12 Canva Design Tips

This blog features 12 Canva design tips guaranteed to help create professional content.

So you want to start designing your own graphics but aren’t quite sure where to start. You were a decent artist in high school, and were the go-to person for all art projects, so how hard can it be? All of your entrepreneur friends are talking about this new east-to-use site called Canva, and you decide to give it a try. However, you soon realize you have no clue what you are doing. 

It’s two A.M. and you’re ready to give up. Don’t quit just yet, Rooted Webs is here to give some tips that can help even the most novice graphic designers (yes, you) create beautiful designs in Canva.

Canva is a great resource for up and coming business owners, whether you have a background in design or not. It offers comprehensive design tools that are sophisticated enough to create professional graphics, but easy for a novice to understand, and accessible to even the smallest of budgets (yep, there’s a free version).  

Most likely, you’ve already invested a considerable amount of money into getting your business up and going. You may be looking for ways to save money, and Canva is one of the simplest ways to do just that. For just a few hours of learning how to use the software, you can save hundreds, even thousands of dollars on hiring graphic designers.

If you are new to graphic design, we’ve outlined some basic tips to help you get started. Design is simple and can even be fun when you get the hang of it. Unlike some of it’s fancier, more expensive competitors, Canva has some built-in features that make it way less complicated to jump in without experience.

Plan your design.

Before you sit down to design think about the purpose of your graphic. What is the message you’re trying to convey? Is this a design where you’ll want to use your normal brand colors, or is this a special occasion where different colors may be appropriate? What information is most important? Where will this graphic be shared/posted? Will it be seen by audiences who are already familiar with the brand, or are you looking to catch new eyes? Consider these questions before you design. 

Customize templates.

Canva offers beautiful premade templates, which makes them all the more tempting to use. However, we advise against using them since Canva is so accessible. Seasoned Canva users can spot a premade template from a mile away. Instead, use templates as inspiration for original designs. If you are just starting and must use a template, change elements like the colors and font styles.

Make your designs easy to read with similar type fonts, repeated elements, and colors.

Using too many different fonts can make it hard to read and cause confusion about which information is most important. It’s suggested by many expert designers to use no more than two fonts. If you want to set elements apart, try using different size fonts.

Align your elements.

The alignment of the elements is one of those things that most people don’t notice but seasoned designers notice immediately. Your elements should be close to one another but not so close that they appear crowded. You’ll notice as you move different elements around your design to drag-and-drop, pink lines will appear as your move close to other elements. Use these lines to perfectly align texts, images, and other elements. Pay special attention to the spacing of elements. Try not to overlap the wrong elements like sharp edges, complementary colors, and other non-blending elements.

Give bite-sized bits of info.

Long text can be hard to read. Break information down into small sentences or phrases. This makes it easier to read and allows people to skim for the most important information. Using short text is a Canva design tip that can be applied in other areas such as web design, or even just writing in general. People skim, so its good to keep it short.

Use the provided elements.

Canva is packed full of cool elements that can be used to add a creative edge to any design. A variety of shapes, clip art, live art, frames, and more can be found in the elements tab on the left side of the screen. Though many of the elements are only available to PRO members, the free subscription still gives access to some pretty cool elements. Stock photos can also be found in the bar on the left side of the screen.  

Find an element that compliments your design and use it as a decorative focal point with a simple text, or repeat it for a fancier design.

 In this example, we took a premade Canva- template to demonstrate how template inspiration can turn into an original design. We used the same background color and text font but replaced the photos and elements.

Pay close attention to your text.

Letter alignment can be tricky to master. However, once you get the hang of it, you’ll see it can make quite the difference in any design. Each font reacts a little differently to being resized or stretched. Some fonts naturally overlap when increased in size. Use the letter-spacing tool, in the top right corner, to spread letters and adjust the line height when necessary.

Don’t overdo it!

Simple is best. Canva has lots of cool elements from the premade text to the clip art. It’s easy to get carried away with fun fonts and graphics, but when it comes to graphic design, simple is usually best. Don’t go overboard with the text effects. Some effects look nice on your screen but may not translate as well.

Use the resize tool.

Canva has a tool that automatically resizes your graphic for you. So instead of recreating one graphic on different templates to fit Facebook, Instagram, and your website, save time by letting them resize it for you.

Check out other designs for inspiration.

It’s okay to look for inspiration in other designs. Don’t plagiarize, but as a new designer, it is hard to make something look good if you don’t know what “good” looks like. Though we advise against using pre-made Canva templates, they are a good place for inspiration.

Test designs on different devices.

This is one of the most important Canva design tips. View your design on different devices before publishing for the public. Colors translate differently across different screens much like images pixelate differently on iPhone and Android screens. You may find that certain colors and text effects are harder to read on some screens.

Use branding tools!

Canva has a Brand Kit option that lets you set your logo, brand colors, and brand fonts. These elements auto-populate in your options when you create a design, which helps design cohesive graphics. Canva also offers a Social Media Kit folder where you can store templates made for reuse. You can also plug-in to other sites like MailChimp, PowerPoint, and Linked In.

Canva is one of the best modern design and marketing tools. It’s affordable and very effective which explains why it is so popular. Used by DIYers, marketers, and entrepreneurs just alike, Canva is a multifunctional game changer.