are your guiding force when choosing templates and design elements and enforcing brand standards.
Maintain Consistency
Alongside brand voice, it is crucial to maintain consistency across your designs. A member or stakeholder should be able to look at a design and immediately know what company they are looking at. Brand powerhouses such as Nike, McDonalds and Apple have maintained the same tagline and branding for decades to increase their positioning and reinforce their voice across platforms. This is easy to replicate with consistency and clear understanding of what it is you are trying to say with your designs.
Utilize Motion
With Canva’s animation features, there are even more opportunities to make your digital media designs stand out. Email software platforms allow users to upload gif files that allow motion in an email and social media platforms allow .gif, .mp4. And .mov files, which can also showcase additional creativity and increase visibility on users’ timelines.
Magic Switch & Translation
With many associations having members across the globe, Magic Switch in Canva is a new feature allowing users to translate any text in a design file or video into another language while keeping the original design and look. Canva offers 134 languages currently and continues to add more. As social media platforms continue to only translate captions but not images, this is another way to share messaging and branding with members no matter where they are or how much English they understand.
In conclusion, Canva continues to be a powerful tool for associations looking to elevate their visual communications. Its user-friendly interface, extensive design options and innovative features such as Magic Switch and animation make it easier than ever to create engaging content that resonates with diverse audiences. By understanding your brand voice, maintaining consistency and leveraging Canva’s dynamic features, your association can produce visually compelling materials that reinforce your identity and reach a broader audience. Whether you’re a seasoned designer or just getting started, Canva offers the tools you need to bring your vision to life.
Emily Ambriz-Huff
Emily Ambriz-Huff joined the RGI team in 2024 as Director of Communications and Marketing. With a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations and a Master of Arts in Public Relations Leadership, Emily has expert knowledge and experience with communications strategy including email marketing and data visualization.