This might ruffle some feathers, so I apologize in advance…but it must be said. Just because Canva and similar tools give everyone the ability to quickly and easily make graphics, doesn’t mean we all should.
Now, stop clutching your pearls. I don’t mean to discourage the use of Canva as a stepping stone to becoming a designer or a means for making assets in bulk, but I’d like you to zoom out and think about the big picture for a moment.
Graphic design, like all forms of art, is based on a set of principles and is informed by its history. That isn’t something Canva alone can teach you. Canva essentially gives you a wide-open blank page with no one telling you when colors don’t go together or that it’s a no-no to use two serif fonts on the same page. While you might be able to teach yourself these things through YouTube or Skillshare, if you’re serious about leveling up your brand or business, it may be time to step away from the Canva templates and hire a professional.
Think of it like this—just because your friend sounded really good at karaoke last week, doesn’t mean you should hire them to sing at your wedding. The same thing goes for design. Anyone can use Canva to make logos, flyers, and presentations, but there are significant advantages to hiring a professional graphic designer for your brand.
Benefit #1: Expertise
Understanding the elements of design—like contrast, hierarchy, and alignment—is key to producing high-quality assets. Without that knowledge, a design can be unappealing to the eye, even ever so subtly that people won’t know exactly why they don’t like it, but something just looks off. While this is not to say you cannot subvert these principles artistically, doing so without proper understanding can cause a design to fall on its face.
Your branding often serves as the first impression of your company’s products and services, so it’s paramount to put your best foot forward. A skilled, trained graphic designer can deliver a memorable, positive first impression, every time.
Benefit #2: Visual Consistency
Overuse of templates can send you down a slippery slope of inconsistent font usage and stylistic choices. Each time you use a new template, you have to manually change everything to fit your branding. If you’re not ultra-careful, stray text or elements can slip through the cracks.
Conversely, with a built-out, custom branding package from a designer, you can have your own consistent templates to use over and over for a clean and polished look.
Benefit #3: Time and Effort
“Pixel pushing,” as our other designer Dan calls it, is exhausting. The arduous process of perfecting and polishing assets can feel downright Sisyphean, even for professional designers. When running a business, you are already wearing many hats. Why put even more pressure on yourself?
The Moral of the Story
It can be taxing and time-consuming to tap into your creative mode and create assets, especially if you don’t possess the knowledge, training, and skills to do it well.
Do the right thing for you and your company! Enlist the help of a graphic designer so you can focus on what you do best in your business while building a consistent and memorable brand!
