Canva’s Brand Kit comes with a set of default categories — Logos, Colours, Fonts, Brand Voice, Photos, Graphics, Icons, and Charts. Out of the box, that’s your structure. What’s changed as Canva’s Brand System has evolved is that you can now create your own custom sections and categories, so you can organize assets in a way that matches how you actually work rather than a structure you have to work around.
Understanding when custom categories are worth creating — and when they aren’t — will save you from building a Brand Kit that looks organized but slows you down.
What the Default Categories Actually Do
The default categories aren’t just labels. Each one has built-in behaviour tied to the type of asset it holds. Colours surface in the colour picker while you’re designing. Fonts appear automatically in the text tool. Logos show up in the Brand panel. Charts uses a dedicated colour palette linked to your brand colours.
These categories actively support how Canva works. Custom categories don’t have that built-in functionality — they’re flexible containers for reusable brand content that doesn’t fit neatly into the defaults but still belongs in the Brand Kit.
When Custom Categories Are Worth Creating
Custom categories tend to be worth adding when you have enough assets within a section that scanning for what you need starts taking effort. If your Brand Imagery contains a large and varied mix of photography, patterns, textures, and illustration sets, splitting those into separate categories makes the difference between a Brand Kit that’s easy to navigate and one that requires as much hunting as your uploads folder.
The test is whether the category will make a reusable brand asset easier to find while you’re designing — not whether it helps organize a campaign or a one-off project.
What Custom Categories Aren’t For
Custom categories — and Brand Kits generally — are designed for assets you return to repeatedly. One-off campaign content, seasonal graphics you won’t reuse, and anything tied to a single project are usually better managed through folders and projects elsewhere in Canva.
The exceptions are worth knowing. A recurring annual event with its own consistent visual identity, or a large one-off event where you’re creating enough content that a dedicated structure genuinely speeds up the work — both are reasonable candidates for their own Brand Kit and category structure.
Where to Start
Start with the default structure and add custom categories when the volume and variety of your reusable assets genuinely call for it. If you’re ready to build out your structure, these tutorials walk through the process:
- How to Create Custom Sections in the Canva Brand System
- How to Create Custom Categories in Your Canva Brand Kit
- How to Add Custom Cover Images to Your Canva Brand Kit
The goal is a Brand Kit you can move through quickly — not one that looks impressive when nobody’s using it.
