✦ Why You Shouldn’t Build Your Logo in Canva ✦

I love Canva. Designing in Canva Pro has streamlined SO many of my processes, and I will shout that from the rooftops to literally anyone who will listen. I’m a Canva Creator (with templates in the library) and a Canva Contributor (with nearly 600 elements available for use on my profile) and I am absolutely OBSESSED with the platform. I even have social media content templates designed specifically to be used in Canva… as I said: OBSESSED. 

But………. It’s not a good fit for designing the logo for your business. Your social media content? Your webinar slides? Maybe even your link-in-bio webpage? DEFINITELY. It’s literally the perfect place to build ALL of those tools. Not only does it make it super easy to design each item, it also makes consistently implementing your business’ brand standards a piece of cake. Tasty, tasty cake.

But it is NOT the best place to build your logo – and Canva themselves are very open about this fact.

1. Ownership

When you create a logo on Canva, the ONLY instance where it is actually yours, is if it is created from text and basic shapes ONLY. If any graphics from the graphic library are used, or textures are applied in the form of images from the image library, that’s no longer something that belongs to you. Meaning, down the line, when your business has grown and you want to go through the process of trademarking that logo, *you can’t.*

This sets you up for problems in a ton of ways, and also means that if you want to go through with trademarking, it’s going to require a rebrand. There are a TON of reasons to rebrand your business (your values have changed, your niche is shifting, your content is dated… etc) but I don’t love the idea of your business being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Either change your logo, or you can’t continue the registration process?? Don’t like that.

2. Client Targeting

That’s not where the problems end, either. If you use one of the logo templates within Canva, you’re using something that is available to everyone and their brother. Meaning…….. you very well might encounter other pros in your niche that are using the exact. same. one.

And that’s the OPPOSITE of building a visual brand targeted to what makes your business unique.

The logo you use shouldn’t be based on what templates are available – it should be based in the unique elements of your business that your ideal clients jive with. It should be designed for YOUR business. Not for everyone.

3. Formats

My final note here, is that when you’re creating a logo, it’s important to make sure that you have the proper formats to use across all of your media, both digital and print. This means… you’re going to need a vector format, babe. Whether you’re planning on blowing things up on signage now or not, you want to future proof the shit out of your visual branding. And that means having access to more than a PNG.

But… I Use a Canva Logo, and I Love It – What Should I Do?

If you currently use a Canva-designed logo for your business, I have some hard-pills-to-swallow for ya right now. You’re going to need to look into shifting that strategy eventually, whether that’s now, or later.

If you’re just starting out in your business, and you want to use your Canva logo for the time being, until you can invest in full branding services from someone who can make magic happen for you, then that’s totally fine. But if you’re already in a position where you’re looking to take your business to the next level, and you have the capital to invest: look for a branding pro who can create a custom package for you.

Not only will this eliminate all of the issues outlined above – it’ll make sure that the content you’re using in your business is uniquely targeted to your ideal clients, which will increase your conversion rates, and bring consistency to your content.

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