No, this is not a post on fashion for Mass or dressing for faith formation classes. I want to introduce you to a great way to make an impact in your marketing materials for the programs, classes, and events you promote. In this day of almost constant visual and auditory input, the same old thing won’t be noticed.
About a year ago I discovered Canva.com. Canva is an easy to use tool to create beautiful designs and documents. You sign up and have access to layouts and design elements for posters, Facebook posts, Twitter, blogs, postcards, and more. There are both free and for fee elements you can use, all clearly labeled. Since I have been using Canva I have never purchased anything I have used.
Let me show you some of the work I have created.
This is a postcard we handed out after Mass to generate interest in our first event. It also went in the bulletin. FYI, we had a great turnout!
This is an 11×14 poster I created for a bulletin board.
I used a photo from Morguefile.com and then added the text.
These are just a few examples. The possibilities are endless and the price is definitely right for ministry which often have to watch the bottom line. The finished product can be downloaded as a standard or for print PDF or as a JPEG or PNG image. Once you create your work, it is yours without copyright restrictions.
There are tutorials to learn how to use Canva, but I found it easy to use without instruction. You can also see other people’s work in the Design Stream or follow friends by putting in their email address or pulling gmail contacts. A blog gives you tips on everything from color to fonts. And of course, you can follow them on Pinterest.
Canva has recently come out with a new product, Canva for Work, which has various pricing plans. I plan to try it during the trial period and then decide if I’ll make the switch.
I cannot encourage you enough to try out this tool for yourself. If you are posting “out there” on the internet for your parish, keep in mind that more and more, posts everywhere benefit from a graphic to catch people’s attention. By creating visually appealing graphics we let those we are trying to reach that not only do we have an awesome message, we know how to present it.
Go try it, play around and create something lovely. Leave a link to where it is in the comment section; I’d love to see what you made! I hope you enjoy Canva as much as I do.
Copyright 2015, Deanna Bartalini
FYI: I may sound like a paid advertisement, but it’s not.