Graphic design is one of those skills that people either have or really wish that they had. Being able to visualize eye-catching posters or create bold, powerful graphics does not come easily to everyone. The Canva App for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch, claims to allow you to "easily edit photos and create beautiful designs and professional graphics."
How it works:
Canva can be found in the app store, but there is also an online version that can be found here. Once it is downloaded, the app itself is fairly straightforward to use. Their designers provide a large range of pre-made templates that are available for you to customize. There are also over one million images to choose from when making designs (beware, some of these images may cost money). If you would like a detailed run-through of what Canva can do, check out the YouTube video below.
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My Experience:
Having little to no graphic design experience, I downloaded this app fully trusting their description that creating projects would be easy, even for someone with my graphic skills (or lack there-of). I chose a topic that is important to me (Fair Trade) and began the task of making an informational poster. At first, I was not overly optimistic, but after orienting myself to the app, I am impressed with how it turned out:
Not too bad for a first attempt! Without watching a tutorial first, I spent about three hours figuring out how to use the app and making this graphic. I've decided to give this app a 4 out of 5. Here's why:
Cons: |
Pros: |
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The Bottom Line:
For an app that only came out in October of 2014, I am very impressed with its functionality and performance, but some of the bugs and small performance issues kept me from giving this app a 5 out of 5. I will definitely be using this app for designs in the future, inside and outside of the classroom. Hopefully Canva continues to work on bug and stability fixes to address some of the "cons" listed above.
As a future teacher, Canva would be very helpful for making posters for your room, designing flyers for school events, or even spicing up a PowerPoint presentation. Students in middle or high school could also find this useful when making presentations or concept posters. Due to the complexity of the app, I would not recommend it to very young students; however, with the growing prevalence of technology, there is a chance that they could also benefit from this app with some guidance.
As a future teacher, Canva would be very helpful for making posters for your room, designing flyers for school events, or even spicing up a PowerPoint presentation. Students in middle or high school could also find this useful when making presentations or concept posters. Due to the complexity of the app, I would not recommend it to very young students; however, with the growing prevalence of technology, there is a chance that they could also benefit from this app with some guidance.
For additional help:
If you are interested in using Canva in your classroom but still have a few questions, here are some resources that should be able to help:
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@burtnessenglish 9/9/2016