Graphic Designers vs. Canva

(and other free or low-cost DIY graphic design tools)

Why should you hire a graphic designer when Canva is free? How do you know when it's time to start working with a designer?

Graphic Designers

Graphic designers (like me!) are people who study art history and design principles and use this knowledge to properly visually communicate a message. We create and assemble illustrations, icons, typography, patterns, textures, animated elements, and more that will communicate our ideas. We’re creative people and also technical people.

Canva

Canva is a DIY online designing tool, known for its drag-and-drop interface with pre-made assets and easy-to-use templates. It’s great for small businesses just starting out who need content that looks decent and is cost effective. It’s quick and fairly intuitive to use. So why pay a graphic designer when you can quickly and cheaply make it yourself?

Value & Ownership

Canva content can be quite well-designed when done correctly. However, you just don’t get the same customization and attention to detail. In Canva, you don’t really create anything, you just rearrange premade elements. I would not reccomend using Canva to create a logo. Why?

There are 75 million monthly active Canva users. After a while, you might notice a lot of people are using the same elements as you. Everyone has access to the same exact library, so of course that would happen. There’s also always the question of copyright. It’s not exactly clear who owns the final designs created using Canva. You also could have issues with another brand having a similar or the same logo as you. Not only can this confuse customers, it can also open you up to potential legal issues.

Canva doesn’t allow for precision or for the more technical side of graphic design. You can’t create a bleed, it’s hard to adjust color modes, and you can’t use a grid or guidelines. There’s no adjusting of curves or points. It’s not great for making your project look professional, and you’ll often find that things just look “off.”

The Bottom Line

Canva is a great tool if you just need some quick and decent-looking graphics for social media, a flyer, thumbnails, and things like that. It's not good for logos. You can't use it for projects that require any level of precision, and you could run into copyright issues in the future since Canva has a limited library of elements and there are tens of millions of users each month.

If you're ready to level up your visuals, reach out to a designer! We often have formal training/education. Our job is to study art history and design principles and apply these concepts to communicate a message. We're able to create custom artwork from scratch and spend more time on the details so you can focus on your own passions. Click here to learn more about the graphic design and branding identity design services I offer.