How to Use Canva to Take Your Brand to the Next Level
It's no secret that creating and maintaining a professional online presence is a game-changer for any business. You've given your brand a fresh start with a new brand identity – complete with a logo, color palette, and fonts that will turn heads and help you stand out from the crowd. So how can you continue to make a statement without hiring a designer for every little thing?
It's time you learn about Canva: the go-to online design platform that lets you easily create stunning graphics, presentations, logos, and more with just a few clicks. The best part? You don't need any design experience to get started! Canva offers drag-and-drop tools and a user-friendly interface that makes designing a breeze. With Canva's powerful design tools, you can create stunning brand collateral that accurately reflects your brand.
But let's be real, sometimes designing brand collateral can be overwhelming and exhausting. That's why we're here to help! In this blog post, we're going to share some tips and tricks to make designing in Canva a breeze, plus a list of things you should avoid doing in Canva.
Get a head start by uploading your branding
Canva allows you to upload your logo files, fonts, and color palette for easy access whenever you create a new design. Adding your branding assets to Canva can help you save time, maintain consistency, and make collaboration with your team easier – which can all contribute to a stronger brand reputation!
Gather all your files and then follow these steps to upload your branding:
Log in to your Canva account and click on your profile picture in the top-right corner of the screen.
Select "Brand kit" from the dropdown menu.
Click on the "Upload a logo" button to upload your logo files. You can upload multiple versions of your logo (e.g., full-color, black and white, etc.) to make it easier to use in different designs.
To add your brand colors, click on the "Brand colors" tab and either choose from Canva's preset color palettes or enter your own custom colors using the color picker tool.
To add your brand fonts, click on the "Brand fonts" tab and either choose from Canva's selection of fonts or upload your own custom fonts by clicking on the "Upload a font" button.
Organize your designs into folders
You can do more than just upload your branding to Canva, you can organize it too! Canva allows you to create folders and subfolders to categorize your various projects. This can be super helpful because Canva files can get out of hand fast – between different file sizes and refined versions of the same design, an intentional folder system will help you find designs easily and quickly. You can create folders for things like...
Social media posts (think everything from Facebook to Instagram and Pinterest)
Your website (header images, collages, blog graphics, etc.)
Printed materials (business cards, signs, merchandise, flyers, and more!)
Your client's files and the templates you use to create them
Brand templates (proposals, welcome guides, PDFs, ebooks, social media templates, etc.)
Upload your brand photos
Stock images are great, but there's nothing quite like professional brand photos – showcasing you, your team, and your products or services. It's been proven that "content relevant images receive 94% more views than posts without an image" (source). By using brand photos over stock photos or just graphics, you're more likely to catch the eyes of your target audience on social media!
To easily add your brand photos to your social media graphics, you can pre-upload all the pictures from your professional photoshoots to Canva. You can actually skip this step if you store your brand photos in Google Drive, Dropbox, or a similar cloud storage service and have that connected to Canva! If not, you can follow these steps to upload your photos:
Log in to your Canva account and open a new or existing design.
Click on the "Uploads" tab on the left-hand side of the screen.
Click the "Upload an image or video" button and select the brand photo you want to upload from your computer.
Once the upload is complete, you can access your brand photo in the "Uploads" tab and drag it onto your design.
You can also use the search bar in the "Uploads" tab to find the brand photo you just uploaded and add it to your design.
If you want to use the brand photo in future designs, you can click the "Add to brand kit" button when uploading the image. This will save the photo to your brand kit for easy access in future designs.
That's it! You can now use your brand photo in your Canva designs.
Connect your account to Google Drive or Dropbox
By connecting Canva to your cloud storage platform, you can easily access all of your files in one place without the hassle of switching between different apps or platforms! Lots of our clients store their most important files and branding in Google Drive or Dropbox, both of which easily integrate with Canva. Here's how to connect your account:
Log in to your Canva account and click on your profile picture in the top-right corner of the screen
Select "Settings" from the dropdown menu
Click on the "Apps" tab
Scroll down to find the cloud storage platform you want to connect to (like Dropbox or Google Drive!)
Click on the "Connect" button next to the platform
Follow the prompts to sign in to your cloud storage account and grant Canva permission to access your files
Once connected, you'll be able to access your files from within Canva by clicking on "Uploads" and then selecting the cloud storage platform you connected
Now you're ready to get started using Canva to benefit your brand! It's a valuable tool that can save you time and take advantage of your creativity and your new brand assets, even if you're not super tech-savvy. These four tips, along with the hacks we mentioned in part two of this blog post (which you can read by clicking here!) will set you up for success. Now, while Canva can be an amazing addition to your brand, there are also some areas where you want to be cautious in using Canva. Let's talk about three times when you'll actually want to avoid Canva to wrap things up...
How to not use Canva
While Canva can be an amazing tool and do a lot of good for your online presence, there are some things you should watch out for! Because Canva was created to be used by all sorts of business owners who don't have years of graphic design experience, there are three areas where you want to be careful. We'll talk about each of these so you can keep using Canva to create beautiful designs without making these mistakes!
Creating items you want to sell
Now that you have a beautiful new brand, you may be tempted to share your new identity with everyone and sell some of your very own, unique merchandise. But here's the deal, if you're going beyond your custom branding and adding in additional elements, you can't actually sell what you've designed. Canva's terms of service actually prohibit the use of their platform for creating designs that are intended for commercial use, which includes items that you're planning on selling.
Another thing to consider is that Canva is typically meant for creating web graphics and marketing materials. So it may not be the best tool for creating high-quality prints or physical products that meet a specific resolution or come in a particular file format.
Making changes to your professional branding
After working with us (and most designers), you'll receive a set of brand guidelines. This PDF presentation usually includes lots of helpful advice on what you should and shouldn't do with your new branding materials. Your designer has spent a lot of time perfecting your logo, so it would be best to avoid using Canva to design new brand assets or adjust what has already been created for you. When you use your brand in the way that your designer intended, you'll be able to maintain a consistent and professional brand presence instead of potentially confusing your audience with a variety of new brand elements. This also includes using Canva to alter the color or fonts used in your branding.
Using premade design templates
Canva has a template library filled with endless possibilities for designing social media graphics. And while Canva may have thousands of templates, the majority of them are overused and can be found on social media already. One of the best ways to ensure that your brand stands out from competitors is to create custom content for all your social media platforms based on your brand guidelines instead of using a template created for a wide range of businesses. Using pre-made templates for social media content might seem like a good idea, but they could cramp your style and prevent you from really showing off your brand's personality!
It's time to get designing!
So there you have it! We're confident that these Canva tips will help you use your new branding to stand out online. Canva is a lifesaver when used right, so don't be afraid to experiment with it and see what works best for you. If you're ever feeling stuck or have any questions about your new branding or becoming a Canva pro, just reach out to us, we're here to support you!
