The Founders inner dialogue: STOP USING CANVA!

Why Canva won’t scale your startup or serious entrepreneurial venture

If you’re starting a new business, you know that you need a name, a logo, and capital to develop your product. Yes, you will invest in developing that product, along with various legal fees. In the meantime, to save expenses you will research design apps. In your search you’ll find Canva for Apple, and Android, and it’s Free.

There is nothing wrong with Canva, I actually think that it is a very useful tool for non designers who want to dip their toes in the grand waters of Design. The problem with Canva, and other design tools, does not reside in the tool it self, but in the lack of freedom in the creative process, and the creative constraints that will never fit your entrepreneurial expectations of the brand that you imagine.

Free apps are not the tools founders want to use to grow their business.

Canva has pre-established templates and layouts, for multiple uses. This is good enough for starting businesses that need a fast design fix, for influencers who are doing their own communications etc. but it is not the solution for your venture.

It’s very easy to fall victim to easy and affordable apps if your budget is a constraint, in particular if you don’t have the guidance of a designer who knows about color combinations, communications, design thinking, and all the things that they learned in school. Even if you have great taste, Canva will be useful up until its template doesn’t fit your framework anymore. It is also very possible that you will end up with conflicting communication, language and tone that are unclear and confusing.

Founders and Entrepreneurs are great at explaining their business models, so the last thing that they want to do is rely on a free app to showcase their business model, and their proof of concept.

My recommendation, do all the DIY at the beginning, but when you are making your proof of concept, and raising money, make sure you have at least a clear communication to show your potential consumer or investor. Try other online design services like Fiverr, or 99Designs, that actually use freelancers all over…