Dionne Design

Why Using Canva for your Logo is a Bad Idea

Sarah Sullivan — Mon, 21 Jul 2025 16:32:35 +0000

Why Using Canva for your Logo Design is a Bad Idea

First, I’m not one of those designers that hates Canva. I think it’s a great tool for business owners, especially if they’re independently run and don’t have an in-house designer. And I use it myself all the time, mostly for social media graphics and Reels. It’s accessible, intuitive, and packed with helpful features that make day-to-day content creation easier.

But when it comes to logo and brand identity design, Canva simply isn’t the right tool. And if you’re building a business that’s meant to last, it’s important to understand why.

1. You risk looking like everyone else

Most Canva logos are built from pre-made icons, fonts, and layout templates—elements that anyone else can use too. That means the logo you just spent an hour crafting might look nearly identical to someone else’s. Or worse, be exactly the same with different text.

A great logo should be unmistakably yours. It should reflect your brand’s personality, purpose, and positioning—not just follow a popular design trend.

2. Without proper file types, you’re limited in how you can use your logo.

Canva doesn’t export true vector files (like .EPS or fully editable .AI files), which are essential for professional logo usage. Without a vector version, your logo may appear pixelated or blurry when scaled up for signage, print materials, or even high-resolution digital use.

A professional designer will always provide a full logo suite—including vector files—so your brand looks sharp and consistent everywhere, from business cards to billboards.

3. You don’t own your logo

Here’s something many business owners don’t realize and it’s really scary: You don’t legally own a Canva-made logo in the way you might think.

Because Canva elements are licensed for use—not sold exclusively—you can’t trademark a logo that includes stock icons, fonts, or layout templates from their library. That means if you ever try to legally register your Canva logo (especially as your business grows), it’s likely to be rejected. And if someone else starts using a similar design, you won’t have the legal grounds to stop them. That’s a major risk if you’re serious about protecting your brand.

4. A logo without brand strategy is pointless

A logo isn’t just a pretty graphic—it’s the distilled expression of your brand’s story, values, and vision. It’s built with your business goals, audience, and competitive landscape in mind.

That level of depth and intentionality simply isn’t possible with drag-and-drop tools. You need a process, not a template. A professional designer is also a strategist who applies years of experience to your brand and creates a custom, strategic brand identity.

If you want a brand with longevity, invest in custom brand design

Investing in a custom logo and brand identity may feel like a leap, but it’s one of the most valuable decisions you can make for your business. When done right, your brand will not only look beautiful—it will work hard for you: attracting the right people, building trust, and growing with your business.

If you’re ready to trade templates for something truly tailored, I’d love to help. Fill out the Client Inquiry form and let’s get to work!

Do Small Businesses Need Branding?

Brand Design

Where to Use Your Brand Identity

Brand Design

Seven types of photos to elevate your brand

Sarah Sullivan — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 13:56:19 +0000

Brand photos can make or break your website and social media marketing campaigns. If you’re only using a headshot (and worse if it’s a snapshot), you’re missing out on the opportunity to build your brand, connect with your people, and accelerate the growth of your business.

All these are photos above are fine and actually would work great as headshots on a corporate website. But if you’re an independent business owner, they fall short. Do these photos give you a sense of who the person is, what industry they are in, or what quality of work they do? No, they don’t. That’s why you need to expand your idea of what brand photos can be.

Here are ideas for seven types of brand photos that you might consider incorporating into your next shoot.

Expanding your idea of what brand photos can be will create more opportunities for potential customers and clients to connect with you and your brand. Start by digging into your brand ethos, examining the market, and then book a photographer and get creative!

Three Website Mistakes That Could Be Costing You

Sarah Sullivan — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 16:56:18 +0000

You’ve invested time and money in your website but is it as effective as it could be?

Here are three website issues that could be costing you site visitors which directly impacts sales. But have no fear, I’ll also let you know what you can do to fix it.

1. Slow website

The average time spent on a website is 15 seconds. So if your website takes too long to load, you’re missing out.

Today’s consumers would rather search for a different site than wait for a slow site to load. This is especially true for e-commerce sites.

Improve your website speed by optimizing images and minimizing code and plugins which can slow down a site’s load speed.

2. Poor mobile optimization

55% of all website users visit a website from a mobile browser. A fast and efficient mobile experience encourages people to visit, stay, and engage.

Additionally, Google’s algorithm prioritizes content optimized by mobile. So by making this important change, you will automatically improve your chances of ranking high in Google search results.

3. Poorly written copy

Appealing headlines, product descriptions, and specific and persuasive calls to action encourage your site visitors to stay on your site and make decisions about purchasing your product or service. Make sure you give site visitors enough information to make a purchasing decision but not so much that it’s overwhelming or confusing.

Bonus tip: Include testimonials at key points on your site (not on a stand-alone page). People feel more confident deciding on a purchase after reading the experiences of others.

A website is only good if it can be effective to attract visitors, to encourage them to explore and to make a decision to purchase your product or service. Paying attention to these three key areas will improve your chances of building a strategically effective site.

Should You Use AI to Write Website Content

Sarah Sullivan — Sat, 24 Jun 2023 01:26:16 +0000

AI seems to have exploded into our consciousness over the last new months. Suddenly AI is the answer for everything from writing content to editing photos to making art. Now that we have this powerful tool at our disposal, how should we use it?

Can you use AI to write website content? Absolutely you can, with a few well chosen prompts, AI kicks out paragraphs of ready written text. It can be an enticing to just copy and paste that text into your blog post, social media caption, or web page. But by doing so, you remove the element that is the key part of your business’s USP (unique selling point): you.

Understanding How AI Works

AI operates by scouring databases for information. There’s a lot of information available out there so what it send back to a prompt is only as good as what was put in and it presents the most general, middle-of-the-road responses. So if you’re trying to set your business apart from everyone else, going to the same source as everyone else is not the way to do it.

Putting AI to the Test

For example, I wanted to put together instructions on how to update a Squarespace website. It was a daunting task for me so I decided to see what AI had to say. To the prompt “Give me basic instructions for updating a Squarespace website” I received 7 bullet points with instructions such as:

- - Click on the text, images, or other elements you want to update and make the necessary changes. Use the formatting options available to customize the appearance of your content.
  - If you wish to change the overall design of your SquareSpace website, look for options like “Design” or “Style” in the website editor. You can usually choose from pre-designed templates or modify the existing design elements such as fonts, colors, and layouts.

It was giving me the most obvious, general info and none of it was helpful for providing the point-by-point instructions that I needed. Perhaps I didn’t input the right prompt but somehow I feel that the work that goes into finding the right prompt would have been the same amount of effort that would go into writing the guide to begin with.

AI as Writing Prompt

However, if you find yourself with writer’s block, AI is a great starting point. Here are some recent searches I made and how they turned out:

- - I asked AI for ten taglines for an independent marketing consultant. None of the taglines were compelling on their own– they sounded very generic– but I was able to take a part of one and add my own thoughts to come up with something that worked.
  - My request to AI for a mission statement for an online creative group, produced 300 words of high-level concepts of inspiration, creativity and empowerment which sounded professional. But what I was looking for was a statement in more friendly, personable language. In the end, I ended up re-writing the mission statement using my own words.

In Its Own Words

Just out of curiosity, I asked Chat GPT “Should you use AI to write website content.” Most points it came up with talked about the amount and speed of text AI could produce but, this point really does say it best:

Understanding your audience and creating personalized, engaging content is crucial for website success. AI may struggle to capture the nuances and emotional appeal that human writers can provide. Human-generated content may be better suited for connecting with your audience on a deeper level.

Where to Use Your Brand Identity

Sarah Sullivan — Sun, 15 Jan 2023 15:35:44 +0000

You’ve invested in a new brand identity, now put it to good use!

If you’re like me, you remember to update your website and business cards but then months later you realized your social profiles, newsletter, etc have the old branding.

So to help you out, here is a list of areas to check that your logo and brand colors are updated:

Website

Your logo and brand colors should be fully incorporated into your website. You can use your logo in the header, footer, and various spots on your site to create customer touchpoint.

link in bio

If you use a link in bio for your social media, don't forget it! This is a hidden page of your website and can be easily overlooked.

social media

Every social media profile image, banner if it has one should be updated with your new brand identity.

Google Business

Often overlooked, Google Business is a valuable place for your business to show up online. Here you can update your logo by adding it as an image.

Email Marketing

With a new brand identity, you should update the logo if it appears as well as the email colors, banner, or even the layout.

banners and signs

If your business is brick and mortar, signage is a powerful identifier of your business. Before rebranding, consider the cost of updating your signage. If you present at trade shows or craft fairs, update your brand on your banners. This may also include signage on your vehicle.

product packaging

This is a no brainer. If you are selling a product, your brand is integral to your product packaging.

print materials

Your brand should be evident across all customer touchpoints including business cards, invoices, letterhead, postcards, brochures, etc.

promotional items

75% of customers are more likely to remember a company if they’ve received some free promotional items from them. So consider putting your logo on a pen, tote bag, mug, or shirt!

business uniforms

If you have employees representing your business, build recognition and trust with your customers by having employees wear a branded shirt, hat or other item.

Your brand identity is a powerful tool to building your business, if you use it consistently and strategically. Allow it to do it’s work by using it across all customer touch points.

Building SEO Into the Design Process

Sarah Sullivan — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 15:20:55 +0000

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) shouldn’t be an afterthought to your web design process. All the decisions you make in design should serve the goal removing obstacles that could limit the ability of search engines to serve your product or service to your customers.

Here are 6 key things you can do to improve your SEO in the design process:

1. Write strong text/copy

Be clear about what your business does. Don’t use a lot of industry jargon. This will allow search engines to easily identify who you are, what you offer in order to serve those results to people who are searching.

2. Create clickable headlines

Your headlines should arouse interest and get people to click while, at the same time, being clear enough for search engines (computers) to understand.

3. Compress image sizes

Large image sizes slow your website page load times which ranks you lower in Google searches. Just resize your images (No need to have a 45 inch wide image when a 5 inch would suffice) and use a free, only service like tinypng.com to compress the image further.

4. Add external links

This tells search engines that your are offering value to readers by being a resource linking them to other sites.

5. Plan header hierarchy

Simply put, put your most important info in the largest font and make sure it is coded to be H1 (heading 1). Search engines pay attention to what text is labeled H1, H2, H3 and prioritize accordingly.

6. Optimize for mobile

As of August 2022, 62.06% of all website traffic comes from people using mobile devices. If your site is not optimized to function as well on a mobile device as it does on a desktop, Google will lower your search engine ranking.

All of these are things that we pay attention to during the design process so that you don’t have to hire an SEO expert later.

A beautiful website is worthless if it doesn’t show up in searches to be shown to potential customers. So make these smart choices while you’re building your site to make your beautiful site effective as well.

Below the Surface of Web Design

Sarah Sullivan — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 13:17:00 +0000

Why is web design so expensive? Why is a DIY website less effective than a professionally designed site? Because web design is about much more than just making a pretty website.

An experienced designer (or a well-educated DIYer) will go below the surface to plan for and implement these six key elements:

1. Aesthetics + design

A business website needs to be consistent with the brand identity and look professional. This will go a long way toward lending legitimacy to your business and can make a difference in if a visitor will become a customer or not.

2. Search engine optimization (SEO)

SEO shouldn’t be an add on service. Every decision a designer makes can impact your business’ ranking on Google. Paying attention to image file size, which headings are used, and factors that impact website speed will give your site the best chance to show up in organic searches.

3. User Experience (UX)

An experienced designer will understand how people navigate through your site and will make decisions like the placement of a menu or buttons, etc. which will encourage site visitors to stay longer, click more, and ultimately help you make the sale.

4. Converting copy

A copywriter or designer can help you write appealing headlines, descriptions, or call to actions which are clear to your site visitors and encourage them to learn more. This copy also has a direct impact on your site SEO.

5. Mobile Optimization

As of October 2022, 59.53 percent of all web traffic comes through mobile phones so your site should also be designed to look just as good on a mobile device as it does on a desktop.

6. Accessibility

It’s so important to understand how disabilities can impact how viewers experience your site. Making your site accessible to those with visual impairments, neurodiversities like dyslexia, or physical symptoms like tremors is not only the right thing to do, it’s good for business.

A good designer— or a well-educated DIYer-/ will know not take shortcuts in any of these important areas. A pretty website is nice but a pretty and effective one is better!

How to Use Stock Photography on Your Website

Sarah Sullivan — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 17:52:19 +0000

Did you know that content with visuals gets 94% more views than content without visuals? It is nearly impossible to build an engaging website without images and those images need to be high quality. Here’s how the options break down:

Best: professional brand photography

Investing in high quality brand photography is the best case scenario. This may be an investment for a small business but the return (ROI) can be huge. These brand photos can be used not only on the website, but also in social media and other marketing materials and ads for years to come. Having professional photos taken is really the best investment you can make in your business.

Better: High quality on-brand stock photography

If you’re starting out and not able to afford a professional, custom photoshoot, stock photography is a perfectly acceptable solution. Sites like Unsplash and Pexels even provide this stock photography for free! Other reasonably priced stock photo options are: Creative Market, Etsy and Moyo Studio.

Good: Graphic Illustrations and minimal photos

A lot can be accomplished in web design by using graphics such as icons or shape elements and color blocking. If you have not yet invested in professional photography and are for some reason nervous about using stock photography, this can be a good option if it is implemented well.

Not advisable: Snapshots

The worst possible option is using low quality, badly framed, mismatched snapshots. Using these images will make your business seem unprofessional and leave a bad impression with clients.

So you want to use stock photography but how can you do it without looking like everyone else? How can you incorporate stock photos in a way that they are not obviously stock photos?

Here are 8 tips for effectively using stock photos for your website, social media, or marketing materials:

Choose photos that fit your brand.
Choose photos with colors that fit your brand palette.
Make sure that you are not misrepresenting yourself or your work by including stock photos in your portfolio or your About page. (You’re not fooling anyone.)
Consider modifying the photos to make them your own such as cropping, adding a text overlay, making them black and white or duotone. (This can be done using a photo editing program or Canva.)
Use stock photos as background on website sections or banners, Instagram stories or more.
If people are in the images, consider using close up of hands, or crop the image so the face is not showing.
Never use watermarked images (It makes you look so bad!)
Never use copyrighted images without permission.

By following these tips, you can effectively use stock photos without blending in! Download the free guide (pdf) below.

Getting Started with Instagram Reels

Sarah Sullivan — Tue, 19 Jul 2022 18:01:43 +0000

As we’ve spoken before, Reels can be an important part of your business’ social media marketing strategy.

This is a step-by-step how-to guide to getting started with Reels. I will be using my Fonts of Summer Reel as a case study.

1. Start with audio

The audio you choose will determine the maximum length of your Reel. Choose an audio track that is too short for your video clip and your video will be cut off.

In my case, I was creating a video to fit the audio so I chose an audio clip which was 15 seconds long and fit my theme of summer.

Then I had to decide how long I wanted each video clip to be. I decided that I would make them equal with 5 clips, 3 seconds long. This would give the viewer enough time to read the text that I put on each slide, but not long enough for them to get bored and click away.

I also could have gone with 6 clips at 2.5 seconds long but I only wanted to feature 5 fonts.

2. Choose your audio.

You can definitely film your own video but, in this case, since the video was simply meant to evoke a mood, I chose stock video from Pexels.com . Since the audio was fun and upbeat, I looked for videos of people having fun and dancing, but still maintaining a bit of a dreamy vibe.

I downloaded the five videos I chose from Pexels and uploaded them to Canva.

A note: If you are using Canva, Pexels photos and videos are integrated and can be used directly from within Canva. However, I find that the search returns different results. For instance, searching “summer” on the Pexels website returns different results than “summer” on Canva. I’m not sure why that is but just something to be aware of. Also, if you do not have a pro version, you will be limited on which photos and videos you can use through Canva but there is no limit on Pexels.com.

3. Create your video in Canva.

There are many apps that you can use to create your videos, including editing them together right in Instagram, but I like to use Canva on my desktop.

Choose the “video” option and then “mobile video” or “Instagram Reels” and add each video to each slide.

4. Adjust the timing for each clip

When you add a video to a slide in Canva, it will automatically adjust the timing of the slide to the length of the video clip. In some cases, the video clips were 15 seconds which was way too long.

To adjust the clip, click on the slide in the bottom bar and click and drag the handles on each one to change the timing of each slide. In my case, I went for 3 seconds on each.

5. Add text

Add text to your slides, keeping in mind that text that is too far to the top and bottom will be cut off in the feed view.

If you want the text to stay in the same place on each slide and for only the video or photo to change behind them, position the text where you want it on one slide and then copy and paste the text to the following slides; the text will stay in the same position on each one.

6. Export as a video file

Preview your video using the Play arrow at the top of the screen. After you have you video as you would like it, click Share, Download, and Download again, making sure that the “MP4 Video” option is selected.

7. Create a cover for your reel

Your cover is important, especially if you are planning to share it to your grid. In this case, with the square grid format, the text would be cut off on the grid. I tested this out by creating a square and placing it in the middle of the screen. You can see that in this case “fonts of summer” would be cut off on the grid and the rest of the text would look misaligned.

From within Canva, I just duplicated the slide that I wanted to use for my cover and moved the text down so that it would look nice on the grid and not be cut off. I deleted the square that I had created as a guide and exported just that one page as an image by making sure the download file type was set to PNG.

8. Post on Instagram

Transfer the video and the cover image to your phone and then open Instagram and create a Reel, choosing the music that you selected at the beginning.

Watch your Reel through a couple times with the music to see if there is anything you would like to tweak. Some music has different beats which should synch up with your transitions so it may take a few tries to make it all work together.

Don’t forget to add a caption! This is an important space so make sure you utilize it, if possible also including a call to action.

And that’s it!

You’ve published your first Instagram Reel for business!

How to Use Reels for Business

Sarah Sullivan — Tue, 14 Jun 2022 13:00:09 +0000

Conceptualizing, filming, and editing Reels can be challenging, especially if you don’t feel comfortable being on video. So should your business invest time, effort or even money into producing Reels? Here are two reasons why it’s a good idea:

1. Instagram is really pushing Reels right now. That means that the algorithm is more likely to show a Reel to a new audience than an image post. So if you are looking to build your following or expand your reach, Reels is the way to do it.⁠

1. Reels have longevity! Unlike posts that stop getting attention after a day or two, Reels can gather thousands of likes in the background for months, making them a good investment. (This one was posted more than 6 months ago, has 7,000+ views and is still going strong!)

So if you want to use Reels as part of your business’s marketing strategy, here are some best practices and helpful tips.

1. Use trending audio

Using trending audio ensures that your Reel is part of the wave of people using that audio. Sometimes these are are music clips and sometimes they audio clips which you can lip synch along with.

You can find trending audio by scrolling through Reels and noticing the lower left hand icon next to the music track. If there is an up arrow, it mean that this audio is trending. To save the audio, click on the track name and you can see how many Reels have used that audio and a button to Save it for later. (But don’t wait too long or it won’t be trending!)

I also recommend visiting @reelstips where you can find a regular round-up of trending audio as well as tutorials.

2. Keep Reels Short

People’s attention spans are short so, right now, videos that are 6-8 seconds in length are having the most success.

Although, Instagram did recently announce 90 second Reels so, they seem to feel that people will stick around for longer form video. This is a great way to share educational content such as step-by-step tutorials or to show a longer behind the scenes process. If you use a 30, 60, 0r 90 second Reel format, make sure your video it is engaging all the way through.

3. Start Strong

You’ve probably noticed this yourself as you are watching Reels: if you’re not hooked in the first second or two, you swipe away. So make sure to catch attention in the first few seconds of your video.

4. Use a CTA

End with a call to action (CTA) telling your viewers what to do next. Without asking them to do something, they will just move on. But an explicit ask can almost compel a viewer to act. If you’re using Reels for business, what you ultimately want is for people to book your services. But in a Reel, the next step might be something small such as liking the video, reading the caption, following, or clicking a link. Focus on getting the viewer on the path toward being a customer, not jumping to the end of the process which might be overwhelming at the first point of contact.

5. Don’t let your captions be an afterthought

If someone enjoys your Reel and they want to learn more about your product or service, their next step will be to look at the caption accompanying the video. So don’t let your caption be an afterthought! Make sure to pack it with value and end with a CTA.

As a side point, if you have a long caption, people will be reading it while the video is playing in the background, increasing Reel views. Tricky but effective.

6. Optimize for mobile

We all know that the more views your Reel has, the more it will be shown to new viewers, exponentially expanding your reach. So start with people who are already following you by adding Reels to Stories.

Some people like to put a sticker over Reels in Stories, forcing people to click into the the video to view it but that’s just annoying. A Reel viewed in your Story counts as a view so you don’t have to force your followers to click in to see it.

Instagram can be a strong part of your marketing strategy and Reels– with proper planning– can be an effective tool in the success of that strategy!

Dionne Design

Why Using Canva for your Logo is a Bad Idea​

Why Using Canva for your Logo Design is a Bad Idea

1. You risk looking like everyone else

2. Without proper file types, you’re limited in how you can use your logo.

3. You don’t own your logo

4. A logo without brand strategy is pointless

If you want a brand with longevity, invest in custom brand design

Related Posts

Do Small Businesses Need Branding?

Keeping Your Social Media On Brand

Where to Use Your Brand Identity

Seven types of photos to elevate your brand

1. convey your brand spirit

2. you or your team In action

3. Your workspace

4. Client interaction

5. tools of the trade

6. Lifestyle images

7. atmospheric

Related Posts

Three Website Mistakes That Could Be Costing You

1. Slow website

2. Poor mobile optimization

3. Poorly written copy

Related Posts

Should You Use AI to Write Website Content

Understanding How AI Works

Putting AI to the Test

AI as Writing Prompt

In Its Own Words

Related Posts

Where to Use Your Brand Identity

Website

link in bio

social media

Google Business

Email Marketing

banners and signs

product packaging

print materials

promotional items

business uniforms

Related Posts

Building SEO Into the Design Process

1. Write strong text/copy

2. Create clickable headlines

3. Compress image sizes

4. Add external links

5. Plan header hierarchy

6. Optimize for mobile

Related Posts

Below the Surface of Web Design

1. Aesthetics + design

2. Search engine optimization (SEO)

3. User Experience (UX)

4. Converting copy

5. Mobile Optimization

6. Accessibility

Related Posts

How to Use Stock Photography on Your Website

Best: professional brand photography

Better: High quality on-brand stock photography

Good: Graphic Illustrations and minimal photos

Not advisable: Snapshots

Related Posts

Getting Started with Instagram Reels

1. Start with audio

2. Choose your audio.

3. Create your video in Canva.

4. Adjust the timing for each clip

5. Add text

6. Export as a video file

7. Create a cover for your reel

8. Post on Instagram

And that’s it!

Related Posts

How to Use Reels for Business

1. Use trending audio

2. Keep Reels Short

Why Using Canva for your Logo is a Bad Idea