Design with Canva
Posters, flyers and social media graphics: templates, layout, fonts, colour and pictures you are allowed to use.
⌨️ Start with your 10-minute typing warm-upBy the end, you will be able to:
- Plan a design by answering purpose, audience and action, and lay it out with a clear focal point, a three-level hierarchy (title, key information, details), alignment and white space.
- Turn a Canva template into their own design with their own text, a palette of 2–3 high-contrast colours and no more than two fonts.
- Choose pictures they are allowed to use (their own, Canva's free library, Creative Commons with a credit), never use someone's photo without permission, and download a design as PDF or PNG.
What you need
No computer at home? Print the PDF and practise on paper.
Follow these steps in order
Tick each step when you finish it. Your ticks are saved on this device, so you can stop and come back later.
Learn the ideas ⏱️ 35 min
Read pages 1–4 of the workbook and try every small task. Type your answers straight into the boxes: they save by themselves.
Explore the 3D lab ⏱️ 15 min
Play with the 3D model below. The 🎯 missions tell you exactly what to do next. When you finish every mission, this step ticks itself.
Do the Lab Mission ⏱️ 25 min
Page 5 is the hands-on task. Do it on a real computer, step by step. You need: internet and a Canva account (the Hub's learning account).
Check yourself ⏱️ 10 min
Answer the questions on page 6 without looking back, then check your answers below.
Finished? Check your answers
Sort the Hierarchy (Page 2): "Organised by JHS 2 Science Club…" = 3 (details). "SCIENCE FAIR" = 1 (title). "Friday 4 December • School Assembly Hall • 1 pm" = 2 (key information).
Allowed or Not? (Page 4):
- A free football photo from Canva's library: Allowed.
- A Black Stars photo copied from a news website: Not allowed (it belongs to the photographer or the news company).
- A CC BY photo of Kakum Park with the photographer's name: Allowed (the credit follows the licence rule).
- His cousin's WhatsApp status photo, without asking: Not allowed (no permission).
Lab table (Page 5): typical answers: poster A4 (21 × 29.7 cm), PDF Print, e.g.
TechClub_OpenDayPoster_AmaMensah; flyer A5 (Custom size 14.8 × 21 cm), PDF Print; social media graphic 1080 × 1080 px, PNG. Any clear names that follow the BIH standard are fine.True or False (Page 6)
- A good poster uses as many different fonts as possible: False (two at most).
- The title should be the biggest and boldest text: True.
- If a picture comes up on Google Images, anyone may use it for free: False.
- White space helps a design look clear: True.
- PDF Print for printing, PNG for a phone screen: True.
Written Review Questions
- Any three of: replace all the sample text, change the colours to my own palette, swap the picture for one I am allowed to use, change the fonts, delete parts I don't need, move or resize things to change the layout.
- Creative Commons is a licence: permission from the creator to use their work, with rules. Usually you must credit (name) the creator, and sometimes also not sell it (NC) or not change it (ND).
Rate yourself and save your work ⏱️ 5 min
Tick how confident you feel on the last page, then press 🖨 Print / Save as PDF in the workbook to keep a copy. On a shared computer, press Clear my answers when you have saved it.
🎨 Poster Studio
Design a poster on a 3D easel: pick a template, fix the layout, choose fonts and colours that work, and use only pictures you may reuse. Follow the 🎯 missions on the right: they tell you what to do next.
Stuck? Try this
Most problems are one missed word. Look for the Panic Button or Help box in the workbook.
Refresh the page. On a very old computer it may not show 3D. The workbook still has everything you need.
Answers save on the computer you typed them on. Open the workbook on that same computer and browser.
Ask your mentor, a teacher or a friend. Show them the step number you are on.