Graphic Design – Page 2 – IFTS, Inc. Blog

Cupid’s Key to Crafting Valentine’s Day Cards for Your Customers and Clients Using Canva

Valentine’s Day is a special occasion that businesses can leverage to connect with their clients or customers on a personal level. Sending a heartfelt Valentine’s Day card not only shows appreciation for their patronage, but it can also help forge stronger relationships and foster a sense of community. In this guide, you’ll learn how to use Canva, a user-friendly graphic design tool, to create a creative and professional Valentine’s Day card that will leave a lasting impression on your clients or customers.

Choose a Template or Start from Scratch

Canva offers a wide range of Valentine’s Day card templates that can save you time and effort. To access these templates, simply visit Canva’s website and search for “Valentine’s Day card” or a related keyword. Browse through the available templates and select one that best suits your company’s branding and the message you want to convey. If you prefer to start from scratch, click on the “Create a design” button and choose a custom size for your card. A popular choice for Valentine’s Day cards is a 5×7-inch (horizontal or vertical) format, but you can also opt for a standard 4×6-inch card size.

Add your Brand’s Style

Once you’ve chosen a template or started a new design, it’s time to customize it to reflect your company’s branding and the message you want to convey. Here are some tips to help you create a unique and eye-catching Valentine’s Day card:

Use your brand colors: Add your company’s colors to the card to make it instantly recognizable and reinforce your brand identity. You can do this by selecting the “Color” tool in Canva’s sidebar and choosing your brand’s primary and secondary colors.
Add your company’s logo: Incorporate your company’s logo to make the card more professional and memorable. You can upload your logo to Canva by clicking on the “Uploads” tab on the left-hand sidebar and selecting your logo file. Once uploaded, drag and drop it onto your card design.
Choose an appropriate font: Select a font that complements your brand and the message you want to convey. Canva offers a wide range of fonts, from classic and elegant to modern and playful. Experiment with different fonts and sizes to find the perfect combination for your card.
Add a personalized message: Write a heartfelt and personalized message that expresses your appreciation for your clients or customers. Keep the message concise and focused on the value they bring to your company. You can add text to your card by clicking on the “Text” tab on the left-hand sidebar and selecting a text box.

Customize with Team Photos and Selfies

To add a touch of camaraderie and a personal connection to your Valentine’s Day cards, consider incorporating team selfies into the design. This not only humanizes your brand but also showcases the people behind the business, fostering a sense of familiarity with your clients. To enhance the visual appeal of these selfies, utilize Canva’s background removal feature to eliminate any distractions. This ensures that the focus remains on the team members themselves. Take it a step further by injecting a dose of humor through the addition of fun photo backgrounds to use in your card. Canva’s extensive photo library provides a plethora of options, allowing you to customize the selfies with playful and lighthearted graphic “props” and backdrops. This creative touch not only brings a smile to your clients’ faces but also reinforces a positive and approachable image for your brand.

Add Some Sweet Stickers

Add Valentine’s Day-themed Elements To make your Valentine’s Day card more festive and engaging, consider adding themed elements such as hearts, flowers, or Cupid. Canva offers a vast library of Valentine’s Day-themed graphics and illustrations that you can use to enhance your card design. Here’s how to access and add these elements to your card:

Search for Valentine’s Day elements: On the left-hand sidebar, click on the “Elements” tab and type “Valentine’s Day” or a related keyword into the search bar. Browse through the available elements and select those that best suit your card design.
Customize the elements: Once you’ve added an element to your card, you can customize it by changing its color, size, and orientation. To do this, select the element and use the options in the top toolbar to make your desired changes.

Change out the Font For a Festive Feel

Typography can elevate the overall design of your Valentine’s Day card. Experiment with different fonts to find a combination that complements your message and aligns with your brand. Canva provides a variety of font options, including script, serif, and sans-serif styles. The possibilities are endless!

Signed, Sealed and Delivered

Take your Valentine’s Day card to the next level by adding a QR code that links to a personalized video message or a special offer. This interactive element adds a modern touch and engages your clients in a unique way. Canva allows you to generate QR codes and seamlessly integrate them into your design.

Once you’re satisfied with your Valentine’s Day card design, it’s time to bring it to life. Canva offers printing services, or you can download the design and print it locally. Consider factors such as paper quality and finish to ensure the final product meets your expectations.

Decide on the most effective way to distribute your Valentine’s Day cards to clients. If you have a physical office, hand-delivering cards adds a personal touch. Alternatively, mailing cards with a personalized note shows thoughtfulness and consideration. Canva also allows you to create digital versions that can be sent via email or shared on social media.

There You Have It!

Sending Valentine’s Day cards to your clients is a meaningful gesture that strengthens your professional relationships. With Canva’s user-friendly interface and versatile design features, you can easily create personalized and visually appealing cards that reflect your appreciation. Follow this comprehensive guide to craft memorable Valentine’s Day cards that leave a lasting impression on your clients and contribute to the growth of your business.

Need some help with your marketing strategy?

Give IFTS a call at 412-559-7177 or email us at si@iftsdesign.com

Santa’s Little Helpers Unleashed: Creating Cheerful Company Christmas Cards with Canva

‘Tis the season to be jolly, and what better way to sprinkle some holiday cheer into the workplace than by creating company Christmas cards that are not only festive but also pretty fun?

In this blog post, we’re diving into the whimsical world of Canva, sharing some little nuggets of inspiration and tips on how to craft the most memorable Christmas cards for your colleagues and clients.

Whether you’re aiming for a classic or a more modern approach, Canva’s wide range of templates and design tools will surely help you unleash your creativity and spread some laughter this holiday season. So grab a cup of hot cocoa, put on your Santa hat, and let’s get started on making the most unforgettable company Christmas cards yet!

Step 1: Rally the Team’s Christmas Spirit

Call upon your crew to unleash their inner holiday spirit! Whether they’re donning ugly sweaters, tinsel tiaras, or even elf ears, encourage them to embrace the festive madness and capture it all in a group photo.

But what If your team isn’t local, or maybe everyone is too busy to gather for a group photo, don’t worry! You can create a virtual group photo! Simply upload individual photos of your team members–we’ll show you in the next steps how to arrange and edit them in a festive layout to capture the spirit of togetherness, even from afar. This is a great way for busy teams to still feel connected and celebrate the holiday season together!

Step 2: Canva Wonderland

Enter the magical world of Canva, where the Christmas design possibilities are as vast as Santa’s toy workshop. Before we can get to the actual editing, you’ll need to choose a template, or background, that really —whether it’s a classic design or a more modern twist—and get ready to sprinkle some digital fairy dust. Consider your audience and your company’s style when selecting the backdrop for your creation.

Step 3: Elfie Upload Extravaganza

Now, it’s time to really showcase your team’s holiday spirit! Upload that group photo or the individual elfies—I mean, selfies—right into Canva and start arranging them like the cast of a Hallmark holiday rom-com. Canva’s drag-and-drop feature makes this as easy as sliding down a snow-covered hill.

But wait, how do we make the images really pop? Let’s get rid of the office background with Canva’s photo editing tools. Use the background remover and add some fun filters or overlays to give the images that extra touch of holiday magic. With Canva’s editing tools, you can transform your boring photos into a digital masterpiece that will make your card recipients really feel the holiday cheer!

Step 4: Jingle All the Way with Festive Elements

With Canva’s extensive collection of festive elements, you can take your holiday card to the next level. Whether it’s adding a touch of sparkle with twinkling lights or bringing in a line of some playful snowmen, the possibilities are endless. And of course, don’t forget to include Santa hats and elf ears for that extra dose of holiday cheer! Get ready to spread joy to all with your personalized masterpiece.

Simply select an element, drag and drop it onto your card, and resize or rotate it to fit your desired look. You can also customize the color, opacity, and position of each element to create a truly unique design. With Canva’s easy-to-use interface, you’ll have a blast experimenting with different combinations and creating a holiday card that stands out from the rest. So go ahead, have fun, and let your imagination run wild as you bring your holiday greetings to life!

Step 5: Jolly Jokes and Yuletidy Text

What’s a Christmas card without a dash of humor? Whether you’re aiming for a laugh-out-loud moment or a subtle chuckle, Canva’s text tools offer endless possibilities for adding humor to your holiday card. From playful fonts to creative text effects, you can easily transform your words into comedic masterpieces that will leave your recipients in stitches. So go ahead and craft a message that really sleighs—I mean, slays!

Not your style, or do you need something more professional? Canva’s text tools also offer a wide range of elegant and sophisticated fonts, allowing you to create a more professional and polished holiday card. You can find the perfect typography to convey your warm wishes in a classy and refined manner.

It really is a gingersnap to get your company’s holiday greeting cards customized quickly. So go ahead and let your creativity shine, whether it’s through humor or professionalism; Canva has got you covered!

Creating Video Marketing Content With Canva: Useful Strategies For Your Small Painting Business

Creating Video Content With Canva: Useful Strategies For Your Small Painting Business, PART 2

Let’s face it, in the world of small business marketing, standing out can be tough, but is critical. In our last blog, we gave you the tools to create professional-looking videos with Canva, without needing a Hollywood production team.

But hold on to your paintbrushes, because in this article, we’ll be unleashing your inner creativity to make those videos shine brighter than a fresh coat of paint!

Let's Get Creative

Canva also allows small businesses and house painters to add text, graphics, transitions, and music to make their marketing videos more engaging and effective. These features can add interest to the message and grab the viewer’s attention.

Here are some simple ways to make your videos stand out from the crowd!

Got Graphics?

Graphics and text are a great addition to your marketing video and help you create a moving story for your brand. Try not to get too carried away with adding these elements to your video, though. You can always add more later! Start simple by doing the following:

Select the “Elements” tab from the toolbar on the left-hand side of the editing screen.
Choose the graphic or icon you want to add to your video and drag it onto the timeline.
Resize and adjust the graphic as necessary and position it where you want it to appear by dragging the corners of the purple box that appears when you select a graphic.
Click on the graphic to also customize the color, size, position, rotation, or transparency of it.
Repeat the process to add more graphics to your video as required.
The same steps can be applied for adding custom text by selecting the “Text” tab located on the same toolbar as the “Elements” tab.

Add Animation!

Animating graphics in Canva can add a lot of interest and movement to your marketing video. Animations can make your video look better and help you tell the story in a more exciting way. Here’s how to animate graphics in Canva:

Select the graphic that you want to animate by clicking on it in the editing screen.
Click on the “Animate” button located in the upper left corner of the editing screen.
Choose the animation style that you want to apply to the graphic, and adjust the animation settings as necessary. Canva provides a range of animation effects, such as fade-in, slide-in, and bounce.
Adjust the timing and duration of the animation by clicking on the “Animation length” button and setting the length of time you want the animation to last.
Preview your animated graphic by clicking on the “Play” button located in the bottom left corner of the editing screen.

*Pro tip* – Like graphics and text elements, animations should be used sparingly to avoid overwhelming the viewer with too many moving elements.

Timing is Everything

Timing is a critical aspect of video editing, and it’s no different when adding graphic elements to your marketing video in Canva. If the timing of your graphic elements is off, it can take away from its effectiveness and impact on your viewer. Therefore, it’s important to know how to change the timing of these elements in Canva.

You will need to navigate to the timeline tab located at the bottom of the editing screen. This is where all of the elements you have added to your video are displayed in order of appearance.
Once you have located the graphic element you want to adjust the timing for, simply click on it to select it. You will notice a tab with three dots appears above, and when you click on those dots, a new menu pops up with several icons, including a timer.
Choose the timer icon to show its timing, which is now displayed as a purple bar with a thumbnail of the graphic just above your video timeline at the bottom of the editing screen.
To adjust the timing of the graphic element, simply click and drag it to the left or right along the timeline.

*Pro tip* – keep in mind that the timing of your graphic elements should be in harmony with the overall rhythm and pacing of your video. You can experiment with different durations and timings to see what works best for your video.

Smooth Transitions

When you have more than one video clip in your video timeline, you can choose to transition between those clips in fun and unique ways such as fades, slides, pops and more! Transitions can help create a smooth or more interesting flow between the sections of your video. Here’s how to add them:

With your cursor, hover over the space between two clipped sections of your video. A plus icon will appear, as well as the transition icon.
Select the transition icon and a menu will appear with different types of transitions you can apply to your video.
Choose the desired transition style and it will appear on your video’s timeline between the two video clips.
While in the transitions menu, you can adjust the duration by dragging the slider bar that appears below your selection.
Repeat the process to add as many transitions as you’d like.

*Pro tip* – To add the same transition between each video clip, click on the “apply between all pages” button at the bottom of the menu to save time.

Music to My Ears

And last but not least, don’t forget about the audio. Your visuals might be on point, but bad audio can kill a video faster than you can say “soundcheck.” Make sure your audio is crystal clear and be sure to add music to your video to make it more engaging and emotional. Canva has a library of music you can use or you can upload your own. Just make sure you have the right to use it. Here’s how to adjust the volume of your video’s audio and add music:

Select the “Music” button from the toolbar on the left-hand side of the editing screen.
Choose the desired music track from Canva’s library or upload your own track.
Select the music track and a new audio timeline bar will appear below your video’s timeline.
When you click on the audio timeline bar an audio effects menu will show at the top of the video editing screen. Adjust the volume of the music by clicking the audio icon and dragging the slider in the volume tab.
Trim the audio clip as necessary by dragging its edges.

*Pro tip* – If the track you’ve added to your video is too short, simply click the ending point of the track in your video and add it again. You may need to adjust where the music tracks overlap so they are in sync.

Get Ready to Roll!

Once you’re done adding effects and editing the visuals, it’s time to review your work and make sure that everything looks perfect and is ready for export. To do this, you can use Canva’s play button located near the top left corner of the page to preview how your entire video flows together.

Made a mistake? No problem!

The undo button is also located near the top left corner of the page, or with Canva Pro, you can revert to a previous version of the video and go from there.

Once you’ve finished editing your video, it’s time to export it so you can use it for marketing purposes. Simply click on the “Export” button and choose your desired video format and resolution.

Canva offers a range of options, including MP4, GIF, and MOV. You can also choose the quality and resolution of your video.

*Pro tip* – Keep in mind, many social media platforms only allow videos of a certain length to be posted, so be sure to adjust accordingly.

This is the Way

Don’t be afraid to experiment with different types of videos to see what resonates with your audience. Try creating how-to videos, product demos, behind-the-scenes videos, or customer testimonial videos to see what works best for your business.

By using videos to showcase your products and services, share your expertise, and promote your events, you can increase engagement and reach a wider audience.

Now you’re ready to share your videos on social media, embed them on your website, use them in your email marketing campaigns, and start getting the most out of your video content!

With these tips and strategies, you’ll be able to create professional-looking marketing videos that promote your small business or house painting services that attract new customers and blow your competition away!

Remember, making videos should be fun and creative, so don’t be afraid to experiment and try new things. Happy video-making!

Need more help? Contact our social media experts at IFTS, and we will get the job done for you! Give us a call today at 412-715-6266, and we’ll get you started on creating videos that will take your business to the next level.