Donna Moritz
Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
Donna has been using Canva since 2013 and was one of the first users of Canva (user 358) when they were in “stealth mode” testing before launching the beta version of their product launched.
She creates both templates and graphics for the Canva Creators program and in fact she was one of the earliest Creators to start in the program in 2020. Donna is also a Creator Canvassador for the program, supporting Creators and helping to provide feedback on product development with the Creator Team.
Read on to learn more about her design process, her strengths as a Creator and what her favourite types of templates are to create for Canva.
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How did you get started using Canva, and what inspired you to start creating with it?
I was invited to use Canva by one of their first few team members, 10 years ago. I was already speaking around the world about Visual Content Creation at social media and marketing conferences, so when I discovered a user-friendly tool that was perfect for Non-Designers I was excited to say the least.
I was fortunate to be one of the first bloggers and content creators to share Canva with the online marketing world and especially training non-designers to be able to edit templates effectively and create their own designs. I don’t know where my business would be without Canva!
Can you walk us through your design process? How do you approach a new project using Canva?
A large majority of what I create in Canva is for non-designers to use in Canva, especially when creating templates for the Canva library or in creating templates for my program members or community. So I always start with a purpose in mind and ask these questions:
- How will this person use this template to get a result?
- How can I make it easy for them to edit?
- And how can I make it easily adaptable (with a few easy switches of photos or elements or text) for someone to change up the topic or intention of the template but still keep the same design framework?
Once I address these goals, I start putting text, and elements on to a blank canvas and create a layout. It might take a few iterations and playing around. Sometimes I “bench” a design and come back to it another day if it’s not flowing for me.
Sometimes while creating, I come up with a separate idea or maybe an idea to create a series of templates from that first design. So you can be sure I have a few extra tabs opened while I am in creation mode!
I’m not a traditionally trained designer so I’m always learning about new workflows and ways of approaching design. Sometimes I use an existing framework from one of my designs and start from there, or sometimes I begin with one single element that I have found in the Canva library that inspires me to get creative.
Other times I work from a theme or an imaginary brief (from a barber to a tourism company). It changes depending on the design, but I always start with a blank canvas and add inspiration from multiple sources.
How do you keep up with the latest design trends and incorporate them into your work with Canva?
I try to keep ideas and inspiration wherever I go and I mainly look OUTSIDE of Canva for inspiration. But these are the main places I find inspiration:
- The outside world – I am constantly taking photos of art, elements, nature – anything I see around me. It could be a font or a type of layout or a color combination (even in nature or on a mural) that inspires me. Taking photos gives me a starting point later on. I can start with a color or a style or an image.
- Websites like Designspiration or Muzli are two great websites for design trends that I check on my browser daily. They also come in a chrome extension so I can set them up to show me inspiration every time I open a tab! (Warning: this can also be a distraction if I am working on non-design projects but that’s the fun of it!).
- Pinterest is a great source of inspiration – not only scrolling the site or taking advantage of Pinterest’s amazing search functionality. But Pinterest also has great ideas on their Pinterest for Business portal, as well as annually releasing “”Pinterest Predicts”” (which is their predictions for the year ahead, and are usually topics and themes I have not yet discovered).
- Everyday Humour! I create a lot of fun (and I hope funny!) content and I get inspiration from everyday observational humour, memes, GIFs… wherever I can get it. I’m constantly laughing at life and myself so creating funny content with Canva and for the Canva library is my version of stand up comedy without having to stand up and actually do the speaking!
- Another place I get daily inspiration is from within Canva’s elements library (images, video, graphics, audio and video) so I am always saving these to folders and my “starred” favorites tab. One element can be the sole beginning of a template so I love designing this way.
Basically when you are a template designer, everything is inspiration. My family always laughs at me stopping to capture something on my phone as they know what I am up to!
What do you consider to be your strengths as a Canva Creator, and how do you leverage those strengths in your work?
One of my strengths in creating templates is that I always put the user first. For me, if I can’t think of a use-case for the template I’m creating (and I can’t be sure they will find it easy to edit and use in Canva), I won’t submit it to the Canva library.
I rarely design just for trends but will incorporate design trends into my templates if I feel that users will love them and it fits the purpose of the template.
I was recently promoted to the level of Super Creator (which sounds like some sort of Marvel-esque prize) and while I was proud to be recognised for my design skills, I was most proud of the fact that you have to have good “usability” of your templates to be a Super Creator.
This means that my templates are used, downloaded, exported by users. I’ve just reached the milestone of having my templates exported over 10,000,000 times which blows my mind.
Perhaps one of the most exciting parts of that is seeing my templates out in “the wild”. From social media posts to restaurants and even ads or on videos. It’s fun to see them being used!
What are your favourite types of templates to design for Canva?
I create a lot of fun, interactive templates that are colorful and engaging. I tend to specialise in creating infographics and video templates but I create everything from videos to social media images to infographics, posters and banners…. even T-Shirts.
I like to try new document types and see what resonates with users. They always surprise me and I’m truly grateful when they use my designs.
