This is a chapter from #PRstack: AI tools for marketing, media, and public relations, the latest #FuturePRoof publication. You can buy a copy of the complete book from Amazon in Kindle and print formats. The Kindle version doesn’t include images due to format limitations.
Canva by Lynnea Olivarez | Practitioner
Canva is an accessible graphic design platform with AI features that enable anyone to easily create professional visuals, making it a versatile tool for handling diverse design needs in public relations workflows.
Canva, launched in 2012, is a graphic design platform enabling users to craft professional designs with no prior experience, thanks to its assortment of customisable templates, fonts, images, and now, AI features. It has democratised design by being accessible and affordable, making it a staple in communications and public relations toolkits. It's widely used, with proficiency in Canva becoming a sought-after skill in contemporary roles.
Everyday uses
Canva is constantly changing – and improving. Developers regularly unveil new “magical” features influenced by feedback from its substantial user base of 135 million people across 190 countries. In March 2023, Canva introduced its initial suite of AI-based features, and as of October 2023, Canva launched new tools as part of its one-stop-shop Magic Studio:
• Magic Write: AI-powered writing assistant for content creation, such as for blogs, emails, and YouTube videos.
• Magic Edit: Simplifies the addition or modification of design elements.
• Magic Eraser: Removes objects from photos with a click.
• Magic Design: Provides custom designs and a range of style selections from uploaded images.
• Text-to-Image: Converts word prompts to images with enhanced resolution and styles (upgraded 2022 tool).
• Magic Presentation: Produces initial drafts of presentations, including outlines and content.
• Beat Sync: Helps you create visuals that match the beat of audio in videos.
• Animate: Lets you custom-animate your elements to tell a story.
• Magic Switch: Convert designs into other formats effortlessly, and auto-translate them into over 100 languages for global campaigns.
• Magic Media: Utilise AI to turn text or images into short videos.
• Magic Grab and Magic Expand: Select, edit, and enlarge an image part beyond its frame, akin to a tool Adobe offers.
(Sources: Bootcamp.com, Zapier, Medium, EducatorsTechnology.com, Makeuseof.com, GrowingYourCraft.com, PromptEngineering.org, Great Ai Prompts, Canva)
How Canva works
Canva’s web-based tool and mobile app come with a freemium model, offering both free and paid versions, which easily can scale for team design creation and sharing. The platform's extensive reach is also due to its integration with over 150 apps in the Canva App Marketplace, empowering public relations practitioners to publish designs directly to social media or save them to an external file-sharing site, for example. Canva also has recently partnered with DALL·E by OpenAI and Imagen by Google Cloud to enhance its Text-to-Image AI generation features.
Example use cases
Canva’s practical applications are expansive, covering various domains in communication workflows. Here are a few use cases:
• Generate a variety of brand kits and templates for corporate, personal, and product brands.
• Optimise social media branding, campaigns, graphics, GIFs, and video files to meet varying channel parameters.
• Develop professional PowerPoint decks, such as for presenting communication strategies or new business pitch decks.
• Craft promotional materials, invites, or signage for events like webinars or client grand openings.
• Design internal digital signage or intranet graphics.
• Assemble comprehensive media kits for pitch letters or to accompany press release wire distributions.
• Produce website imagery, icons, and page banners.
• Compile stylised media clip books, complete with executive summaries and key takeaways.
Canva's constant innovations and user-friendly interface make it a versatile tool, aiding in diverse design needs across different communication disciplines. Its ongoing enhancements and collaborations ensure its continued relevance and utility in the public relations tool stack.
Lynnea Olivarez, founder and community manager, Ticket to Biotech
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynneaolivarez/
A versatile life science communicator with a rich background in leading communications for emerging biotech therapeutics companies, Lynnea specialises in integrated public relations, digital and social media, and employee engagement initiatives. She is currently focused on fostering the new global biopharma communicator community, Ticket to Biotech (T2B), while contributing actively to professional societies, speaking at industry conferences, and mentoring aspiring public relations practitioners.