Simplifying the Complexity of Graphic Design: Now, Anybody Can-va.

Democratizing Design with 5 C's- Concepts, Contours, Colors, Craftsmanship, and Creations

Jan 17, 2024

In our whirlwind lives, it's all about achieving greatness swiftly—with less time, effort, and dependence. Don't you think? Well, when the spotlight is on design, and we're talking about making it accessible to all, I say Canva is a clear winner. Creating unimaginable designs, using an easy-to-use, highly economical platform for people of all ages- that's what Canva is all about.

Now, I want to share a real-life example with you. Ramesh, Co-founder of Highperformr.ai recently shared his daughter's birthday invitation, and let me tell you, it was a modern masterpiece—vibrant, beautiful, and fresh. As I was showering it with compliments, Ramesh casually mentioned that his 11-year-old designed it using Canva 😱. Now, take a good look at this card. Does it scream "11-year-old's creation" to you? The finesse speaks volumes, and this precisely is what Melanie Perkins, Co-Founder of Canva, had in mind when she founded the company. This simplicity was Melanie's mission for Canva: "To empower everyone to design anything and publish anywhere."

In 2007, from her mom's living room in Perth, Melanie, began a mission that changed the outlook of Graphic Design. Wanting to simplify graphic design for everyone, Melanie and Cliff Obrecht, her Co-founder and husband, started "Fusion Books," an online school yearbook design business. This platform allowed students to collaborate on designs, and the printed yearbooks were delivered across Australia. Imagine the simplicity for students using such a designing platform.

“People have to spend an entire semester learning where the buttons were, and that seemed completely ridiculous. I thought that in the future it was all going to be online and collaborative, and much, much simpler than these really hard tools.” - Melanie Perkins said in an interview.

With the success of Fusion Books, Melanie took the first step toward creating an integrated platform for designers - CANVA in 2013 and this is headquartered in Sydney, Australia.

Originally named Canvas Chef, the idea was to signify that the software provided all the elements necessary (like fonts, illustrations, and photos) to create various designs, from flyers to business cards and restaurant menus. However, the co-founders later decided to change the name. During the search for a new name, one of the team's engineers pointed out that "canvas" is pronounced "can-va" in French, and that's how the current name, Canva, came into existence.

Despite facing more than 100 rejections from investors, Melanie persevered. Legendary venture capitalist Bill Tai recognized the potential and invited her to San Francisco to pitch her idea. Melanie, not only a budding entrepreneur but also a quick learner, took up kitesurfing, a sport Bill Tai passionately endorsed, to build connections in the investment world.

"If you get your foot in the door just a tiny bit, you have to kind of wedge it all the way in.” - Melanie Perkins

(From left: Cliff Obrecht, Melanie Perkins, and Cameron Adams)

Melanie's persistence paid off as Canva attracted investors. With funds flowing in, Phase 2 of the dream project began, assembling a team. Cameron Adams joined as a Tech Co-Founder, and Dave Hearnden became the Tech Developer. Together, they collaborated to build the Canva platform, enabling subscribers worldwide to create diverse designs for free.

Now a team of 3500+, Canva continues to expand globally, reaching markets in China, Dubai, and the Philippines. Melanie Perkins' journey, which started in her mom's living room, has evolved into a global phenomenon, empowering millions to loosen up, experiment and unveil their creativity effortlessly.

Change Agent - Canva

From personal creative ventures to real-world business impact. Realty Austin, a rapidly growing real estate company in Austin, USA, with over 550 agents, found a transformative solution in Canva for Enterprise. Co-founder and CTO, Jonathan Boatwright, recognized Canva as the ideal design tool to empower their agents, designers, and marketing teams. This move aimed to centralize their design process, ensuring relevant, on-brand, and timely assets. According to Gaby Proctor, a real estate agent at Realty Austin, Canva for Enterprise simplifies the design process with ready-made templates, formats, and ideas, eliminating concerns about fonts and colors.

Emily Williams, the print marketing manager, emphasizes how Canva for Enterprise allows agents to customize designs while safeguarding the Realty Austin brand. Realty Austin facilitated classes and webinars to help agents master Canva, speeding up the design process and creating a foundation for commonly needed templates. They also implemented Canva for Enterprise's Approval Workflow settings to maintain consistency and brand integrity in approved designs. This strategic move empowered over 500 agents to create their marketing materials efficiently and creatively. So, it's not just about being a creative tool; more importantly, it's about how Canva becomes essential for businesses.

Their Financial Canvas

Canva, available in 190 countries and supporting over 100 languages, has a diverse revenue generation strategy. The company's income primarily comes from:

Free Plan: Catering to individuals with personal design needs, the free plan offers access to a vast array of resources, including templates, images, and cloud storage, all without costs.

Canva Pro: Geared towards professionals and businesses, this premium subscription provides advanced tools and features like brand kits, custom branding, and collaborative tools, enhancing creative capabilities.

Canva for Teams/Enterprise: Tailored for collaboration and brand management in businesses, this specialized solution offers brand controls, dedicated folders, team reports, and extensive cloud storage capacity.

Canva Print: Providing professional-grade printing services, Canva Print allows users to bring their designs to life with flexible pricing, global shipping, expedited delivery, and in-store pickup options.

Canva Design School: Offering free and affordable courses covering design, social media marketing, and branding, Canva ensures education accessibility through online and in-person classes.

Canva Marketplace: Allowing users to buy one-time-use designs for a nominal fee, the marketplace enables designers to contribute their creations. Canva charges a 35% commission for each purchase, providing a platform for designers to showcase their work.

Canva's innovative and varied revenue streams ensure flexibility and accessibility for users of different needs and backgrounds.

Vrooming Marketing Engine

8,000 templates, free images, and design tools for all platforms

Just as Canva offers a diverse range of products to cater to various user needs, their marketing strategy mirrors this versatility. Canva's marketing strategy is designed to be clear and effective. Their website is like a virtual office, focusing on user conversions and building relationships. The homepage is simple, guiding visitors to sign up easily, showcasing design ideas, and offering a glimpse of premium features to entice users.

Keywords play a big role in Canva's strategy, focusing on user goals and solutions. This helps in high conversion rates by aligning Canva's product with user needs.

Social media is a key communication tool for them. They use different angles on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, emphasizing the ease of designing anything without prior knowledge.

Canva's content marketing is top-notch, with a focus on helping users achieve design goals. Their blog, articles, and design school provide valuable information while being search-friendly and driving leads.

Overall, Canva's marketing approach revolves around SEO, social media, and content marketing. Their precision, focus, and simplicity in executing these strategies contribute to their success and sustained growth.

A Snapshot of their Success

200 new designs are created every second.

As of 2023, Canva's community has grown to a massive 150 million people, up from 60 million in 2022, and achieving a significant milestone of 100 million users in October 2022. About 67% of these users opt for paid subscriptions, unlocking premium templates and design elements.

Since its launch in 2012, users have created a staggering 15 billion designs on Canva, showcasing its widespread use for graphics, presentations, videos, and more. Approximately 800,000 teams are paying for Canva subscriptions, with around 85% of Fortune 500 enterprises globally utilizing the platform in various capacities.

In 2023, Canva reported an impressive revenue run rate of $1.7 billion, backed by over $500 million in funding from investors like Blackbird Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and General Catalyst. The company's valuation skyrocketed to $40 billion in the last trimester of 2021, marking a remarkable 666% growth in less than two years. These statistics highlight Canva's widespread adoption and financial success.

In an interview, when asked how Canva managed such rapid growth, Melanie said:

“Our key focus has always been on building a product that solves a real problem. That’s by far been the biggest driver of our growth.”

New Feature Alert!

Canva has invested over $200 million into AI technologies.

In this section, we'll be spotlighting Canva's newest features that bring fresh and exciting elements to your design experience. Today, we're specifically diving into the AI Story and Plot Generator—a cool addition that makes creating stories even more fun. Let's explore how Canva keeps bringing in awesome tools for you to enjoy!

AI story and plot generator

Everyone has an inner storyteller because, well, everyone has a story to tell. The only hiccup? We often get stuck, and let's face it, finding that creative flow isn't everyone's strong suit. Discover your inner storyteller and bid farewell to writer's block with Canva's AI story generator, powered by OpenAI. This feature, located in Canva Docs' Magic Write™, provides suggestions for story ideas, plot twists, and genres based on straightforward prompts. Effortlessly brainstorm and plan your tale, be it a humorous short story or a novel concept, using this handy writing assistant.

Here's a breakdown of how it operates:

Simple Story Plotting & Brainstorming: Utilize a text prompt to craft a complete short story or generate sentences and paragraphs for different sections of your work. Additionally, you can allow the AI to generate ideas based on existing text.

Lifetime Queries: Benefit from up to 25 lifetime queries for story generation. Canva Pro offers extra prompts to help establish the mood and theme.

Online Document Creation: Canva Docs enables seamless creation and editing in a single dashboard. Employ the story idea generator alongside familiar text editing tools. Enhance your story with images, videos, and graphics without switching apps.

Write Anywhere, Anytime: Access the AI generator on desktops, mobiles, or tablets and across various web browsers. Simplify your writing process, whether on a smartphone or laptop, and effortlessly brainstorm creative plot points on the go.

Safety First: Your safety is Canva's priority. Robust measures are in place to ensure the safety and appropriateness of AI-generated content. Use the AI story generator responsibly, always keeping in mind to "Be a good human."

3 Proven Tactics for Thriving Growth!

As the final section, let's conclude by sharing tips from Cliff on how to build a great team. So, read on and take in what you feel works for you. Let's explore how these ideas can make a team stronger and happier.

Smart Growth Planning: As Canva's team gets bigger, Obrecht suggests thinking about a concept from anthropologist Robin Dunbar. It's about a limit on how many relationships our brains can handle, called the "Dunbar number" (around 150). When a team gets this big, new challenges come up. Obrecht says it's important to think about bringing in more management help to handle these challenges.

Keeping Things Simple: Even though the team is growing, Obrecht thinks it's a good idea to keep the company structure "flat." That means not having too many layers between regular staff and top executives. Obrecht knows it's tough to find experienced leaders nearby, but he wants to keep Canva's natural way of working while adjusting to the company getting bigger.

Communication Matters: Obrecht wants everyone on the team to communicate well. He says it's super important for a company to talk openly and share information. Obrecht thinks when people feel comfortable asking questions, it helps everyone work together better and makes the whole company more successful.

In Canva's Canvas where colors play,
Ideas bloom, finding their way.
Designs created on a vibrant display,
With no dismay, it's just experimenting that stays.

Started in someone's living room and now helps 150 million people create amazing designs. Canva succeeds in numbers as well as helps businesses like Realty Austin by changing how they design things. With interesting features like the AI story generator, Canva keeps getting better. It makes money in different ways, and its simple approach inspires people worldwide. Canva teaches us that being simple, creative, and innovative can lead to huge success in design. So, let's keep creating, telling stories, and growing with Canva. C ya soon with my next story, Until then 👋🏽.