5 Reasons Independent Creatives Should Use Canva (canva.com)

As an independent creative, I can't recommend Canva enough especially if you are trying to grow a brand or business' online presence. I used the free version of Canva for years to create social media posts and my YouTube thumbnails and it was about a year and a half ago I upgraded to the Premium version. With my day job it more or less pays for itself as I use it for everything that requires an element of graphic design and disclaimer when you opt for the premium version you have access to thousands of stock photos and videos that are effectively license free, meaning you can use them commercially. I always recommend changing the designs to really make them your own though and don't always rely on Canva's gallery to provide you with the exact thing you need. I'm not even affiliated with them although I'd love to be, I just think it is such an awesome and user friendly tool compared to other software I've tried. So here are 5 reasons why you totally should be using Canva too if you're a creative looking to promote what you do:

1. User Friendly

It really is, really easy to use. Might take a couple of days to have a look at everything but a lot of the time it is point, click, drop or drag. I also think there is a draw option if you have a graphics tablet but I haven't used it yet surprisingly. I actually use Krita for my digital art (psst which is free).

2. Limitless Design Versatility

There are no limits to what you can create on Canva. Everything from your social media posts, brochures, catalogues, leaflets, billboard ads, animations. Whatever you can think of you can create it. The quick to use canvas templates really help speed things up too.

3. Keeping Up With The Times

I love how Canva has added recent tools such as the Magic Edit and Magic Eraser tool. It was only last week I needed to create a mask for a video, after annoyingly noticing an object in the foreground. Total nightmare as it was after hours of editing and rendering, thinking I'd finished. Not to worry though because Canva saved the day. I uploaded a still from Da Vinci, removed the object from the foreground with the Magic Eraser, removed the background and boom! I had my mask.

4. Brand Uniformity

Everything from your logos to your website banners. Canva have even made it simpler now for business owners, where you can upload all of your branding material to the Brand tab and have it at the click of a button the next time you need branded media (note to self; I should really start using that tab for work). Not sure what the colour code of something is? No problem, use the eyedropper tool and you'll get the exact colour and Hex code (digital key for colours). I know most softwares have this feature but they're not Canva.

5. You Can Only Get Better

You might be a complete novice when it comes to digital art or graphic design but guaranteed you'll become a lot more adept with it the more you do, to the point it can and will earn you money. I don't wanna sound like one of those overly enthusiastic 90's kids TV presenters but it can be really fun to use too.

So yeah after all that, if you're not using Canva ... Why not? Here's the link canva.com And you know if you liked this blog then why not pass it along the socials, drop a comment below if you found this helpful and hey feel free to tag Canva and put in a good word for me. Maybe I'll do some tutorials on Canva next if there's a demand. If you'd like to keep up to date with all of my blog posts consider subscribing to the emailing list (bottom of the page). No fee. Completely free. You're welcome to find me on Twitter, Pinterest or subscribe to my YouTube channel. The social bar should be at the header of the website. That's it I think. Stay awesome, stay classy, be kind!