How to Create Branded Graphics Using Canva

In this video tutorial, we walk you through how to utilize our styled images to create branded graphics using Canva – a free graphic design tool.

Whether you’re creating graphics for Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or another social media platform, we recommend creating templates that are customized for your brand. Creating templates will not only save you time in the future, but they will also help with brand recognition since your graphics will all have a similar style.

Here are a few tips for creating branded graphics in Canva or any other design tool:

Keep it relevant.

This should go without saying, but in case ya need a reminder – you should be using images that are relevant to your business and your audience. For example, if you’re a copywriter for women entrepreneurs you might use some of our styled desktop images or shots of women writing or typing at a computer… but using images from our fitness collection probably doesn’t make sense for your business. Luckily, with over 8,000 images in our member library, we probably have at least a few collections to fit your needs!

Stick to a few fonts (your brand fonts!)

To create a consistent brand, don’t use too many different fonts – in general, you won’t need more than 2 or 3 fonts for header/ sub-header / body text. You should be using the same fonts across all of your graphics as well as your website and other marketing channels. There are a ton of fonts that are free to use in the free version of Canva, but you can also upload your own brand fonts. Quick tip: You can save your brand fonts using Canva’s “brand kit” feature to make sure that you’re always using the right fonts.

Make sure your text is easy to read.

When you’re adding text over an image, it can sometimes be hard to read. Many of the images in the Styled Stock Society member library have negative space (white space) where you can add text without any issues. If you want to use an image without negative space, adding a colored overlay can be an easy way to make your text easier to read. You can also play around with the opacity of your colored overlay to make your text stand out. Make sure you are paying attention to colors as well – it’s easier to read dark text on a light background and vice versa – contrast is key!

Optimize your sizes.

Not all social media platforms are created equally! While square-cropped graphics may work best on Instagram, you’ll want tall/vertical graphics for Pinterest or Instagram stories, and different sizes for Facebook and Twitter as well. That’s why we have a mix of horizontal, vertical, and square-cropped images throughout the Styled Stock Society member library – so you can choose the best images to fit your needs. Plus, Canva makes it easy to create graphics that are perfectly sized for whatever platform you need it for!