It’s becoming more and more common for entrepreneurs to create their own logos on Canva, a platform that makes it easier for non-designers to create digital assets for social media, websites, print, and more. While Canva proves to be effective when there is an immediate need for a logo or poster, building your entire brand on the platform could actually become your company’s downfall.

When it comes to branding, there’s a ton of encouragement for entrepreneurs to build their personal brands, and while this is important, there has to be a line drawn on how much business leaders will try to accomplish with design. Canva is an amazing platform for starting out businesses because it’s simple to create eye-catching posters and social media posts to advertise their business or newfound events. But, the reason it’s advised to stay away from using Canva to design your entire brand is because of it’s inability to portray consistency.

Every company must delve deep into creating a brand styling book. What fonts are going to represent your company? What colors will be associated with your design? How will you incorporate these elements into the logo? Think about how Apple, McDonalds, or any big name brand has a consistent image. You would be able to recognize elements associated with these brands like an iPhone or a kids meal from McDonald’s because each of these top organizations has invested lots of money and time in creating a consistent brand image. Canva loses sight of this. While the platform can crank out beautiful advertisements and posts, there isn’t consistency across the platform. How will consumers be able to recognize your brand if every element put out on your socials or websites look completely different?

Consistently presented brands are 3.5 times more likely to enjoy excellent brand visibility than those with an inconsistent brand presentation.

Canva is an extremely helpful and carefree platform that brands should take advantage of especially if they don’t have the money to hire a designer. However, when it comes to designing an overall brand identity and presence, it’s essential to make sure that these elements are portrayed consistently across channels. Consumers want to build relationships with brands, but they will not be able to do so if they cannot even recognize your brand. Consumers are more likely to build relationships with brands that they can recognize because they gain a sense of familiarity with the brand, which leads to trust. Design must be taken seriously if you want your company to be successful, and one of the most important tasks every brand should tackle is creating a brand style book, so from your brand’s inception, you will have a clear understanding of what your brand needs to consistently portray in every post, page, and logo.

So use Canva when you have to, but be advised against using it to build your entire brand on the platform. Hiring a designer or dedicating your own time to researching impactful fonts and colors to represent your brand is one of the first essential steps to creating a brand style book, which will help set out your brand from other companies in your space that might be using Canva themselves.