2 torn blue posters on an old white wooden wall with the words How Design Agencies can harness Canva with an Embark logo

In case you’ve been living under a rock, Canva is a design tool which is taking the world by storm and dominating the graphic design arena. Should Adobe be worried? Perhaps not right now. Adobe is far superior in creating vector, photo and video editing and document layouts. What Canva does well is simple, quick, basic design.

If you are an agency or a freelance designer you may have noticed some clients asking for your work to be created in Canva so they can update documents themselves. Hmmm… access to working files? If you’re like me, this scenario may seem a little scary. Are they doing me out of a job?

Fortunately you can relax, a little bit anyway. Tools will never replace talent. You still need a design eye to create beautiful design, and not even Adobe can help with bad taste!

Here are 5 ways Canva can help your design agency.

Contents

Will Canva replace designers?

It’s the worry every designer has the first time a client asks for editable Canva files: am I handing over the keys to my own job? The honest answer is no. Canva is a brilliant tool, but a tool is only ever as good as the person using it. Give a hundred people the same template and you’ll get a hundred different results, most of them average, because taste, hierarchy, restraint and a trained eye can’t be downloaded.

So rather than treating Canva as a threat, the smart move for an agency is to treat it as part of your toolkit, and even as a service you can sell. Here are five ways to do exactly that.

1. Canva is great for brand management

As a client’s designer we can set up Canva to include all the brand elements, fonts, colours and templates for them to use. And yes, you can absolutely charge a set up fee. We can also lock certain aspects of the design such as fonts and brand colours so your client can’t take creative licence with your templates and designs. We can also set a request approval for all the designs before they get published. This makes constant brand management a service you can charge for.

This is one of the most underrated opportunities for an agency. Set a client up with a locked-down brand kit and you protect the integrity of the work you’ve done while creating a recurring revenue stream. The client gets the convenience of doing simple updates themselves, you keep control of the brand, and everyone’s happy.

A screenshot of Canva's Brand Management user interface
A screenshot of Canva’s Brand Management user interface

2. Canva makes digital design a breeze

Sometimes, even as designers we get creative blocks. If you’re designing digital adverts, social material or even printed material, Canva offers lots of inspiration in the form of templates, fonts, videos, images, animated gifs and more.

If you’re looking to mock up your digital collateral (desktop, TV, mobile, laptop, tablets or even e-readers) Canva has Smartmockups built in. As a designer I prefer more unique mock-ups, but this is a super handy way to showcase a brand elegantly and efficiently, especially when you’re moving fast or pitching an idea.

A screenshot of Canva's design interface
Canva being used to design an email newsletter

3. Animations at the click of a button

Turn your static designs into an animated masterpiece (well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves) at the click of a button. There are a bunch of simple animation tools to help you create something a little more eye catching and fancy. Yes, there are limited options and yes, there is little control, but wow, it is so easy. What would normally take hours of development literally takes the click of a button, freeing you up to explore even more creative options.

Animated design elements created in Canva
Example design element animation in Canva

4. Advanced social media planning and integration

Plan when to share your designs as you create them. Whether it’s Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn or even Mailchimp, you can send your artwork straight to your desired application and choose the publish date to add the artwork straight to a calendar which you can manage easily. Just in itself this lends an agency the ability to completely manage and plan social media marketing. Let’s face it, many businesses don’t have the time to manage social themselves and this has the possibility to create a great revenue source.

Screenshot of Canva's social media scheduler

5. Canva as an online video editor

Creating simple videos has never been easier. You can upload your own video or choose from Canva’s stock library, cut, edit, add text and a soundtrack without any formal training in video editing. For short social clips and simple promos, it’s more than enough to get the job done quickly.

Screenshot of Canva's video editing interface

The 5 ways at a glance

The whole article in one quick reference for time-poor agency owners:

Canva feature What it does How your agency can use it
Brand management (Brand Kit) Locks fonts, colours, logos and templates, with approval workflows. Set up and manage client brand kits as a paid, recurring service.
Templates and design Templates, fonts, stock imagery and Smartmockups. Beat creative blocks and mock up collateral fast.
Animations One-click animation of static designs. Add eye-catching motion without hours of development.
Social planning Schedule and publish to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Mailchimp. Offer social media management as a revenue stream.
Video editing Upload, trim, caption and score simple videos. Produce simple video content without specialist editing.

“If only I had less time.” Said no one ever! The simple fact is, we are all time poor and at the end of the day I see Canva being a big help to all creative agencies, including for their own efficiency and inspiration. Yes, this software does enable companies to do their own in-house design, but if the business is serious about their brand they will still use a qualified creative with a good eye.

Canva isn’t going anywhere and they are only going to keep developing and improving their services. I, for one, cannot wait to see what they come up with.

If your brand has outgrown the DIY approach and you want it done properly, a free brand audit is a good place to start.

Leave your mark.

FAQs

Is Canva better than Adobe?

They’re built for different jobs. Adobe is far more powerful for advanced work like vector illustration, detailed photo and video editing and complex document layouts. Canva wins on speed, simplicity and accessibility, it’s brilliant for quick, basic design that anyone can pick up. For an agency, it’s not either-or. Adobe is for the heavy lifting and craft, Canva is for fast turnarounds, templates and putting simple tools in clients’ hands.

Will Canva replace graphic designers?

No. Canva is a tool, and a tool is only as good as the person using it. It can’t supply taste, hierarchy, restraint or a trained eye, which is exactly what separates good design from average. Give a hundred people the same template and you’ll get a hundred different results. Canva makes design more accessible, but businesses serious about their brand will still want a qualified creative behind the work.

Can a design agency actually make money using Canva?

Yes, in a few ways. You can charge a set-up fee to build a client a locked-down brand kit, then charge an ongoing fee to manage and maintain it. You can offer social media planning and scheduling as a service. And you can produce simple animations and videos far faster than before. The trick is to treat Canva as a service you deliver and manage, not just a tool you give away.

What is a Canva Brand Kit?

A Brand Kit is where you load a brand’s fonts, colours, logos and templates into Canva so everything stays on-brand. As the designer, you can lock certain elements (like fonts and brand colours) so clients can’t take creative licence with your work, and you can set approval workflows so designs get checked before they’re published. It’s a great way to protect brand consistency while letting clients handle simple updates themselves.

Can you stop clients editing your Canva designs?

To a degree, yes. Canva lets you lock specific elements such as fonts, colours and logos within a brand kit and set up approval requests before anything goes live. This means clients get the convenience of making minor updates without being able to break the design or stray from the brand. It’s one of the main reasons brand management in Canva works so well as a paid, managed service.

Should my business use Canva or hire a designer?

For simple, everyday updates and quick social posts, Canva is a great option, especially if your designer has set you up with a proper brand kit. For anything that shapes how your brand is perceived, your identity, key campaigns, your website, it’s worth investing in a qualified creative. The best setup for most businesses is a hybrid: a professionally built brand and a Canva kit for the day-to-day.