Canva's new app will help you create pro designs straight from your phone
Ever wondered how fitness bloggers make those inspirational Instagram posts with just the right filter and a fake Marilyn Monroe quote in Comic Sans? It's probably not thanks to their incredible Photoshop skills.
The Australian graphic design platform Canva launched its new iPhone app Wednesday, making polished design even more accessible. From the app, you can chose various templates such as a Facebook cover banner, thank you cards or social media graphics, among other designs.
The app also lets you add and edit photos from your camera roll, or choose a licensed image from Canva's library of more than one million. The app is synchronised to the platform's web app, so you can head there to keep editing or share straight to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and (of course) Instagram.
You May Also Like
While the company has had an iPad app since 2014, moving the platform onto the iPhone took around one year's worth of work, Cam Adams, Canva's chief product officer, told Mashable Australia.
Adams couldn't put a number on what success would look like for the new app -- "how long is a piece of string?" -- but said the team was quietly confident it would blow the iPad app out of the water. Canva's iPad app has had more than two million downloads, while Canva's user base has hit more than 14 million.
"We think the experience on the iPhone is more compelling than on the iPad," Adams said. "It's a way more useful thing to be able to use it on the go and create those designs wherever you are."
In particular, Adams said the team wanted to ensure the iPhone experience was speedy. "We focused on creating a design really quickly and making it unique and post-able to social," he added.
The app should also have plenty of new features in the future. According to Adams, Canva will be bringing many of the web app's feature to the smartphone. "Currently, the web app has slightly better support for filters. It has slightly better support for 'recalibral' illustrations and account switching -- that's really important for our business customers," he said.
There are plans to create an app for Android, but Adams couldn't put a date on it. "We focused on iPhone because that's what a lot of our users were on," he said. "I know that Android is the lion's share of the market globally, so it's something we are very keen to get out."
And as Canva grows, should graphic designers start worrying about their job prospects? After all, the platform puts professional graphic design in the hands of millions.
Adams, who studied graphic design at university before moving into web design and programming, said that definitely isn't Canva's goal.
"Canva takes a lot of the grunt work that graphic designers hate and makes it easier for them," he said. "A lot of the work that graphic designers really love is illustrating and creating brands -- Canva's not taking that off them."
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
Topics Apps & Software
Ariel Bogle was an associate editor with Mashable in Australia covering technology. Previously, Ariel was associate editor at Future Tense in Washington DC, an editorial initiative between Slate and New America.
