Clever Ways to Use Canva in Your Working Life

While a picture has often been credited as being worth a thousand words, visually slick marketing collateral is worth a thousand shares. It’s why small businesses and professionals alike turn to Canva – the simple-to-use graphic design platform that requires zero graphic-design knowledge. Yep, Canva templates are a quick and simple way to create everything from business cards and posters to invitations and flyers. So, whatever industry you work in, you can easily and affordably boost your brand, create eye-catching materials and power up your professional footing.

What’s more, thanks to the Officeworks x Canva partnership – where free Canva templates go hand in hand with high-quality Officeworks printing – creating all sorts of marketing materials is easier than ever. For professional results on a budget, head to the Officeworks x Canva section of the Officeworks website, click the ‘Shop now’ button, choose your desired product and click ‘Create’, then choose the ‘Design with Canva’ option and follow the prompts to create your dream design. You then send it to print, and you can collect the end result instore or get it delivered.

Even the professionals love it! Here, designers Jon Gregory and Sophie Mullane, from Medium Rare Content Agency, share their expert tips on how to use Canva in your working life, whatever your chosen profession.

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Using Canva Templates in Schools

Use Canva templates to create posters for use in the classroom and flyers for school events.

There are so many opportunities to use Canva for work when you’re a teacher. Think educational posters, from times tables to illustrations of the structure of a plant cell, student certificates and newsletters, as well as signs showing classroom rules, motivational quote posters and more.

“Canva offers a wide array of predesigned templates that are not only eye-catching but also super simple to customise,” says Sophie. “For teachers and educators, there's a great selection of educational posters that are perfect for a classroom or study space. You can then customise them, print with Officeworks, and hang them up around the classroom.”

To get started, head to the Design With Canva tool on the Officeworks site. Scroll down, select Colour Posters and choose a size. It’s then as simple as clicking on ‘Create’, followed by ‘Design with Canva’ and your preferred orientation. Next, head to the Canva template search bar, type ‘School or Learning’, and you’ll have access to some amazing ready-to-use templates.

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Top Canva Templates for the Classroom

For a collection of fun, student-friendly classroom safety posters, search for ‘handcrafted classroom health and safety’.
Search for ‘times table’ for a template you can easily modify and pin up to encourage students’ maths skills.
Type in ‘classroom rules’ for a variety of colourful and bright Canva design templates you can customise to suit the age group of your students.

Hot Tip: “The right mouse button is your friend, especially when you have lots of design elements on top of each other,” says Jon. “Use this menu to send items to the background or bring them in front.”

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Canva Designs for Retail

Whatever you sell, learning how to use Canva will open up a world of budget-friendly promotional materials.

Retail stores can benefit greatly from the array of free Canva designs on offer. Strategically positioned pull-up banners and posters can draw in potential customers. You can also spread the word about your business with some stylish promo cards or a catalogue-style booklet that showcases your offerings for a local letterbox drop.

“The options you have when designing a full colour poster are pretty amazing,” says Jon. “Not too many years ago, the whole process would have cost a fortune and you certainly wouldn’t have been able to just order a single poster.”

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Top Canva Templates for Retail

If you have an upcoming opening, promotion or special event, try a promo card or rack card. Select portrait orientation and search for ‘Optics Open’ for a clean and fresh look, or ‘retail’ for a vast selection of bold designs sure to draw customers in.
Brochures can be a great way to get the word out. With its minimalistic and modern style, the Peach and Mint Fashion Sales/Product Trifold Brochure is perfect for a fashion boutique.
Advertise your next sale with an A-frame design: the Summer Sale template is simple and a great place to start.

Hot Tip: If you’ve got a bespoke design idea you’ve been thinking of and would love to see come to life, Officeworks has you covered. Our in-house team offers expert graphic design services and can work with you to create eye-catching, professional marketing materials that speak volumes about your business.

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How to Use Canva for Event Planning

Event planners can use Canva templates for invitations, flyers and thank you cards.

For invitations that are almost as exciting as the event itself, the Officeworks x Canva collab has you covered – and there’s no need to factor expensive stationery and designer fees into the budget. You can even continue the theme by sending cards afterwards to thank guests for coming or follow up.

“While there are some great ready-to-use templates on Canva, there are also a wide array of other design elements available to customise your piece to your liking,” says Sophie. Choose a base template and then select the ‘Elements’ tool from the toolbar on the right hand side. “In the search bar at the top, try ‘florals’ or ‘balloons’, for instance,” she says. “You’ll find all sorts of illustrations, graphics, borders and patterns you can add.”

Top Canva Templates for Events

For a botanical-themed wedding invitation, try searching for ‘flower floral wedding’.
Need to advertise an event? Search in Flyers for Belle Ville Art Fair for a simple but eye-catching typographic option.
Cards are a great way to show gratitude. In a landscape orientation, try out the ‘purple leaves bright and maximalist thank you folded card’ for a fun and festive design.

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Using Canva Designs in Hospitality

You can make fantastic menus, flyers and signs for your restaurant using Canva templates.

Forget the enticing aroma of freshly made coffee; instead convert passers-by to patrons with free templates and snazzy Canva designs. Banners, flyers, A-frames, business cards and menus are all excellent ways to encourage people into your business, but you do need to aim for visual consistency across your branding.

“There’s a massive library of beautiful images that are free to use in your design,” says Jon. “It’s especially helpful when you need great shots of generic things, like coffee. Use the search option to get started.”

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Top Canva Templates for Hospitality

For a clean and minimalist menu template, try searching for Sun & Sea Cafe.
Need an eye-catching A-frame to draw people into your new venue? Look up the Sweet Tooth & Things Grand Opening template.
Does your cafe offer a catering service? Choose landscape orientation and search for the Dark Pink Classy Swirl Cake Business Card to get started.

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Hot Tip: It’s easy to add your company’s logo to all your marketing collateral. Simply select ‘Uploads’ at the top of the right hand toolbar and drag and drop your logo from your desktop. Make sure you use a high resolution PNG file with a transparent background so that it won’t appear pixelated when printed and can be used on any background colour.

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Fundraising Using Canva Templates

If you work in fundraising, you’d probably prefer to raise money rather than spend it, but Officeworks x Canva is a budget-friendly way to get professional results. Use it to add some pizzazz to pull-up banners, menus, invitations, flyers and brochures.

“For a professional and consistent look, ensure you use the same fonts and colours across each piece of event collateral,” suggests Sophie. “If you have two Canva templates open at once, you can simply copy and paste features such as text boxes, shapes and graphic elements between the two.”

Top Canva Templates for Fundraising

Get the word out about your event with a coloured poster. Search for ‘fundraising posters’ and you’ll be sure to find the perfect option, no matter the event.
The Beechtown Bistro menu is a simple design that’s effortlessly stylish.
Pull-up banners are a great addition to any fundraising event. Try using the Orange Green and Cream Bold Geometric Baubles Banner as a base and switch out the graphic elements to suit your theme.

What To Try

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