Session 27: Design with Canva
At a glance: pupils learn the design basics (purpose and audience, focal point, hierarchy, alignment, white space, two fonts, contrast), choose pictures they are allowed to use, and make a poster, a flyer and a social media graphic for one event in Canva, then download and print. · Time: 90 minutes (adjust the timings if your period is shorter) · Workbook pages: 6
Learning outcomes
By the end of the session, pupils can:
- 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.
Before the session
- Sign in to the Hub's Canva learning account(s) on every pupil PC, or prepare a login card per team. Use Canva for Education if the Hub or a partner school has it (it unlocks more templates and Resize). Never use pupils' personal accounts.
- Test canva.com on the projector PC and one pupil PC; Canva is heavy, so check the internet speed and close other tabs.
- Test the Poster Studio 3D lab on the projector PC and a pupil PC; keep the offline pack on USB.
- Bring 4–6 real posters or flyers from the community (good and bad) for the opening, or photograph some on a noticeboard (no people in the photos).
- Check the printer has paper and ink; decide how many prints you can afford (for example one per team).
- Write the four event choices on the board: Tech Club Open Day, community clean-up, reading club, football match.
Running order
| Time | Activity | Workbook | What the mentor does |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–10 min | Typing warm-up | – | Pupils open the typing trainer and do today's warm-up. Note anyone below their target speed. |
| 10–20 min | Good poster, bad poster | Page 1 | Hold up the real posters. "Which one would you read from across the road? Why?" Read the market stall analogy and Figure 27.0 together. |
| 20–32 min | Purpose, audience and the five rules | Page 2 | Walk through the five rules using the real posters. Pupils do "Sort the Hierarchy" in pairs. |
| 32–40 min | Fonts, colour, templates and the crown | Page 3 | Link to Session 23 contrast. Show the makeover checklist on a template, live on the projector. |
| 40–48 min | Pictures you may use | Page 4 | Explain copyright with the "phone on a trotro seat" line. Show the traffic light. Pupils do "Allowed or Not?" and you take a show of hands. |
| 48–53 min | Poster Studio warm-up | Page 5 | Demonstrate one easel fix on the projector, then pairs fix their own poster in the 3D lab. |
| 53–78 min | Lab Mission: poster, flyer, social media graphic | Page 5 | Pupils plan on paper, then build in Canva. Circulate with the makeover checklist. Download and print the team's best poster. |
| 78–84 min | Gallery walk | Page 5 | Posters on screen; each pupil gives stars for clearest title and best white space. Count stars into team points. |
| 84–88 min | Review | Page 6 | True or false by show of hands; pupils write the two answers. |
| 88–90 min | Self-assessment and sign-off | Page 6 | Sign off using the evidence below. Everyone signs out of Canva. |
Key ideas and how to explain them
- Design is a market stall for information: the best goods in front (focal point), neat rows (alignment), space between piles (white space), one clear sign (title). Ask, "Would Auntie Naa pile her phone on the tomatoes?"
- Hierarchy: three sizes. Title (biggest, 2–5 words), key information (what, when, where), details (smallest). A good test: from two metres away, you should still read the title and the date.
- Two fonts, 2–3 colours: one font for headings and one for the rest. Re-use the same colours. Contrast is the Session 23 law again: dark on light or light on dark.
- Templates are a starting point, not the finish: replace all sample text, change colours, swap the picture, delete what you don't need, move things so the layout is yours.
- Copyright: whoever made a picture owns it. Finding it on Google does not make it free. Creative Commons is permission with rules; "BY" means credit the creator. Canva's free library is fine to use inside Canva designs.
- People are not pictures: never use a person's photo without permission, and never post photos of pupils in school uniform (pupils meet the full reasons in Session 33).
- Team points: a point for each team whose designs pass the makeover checklist, stars from the gallery walk, and a helper point for pupils who help a neighbour find a Canva button.
The 3D lab
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.") is a short, safe warm-up before the real Canva work. The easel starts with Auntie Esi's heap poster from Page 1. On the projector, pick a template and demonstrate one fix (for example, swapping "White on yellow" for "White on plum" and reading the contrast check) and ask the class why it is better. Pairs then do the three missions:
- Pick a template, then fix the layout: title, key information and details at the right levels, and delete what you don't need. (CLEAN-UP DAY at Level 1, the date and place at Level 2, "Bring gloves…" at Level 3, and the SALE! sticker deleted.)
- Choose two fonts at most and colours with good contrast. (A plain font such as Open Sans for the key information and details, and a contrast of at least 4.5 : 1.)
- Use only a picture you may reuse, and credit it if it is Creative Commons. (Own photo or Canva's free library; the CC BY photo only with the credit line. The news photo, the cousin's WhatsApp photo and the Pro crown item turn the traffic light red.)
The side panel's makeover checklist is the Page 3 checklist, and the picture traffic light is the Page 4 figure, so pupils carry the same decisions into Canva. "Step back 2 metres" rehearses the printing check in step 7.
Common mistakes and quick fixes
| Pupils often… | Try this |
|---|---|
| Leave sample text ("Your Company", "Lorem ipsum") on the design | Read the design out loud from top to bottom; anything that isn't about your event must go. |
| Use five fonts and rainbow colours | "Pick your two fonts now." Show the colour palette in the template and ask them to re-use those colours. |
| Make the title small and the details big | Stand two metres back from the screen. "What can you read?" Then swap the sizes. |
| Copy a picture from Google Images | Back to the traffic light: search Canva's Photos or Elements instead, or take their own photo of a place or object. |
| Choose crown (Pro) items and get a watermark | Swap them for free items, or use the free filter in the side panel. |
| Can't find the downloaded file | Look in the Downloads folder; the file has the design name. Rename it with the BIH standard. |
| Text runs off the edge when printed | Keep text inside the margins; in Canva use File → Rulers and guides → Show margins (it may look slightly different). |
When things go wrong
- No internet: do the planning on paper, run the Poster Studio lab from the offline pack, and build the poster in Word, LibreOffice Writer or PowerPoint instead (the same design rules apply). Pupils redo it in Canva next time.
- Not enough PCs: pairs; one builds the poster, the other builds the social media graphic, then swap roles for the flyer. The person not at the mouse reads the makeover checklist aloud.
- A PC freezes or the power goes: Canva saves automatically; sign back in and open the design from the home page (Recent designs). With no power, pupils design the poster on A4 paper with a pencil, using the hierarchy and white space rules.
Answer key
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).
Support and stretch
- Needs more support: give them a template already chosen and only ask for the makeover checklist. Pair them with a confident reader for Page 4. Accept just the poster today; the flyer and graphic can wait.
- Finished early: make a matching WhatsApp Status (1080 × 1920 px) version, or design a simple club logo with shapes and one font. Ask them to explain their hierarchy to a pupil who is stuck.
Evidence for sign-off
The pupil shows a poster (and ideally the flyer and social media graphic) for one event that has their own text with a clear title, key information and details; no more than two fonts; good contrast; and only allowed pictures, credited where needed. They have downloaded at least one design as PDF or PNG with a sensible file name, and get at least 4 of the 5 true-or-false statements right.
Safety and wellbeing
Pupils use only the Hub's Canva learning account; never ask them to create a personal Canva account (Canva's own terms set age rules for children's accounts, and under-13 rules apply). All phone numbers and names on the designs must be fictional or the Hub's public details. If pupils photograph anything for their design, there must be no faces without permission, no school uniforms and no home locations. Do not post pupils' designs online without the Hub's and parents' agreement. Some pupils may feel their design is "ugly" next to others: praise one specific thing that works (the title size, the white space) before suggesting a change.