How to Use Canva to Create Graphics as a Hairstylist
How to Use Canva to Create Graphics Working as a hairstylist means balancing a full schedule of clients while also promoting your services, showcasing your expertise, and keeping your online presence fresh and engaging.
If Canva feels overwhelming, you’re not alone.
Many hairstylists worry they need graphic design skills to create polished branding and social media content. The reality is that you don’t need to learn every Canva feature, you just need the essentials to create eye-catching designs with confidence.
This page may contain affiliate links.
This step-by-step walkthrough covers:
- Getting Started: How to navigate Canva efficiently so you don’t waste time
- Creating Your Brand in Canva: How to create a professional brand look, even if you don’t have a logo yet
- Working With Canva Templates: How to find, choose, and customize the right Canva templates for hairstylists
- Staying Organized in Canva: How to organize your designs so you can easily find and reuse them
Getting Started with Canva
Why You Need to Get Comfortable in Canva First
Canva is designed to be simple to use, but when you’re first getting started, it can feel overwhelming simply because there’s so much to explore. If you’ve never created graphics before, you might find yourself clicking around, unsure of where to begin.
The good news is that you don’t need to master everything in Canva. Instead of trying to learn every tool and feature, focus on just a few essentials:
- Navigating the Canva homepage to quickly find templates and past projects
- Using the Design Editor to make simple customizations like changing text, colours, and images
- Saving and organizing your designs so you can easily reuse them for promotions, social media, and client communications
Once you have a handle on these basics, designing your graphics will feel much easier and more efficient.
Start with the Essentials
You don’t need to spend hours trying to figure everything out on your own. Instead, learning just a few key features will make using Canva much easier. By understanding how to navigate the homepage, customize templates, and organize your designs, you’ll be able to create professional-looking graphics quickly and efficiently.
To help you get comfortable with Canva, start with these two tutorials:
- Introduction to Canva’s Homepage: Learn how to navigate Canva’s homepage efficiently. This tutorial covers where to find your designs, how to organize your projects, access templates, manage brand assets, explore apps, and customize account setting, helping you make the most of Canva’s main dashboard.
- Introduction to Canva’s Design Editor: Get familiar with Canva’s design editor and its key features. This tutorial walks you through the interface, including how to navigate design pages, use the object panel, access editing tools, and manage multi-page designs efficiently.
Once you have these basics down, you’ll feel much more confident using Canva to create and manage designs as a hairstylist.
Creating Your Brand in Canva
The Value of Professional Branding (When You’re Ready)
A strong, cohesive brand helps you stand out as a hairstylist, making it easier for clients to recognize and remember you. Whether you work in a salon, rent a chair, or are fully independent, having a professional and consistent look across your social media, website, and marketing materials builds trust and makes you more memorable.
At some point, you may want to invest in a professional brand designer to create a fully customized brand identity, including a logo, colour palette, and typography that reflect your style and clientele.
A designer can help you:
- Define a unique brand aesthetic that aligns with your personality and services
- Create a custom logo, colour scheme, and fonts that work cohesively
- Ensure your branding is consistent across all your promotional materials
However, most hairstylists don’t need to invest in custom branding right away — and that’s okay
In the meantime, Canva makes it easy to create a simple, polished brand on your own so you can start marketing your services confidently.
Creating a Strong Brand with Canva (No Design Experience Required)
Branding isn’t just for large salons—having a consistent look helps hairstylists attract the right clients and build recognition.
Even if you don’t have a professionally designed logo yet, you can still create a visually cohesive brand in Canva. By selecting a colour palette, choosing consistent fonts, and using high-quality imagery, you can create a polished, professional look that represents your work.
To help you get started, these tutorials will walk you through the essentials:
- How to Create Your Brand in Canva: Learn the essential steps to creating a simple yet effective brand identity as a hairstylist, including how to create a starter logo, and how to select colours, fonts, and brand imagery.
- How to Set Up Your Brand Kit in Canva: Learn how to store your brand components in Canva so your designs stay consistent and professional. Note that the Brand Kit is a Canva Pro feature, allowing you to save and apply your brand colours, fonts, and logos effortlessly.
These tutorials will walk you through everything you need to know to create a strong visual foundation for your business, without getting stuck in perfectionism.
Let’s get your brand set up so you can focus on what matters most: your clients!
Working with Canva Templates
Why Canva’s Templates are All You Need for Now
As a hairstylist, creating graphics from scratch isn’t necessary, and you’ll find that Canva’s built-in templates give you a fast and professional way to create social media content, pricing guides, and promotional materials.
Using Canva templates allows you to:
- Save time by customizing a pre-designed layout instead of starting from scratch
- Stay consistent by applying your brand colours, fonts, and images
- Easily update designs for different promotions, services, or seasons
Some templates require Canva Pro—if you don’t have it yet, you can still access and edit Pro templates for free with a free Canva Pro trial.
Try Canva Pro for Free
How to Find the Right Canva Templates
Canva’s template library is massive, and while that means you have plenty of options, it can also feel overwhelming. The key to choosing the right templates is to focus on layouts that fit your needs, and then you can always adjust colours, fonts, and images later.
Here are some essential templates hairstylists may want to use:
- Pricing & Service Menus – Showcase your service offerings and pricing in a polished, professional way
- Appointment Reminder Graphics – Create engaging social media posts reminding clients to book their next visit
- Before & After Templates – Easily display transformation photos with branded overlays
- Instagram & Facebook Posts – Keep your social media consistent and professional
- Business Cards & Referral Cards – Strengthen your brand presence both online and offline
Or you can browse directly through Canva’s full template library and use filters to refine your options.
Making Templates Work for You
Once you’ve selected a template, you’ll need to customize it to align with your brand.
Canva makes it easy to swap out colours, fonts, and images to match your aesthetic. And if a template isn’t quite right? You can quickly modify it without needing advanced design skills.
To help you streamline this process, start with these tutorials:
- How to Choose Your Canva Templates: Learn how to find and choose the best templates for hairstylists.
- How to Customize Your Canva Templates: Discover how to edit templates like a pro, ensuring your designs align with your brand for a polished, professional look.
Learn how to make the most of Canva’s templates, so you can focus on your clients, not your designs.
Staying Organized in Canva
Why Organization Matters for Hairstylists
Between managing client bookings, social media, and promotional materials, hairstylists juggle a lot of digital content. A disorganized Canva workspace can slow you down when you need to quickly update service menus, create posts, or find past designs.
By organizing your Canva account, you’ll:
- Save time by quickly locating past promotions, client transformations, and social media templates
- Keep your brand consistent across all platforms
- Make it easy to update seasonal offers or price adjustments without recreating designs from scratch
A well-structured Canva workspace ensures that your content creation process is smooth and stress-free, allowing you to focus more on delivering value to your clients.
How to Get Your Canva Workspace Organized
Getting organized doesn’t have to be complicated. A simple system will save you time, reduce frustration, and make it easier to create consistent, professional-looking designs.
To help you streamline your setup, these videos will walk you through the essentials:
- From Messy to Marvelous: Mastering Canva Organization: Learn how to structure your Canva account so you can find what you need, when you need it.
- The Canva Organization Roadmap Mini Training: If your Canva account feels cluttered, this quick training will help you set up a simple, efficient system.
Taking a few minutes to get organized now will save you hours in the future and help you present yourself as a polished, professional hairstylist with a strong brand presence.
Let’s get your Canva workspace working for you!
Frequently Asked Questions
Have questions about using Canva as a hairstylist? This FAQ covers everything from finding the right Canva templates and creating branded designs to staying organized and deciding whether Canva Pro is worth it. Whether you’re just getting started or looking to refine your branding, these answers will help you create professional-looking graphics quickly and efficiently.
Do I need graphic design experience to use Canva as a hairstylist?
No! Canva is designed for non-designers and makes it easy to create polished graphics with its drag-and-drop editor and customizable templates. With just a few key skills, like navigating Canva, customizing templates, and organizing your designs, you can confidently create professional visuals for your business.
Start with the Introduction to Canva’s Homepage and Introduction to Canva’s Design Editor tutorials to get comfortable.
What types of graphics should hairstylists design in Canva?
As a hairstylist, having a strong visual brand is essential for attracting new clients and keeping your existing clients engaged. Canva allows you to create:
- Pricing & Service Menus – Clearly showcase your services and pricing in a professional way
- Social Media Graphic* – Create Instagram posts, Reels covers, and Facebook promotions to highlight your work
- Before & After Templates – Display transformation photos in a cohesive, branded style
- Appointment Reminders – Encourage clients to book their next visit with eye-catching reminders
- Gift Cards & Referral Cards – Offer beautifully designed digital or printable promotions
- Business Cards – Create sleek, on-brand cards to hand out to clients and potential referrals
A great place to start is by customizing Canva templates to fit your brand. Learn How to Choose Your Templates in Canva and How to Customize Your Canva Templates to get started.
How can I make my Canva designs look professional as a hairstylist?
Consistency is key. Use a defined colour palette, stick to 2-3 fonts, and align elements properly to avoid cluttered layouts. If you don’t have a brand kit yet, check out How to Create Your Brand in Canva and How to Set Up Your Brand Kit in Canva for guidance.
Is Canva Pro worth it for hairstylists?
Canva Free offers plenty of templates, graphics, and customization options, but Canva Pro unlocks premium templates, brand kits, and time-saving features like the Background Remover and Magic Resize.
If you’re posting consistently on social media, managing multiple marketing materials, or want a more professional look for your designs, Canva Pro is worth considering.
If you don’t have Canva Pro yet, you can still explore Pro templates with a free Canva Pro trial.
How do I find the right Canva templates for my hairstyling business?
Canva’s template library is massive, but you can narrow down your options by searching for specific needs. Try searches like:
- “Hair salon pricing menu”
- ”Instagram post for hairstylists”
- ”Before & after photo template”
- “Beauty business service menu”
Once you find a template you like, customize it by changing colours, fonts, and images to match your brand. Learn how in How to Choose Your Canva Templates.
How do hairstylists stay organized in Canva?
Organization is essential when managing multiple designs, from social media content to service menus. Use Canva’s folder system to separate designs by category, name your files clearly, and star frequently used templates for easy access.
Start with the Mastering Canva Organization training and follow the Canva Organization Roadmap mini training if your account feels cluttered.
Can hairstylists create branding in Canva?
Yes! Canva is a great tool for hairstylists to create a simple and professional brand identity. While it doesn’t replace a fully custom branding package designed by a professional, Canva allows you to:
- Create a starter logo using templates
- Select a colour palette and apply it across designs
- Choose consistent fonts to maintain a polished look
- Store brand assets in Canva’s Brand Kit (available in Canva Pro)
For guidance, check out How to Create Your Brand in Canva.
What’s the best way to share designs with clients or promote my work online?
You can share Canva designs in several ways:
- Download and post on social media – Export images for Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest
- Use template links for collaborations – If you work with other beauty professionals or a social media manager, Canva Pro allows you to share editable template links
- Print designs for in-salon marketing – Create flyers, referral cards, or posters and print them directly from Canva
How can I improve my Canva skills as a hairstylist?
The best way to improve is through practice. Start by customizing templates for your brand, explore Canva’s built-in tutorials, and follow Canva educators (like me!) for practical tips on using Canva more efficiently.
Does Canva offer a free trial of Canva Pro for hairstylists?
Yes! Canva offers a free trial of Canva Pro, giving you access to premium features like the Brand Kit, Background Remover, and Magic Resize. This is especially helpful for hairstylists who want to create professional-looking content without hiring a designer.
You can learn more about the Canva Pro free trial here.
Is there a Canva Pro discount or coupon code for hairstylists?
Canva does not typically offer coupon codes or promo discounts, but there are still ways to access Canva Pro at no cost for a limited time. Hairstylists can take advantage of Canva’s free trial to explore premium tools before committing to a subscription.
While Canva doesn’t regularly run discount promotions, there may be special offers from time to time. To stay informed about any available Canva Pro deals, check out my article on Canva Coupon Codes & Discounts, where I share the latest details on Canva’s pricing and potential savings opportunities.
Need more Canva help?
Try Canva Pro for Free