​Australian startup Canva raises $6 million

Australian online design platform startup Canva has raised $6 million (AU$7.67 million) in additional funding led by Silicon Valley's Matrix Partners and Shasta Ventures, along with local VC players Blackbird Ventures and AirTree Ventures.

The latest capital injection pushes the Sydney-based company's total fundraising tally well over $12 million, adding to its $3.6 million funding round completed in July last year, and its initial $3 million seed funding round in early 2013.

The company, which operates a platform that combines a host of editing and online collaboration tools with over 1 million images and hundreds of free design elements, plans to pump the new funding into the impending rollout of its new "Canva for Work" product, due for launch in June.

According to a Canva representative, the additional investment will be used to bulk up the company's Sydney-based engineering team in order to build the new product, and will also be funnelled into marketing and promoting Canva for Work.

The new offering is a subscription-based product intended to see the company broaden its customer base to include larger organisations. As an additional product, it departs from the company's existing model, which lets people use the platform for free and purchase images for $1 apiece.

"Ever since we launched, we've been flooded with interest from a broad spectrum of companies, from large multinationals and franchises to design agencies, startups, and even real estate agents who want to ensure consistent branding across their marketing materials and documents," said Canva co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins.

Over the past 20 months, Canva has grown its user base to 2.4 million, collectively creating more than 15 million designs, with over 200,000 organisations represented on its platform.

"Canva is one of those very rare companies that experiences rapid growth as a utility tool," said Matrix Partners' Josh Hannah. "It's phenomenal to see the fan base behind Canva and the immense potential of their new product."

In April 2014, Canva took on Apple's former chief evangelist Guy Kawasaki to help build its brand internationally.

"It's so WYSIWYG; there's no programming, it's just a beautiful, beautiful thing. So I came out of semi-autonomous retirement, and now I'm a full-time employee of Canva. Canva is my life right now," he said in July last year.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/australian-startup-canva-raises-6-million/

Inside the Creative Process of 4 Visual Content Creators

Creativity is an independent thing. It answers to no one and can’t be coerced into submission.

Despite its elusive façade, creativity likes structure. You can’t always wait around for creativity to stop by, so take a disciplined approach to solving creative problems.

Creativity is personal; everyone has his or her own use and interpretation. Once you find out exactly what creativity means to you, develop a creative process for your needs and working style.

Learn from the creative habits and advice of these four visual content creators to manage the right side of your brain:

Sarah Ellie Mosser, @elliemosser

Studio Artist, Allen & Gerritsen

Sarah grew up aspiring to be an artist, but quickly fell in love with advertising in college. She honed her software skills and earned an MFA in Graphic Design. Out of school, Sarah started as a designer at an in-house agency, later joining Allen & Gerritsen as a freelance illustrator that turned into a studio position. Aside from her studio responsibilities, she also has regular opportunities to act as an art director. Take a look at her latest projects and Behance site.

Angela May Chen, @thegreatidea

Graphic Designer, Teak

Angela is currently a graphic designer at Teak, a branding studio in San Francisco. Previously, she was an in-house communications designer at Chronicle Books. Angela began her career working in account management, but quickly realized she needed to do something more creative. She was advised to go to art school to make the switch, but instead she kept doing side projects to learn design programs and found internships that helped build her portfolio.

Christina Goodwin, @ArtistAurora

Lead Experience Designer, DigitasLBi

Christina recently began working at DigitasLBi as a Lead Experience Designer, a role that is quickly becoming her dream job. In this position, she provides UX consultation on a variety of projects and clients. Previously, Christina was a UX designer at Pearson Education for over six years. She started her design career taking on various freelance gigs for a variety of content formats, including Flash ads and print designs. Check out her painting and design work for a sense of her aesthetic.

Chris Greene, @seeinggreene

Video Producer, MathWorks

Chris specializes in video and motion graphics. He currently makes videos for the Web as a producer on MathWorks’s in-house creative team. With previous agency and freelance experience, he has been a food photographer, logo designer, interviewer, copy editor, email marketer, talent wrangler, pool shark, and soccer mom.

Question: When you embark on a new project, what does your creative process look like? What tools or tactics do you use?

Sarah: “Before I begin any research on a new project, I jot down my first, most candid ideas. I often begin with the obvious solutions, since, at this stage, no idea is a bad idea. Once I get those out of the way, I can start to think more creatively. Since I’m a visual person, these often manifest as sketches. Next I’ll research what has already been done in the category so I don’t copy something (my biggest fear!). This process often inspires new ideas and by then I’m usually in a good place.”

Angela: “I usually write down my main idea and keywords that I need to keep in mind for the project. Then, I look up visuals related to a direction I’m working toward and turn them into a mood board. I find it helpful to just do a real test if time and budget permits. For example, there was an ad idea to use a baseball to make a plate of food. I had to physically try this to see if it would work because there wasn’t a source of imagery to look up. I had to adopt the mind-set of a little kid playing kitchen and see how far I could push my imagination in making food out of deconstructed baseball material.”

Christina: “Often times, I get an idea for what the experience could be just by hearing the project name or reading a short description. Even though I know I should read all the requirements and review all the documentation, I usually start sketching and wire-framing my ideas before reading anything. It’s important to get in touch with what I envision for the product first, and keep something that’s 100 percent me in the back of my mind that I can always refer back to if the project gets either pared down or goes through multiple rounds of revisions.

If I feel blocked or jaded after a project has evolved in a direction I’m not crazy about, I come back to those ‘100 percent me’ sketches. Seeing the original germ of inspiration documented fresh reminds of why I do what I do, to keep me from losing sight of who I am as a designer.

With Adobe Fireworks soon being retired, I’ve been learning a lot of new tools lately, primarily using Sketch with InVision. I use Pinterest to gather references, and I use Feedly to stay up with industry news.”

Chris: “I take a question-based approach to my work, starting with the big questions and gradually getting more granular from there. Sometimes, if a brand isn’t well-established, there are some very ‘big picture’ questions that need to be asked. And for brands that already have a strong identity, it can be a good exercise to revisit these kinds of questions—even if the answers seem obvious—to help guide the discussion of the smaller questions and decisions at the project level. If you find that you can’t answer some simple questions like ‘Why do this?’ or ‘Who cares?’ you know you still have work to do in the planning phase of a project.”

Q: Where do you seek (and find) inspiration?

Sarah: “My favorite source of inspiration is Communication Arts. The underlying concepts in there are so fresh that sometimes a package design will inspire a video animation. If it’s a logo design project, then I also love poring through the website, Logopond.com.”

Angela: “Inspiration is so much easier to find with social media now. Pinterest, Behance, Dribbble, and Instagram are some of my favorite places to search. Specific types of work are so readily accessible; you can find packaging design, illustration styles, color palettes, etc. I also think it’s important to take breaks for unrelated activities—inspiration comes from keeping many different parts of your brain active.”

Christina: “I actually find a lot of inspiration in things non-UX related, such as industrial design, interior design, fashion, and architecture. Maya Lin is one of my favorite artists for her efficiency and grace. I enjoy minimalist art for its peacefulness and subtlety. I majored in painting at Boston University, so I often go back to art and art history; going back to my roots reminds me why I chose a creative field.

Architecture is a good one. There’s a certain ingenuity in great architecture and how it transcends the page on which it started, much like UX and Web development. We’re crafting an entity from our ideas that must house productivity and industry. It must keep businesses ‘safe.’ Good UX, just like a well-designed building or home, must be organized and sustainable. The difference being great architecture isn’t redone every year or two; it must last many decades, possibly centuries.”

Chris: “I think inspiration can be somewhat tricky. Since you never know where you might find it, it can sometimes feel fruitless to search. My philosophy is that it’s best to always keep your eyes open, because inspiration can come from mundane places. I also try to keep an eye out for people in my industry who seem to be doing things that are slightly against the grain or who don’t follow the ‘rules’ of content creation.”

Q: How do you push through a creative block?

Sarah: “I stop working, get up, and do something else. When I can’t think of an idea I tend to get frustrated and impatient. Going for a run, petting my cats, or flipping though an interior design magazine usually does the trick. I just have to distract myself from the frustration to get in a mind-set conducive to creativity again.”

Angela: “Play! Try something completely different. Make ridiculous things. Go for the most outrageous execution you can think of. Sometimes you have to see what doesn’t work before you know what does.

Often, I find myself stuck trying to refine an established idea. I’ve learned that sometimes you have to kill your idea—despite the effort you put into it—and just start fresh again.”

Christina: “Also here, I like to do something totally different, like taking a look at different kinds of design—any art form that’s not UX. I love the challenge of cooking healthy, delicious meals, so I go to the grocery store, admire all the colors, designs, and fresh foods. I like to think of something new to cook, some new ingredient I’ve never used. If I don’t have much time while at work, at the very least I like to take a walk and get some fresh air. Not only does getting away from the screen help your eyes, but also the experience of having more space around you and not being so claustrophobic, surrounded by walls and devices, is helpful for resetting and clearing one’s mind.”

Chris: “Forcing through a creative block does not work for me. I try to step away and find ways to refresh my eyes and my mind: chat up some coworkers, go for a walk, anything to avoid being in front of the screen for a little while. Putting things away and coming back fresh always seems to work.”

Q. What advice do you have for fellow creatives looking for a personal creative process that works?

Sarah: “Think back to a project you were under the gun with a deadline for. Without the luxury of time, you probably streamlined your creative process and took only the steps that would help you create something quickly. There probably wasn’t an extensive exploration stage or any mindless browsing. In my experience, it was this first half of my process that was essentially procrastination. My advice is to give yourself time constraints. You might be surprised by how much more productive you are.”

Angela: “Keep making stuff. Push yourself to create a ton of work. Enjoy what you make along the way, even if what you make sucks. Know that you are learning as you go. There isn’t one foolproof process that will always work, so it’s important to remember certain methods that worked in certain situations. A group of designers and I actually started doing exercises from the Conditional Design Workbook that focuses on processes rather than final products. We’ve recorded some of our work on this Process Plus blog. I think it’s a good way to approach creative work and free your mind to think more playfully.”

Christina: “Don’t deny who you are, and be honest with yourself about what inspires you. What’s scary is the thought that it might turn out to be knitting, or boxing, or aerobics, or math—something we don’t expect. Creatives are extremely lucky, as we can be honest about what gets creativity flowing and can usually incorporate those habits into our jobs.

Virtually all of us have to maintain a full-time job to live. We can’t all just up and quit. Therefore, we have to incorporate the little things that make us happy into our jobs in order to truly be fulfilled. In other words, when you’re blocked, or need to get in touch with whatyou would do on a project, take a break and knit, box, do some lunges, or crack open an old math book.

Don’t separate your creative work from life. This is an unpopular idea, as we all strive for a healthy work/life balance. But what I mean is, don’t fight the fact that you have to have a job. Don’t just live for the weekend or evenings when you can do ‘what you really want to do.’ We are lucky as creatives that we can blend the creative non-work habits that make us happy into our work projects that make us money.”

Chris: “My advice for fellow creatives is to understand that while it’s great to learn from others, it’s important to learn from yourself, too. Know what works best for your own creativity, and don’t create unrealistic expectations for yourself just because you heard that there’s a so-called ‘right’ way to do things. Feel free to experiment with crazy methods if they fit your personality and lifestyle.”

http://www.skyword.com/contentstandard/art-of-storytelling/inside-the-creative-process-of-4-visual-content-creators/

4 ways to create effective visuals for social media

Marketers keep talking about the need for original content that is able to create authentic and engaging experiences for consumers. Consumers want to connect with brands that provide engaging, useful and quality content. It has been shown by several studies, tests and the growth of visual content platforms like Pinterest, Instagram, etc. that visuals are key in creating unique experiences.

OpenView Marketing Labs reported that company Facebook pages posting status updates with visuals in the form of videos and photos create up to 180 per cent stronger engagement. Visual content can ensure that readers spent more time on site which increases their changes of conversion. However, with increasing opportunities, the time a marketer has remains constant. We can’t add an hour to a day, but we can surely add a range of methods and tools that can make your day more efficient!

1. Use online tools: Plenty of digital tools are available currently to help designers, web developers and marketers to bank on. Some of my favourite ones include:

• For infographics: Piktochart, Visual.ly
• For visual design on social media: Canva, Pagemodo
• For visual editing: Photoshop, PicMonkey
• For images: Getty, Flickr, Unsplash, You own camera

2. Curate data and information: Many large and small companies are full of data that is somehow never used. It moves between one department to another almost every time falling through the cracks. As much as 60 per cent content in SAP was “unused” as per an ex SAP VP of Content. Data numbers from a proprietary database or company presentations and spreadsheets can be  visually represented in the form of infographics, photo stories, videos, and other visual content.

3. Customise your visuals: It is important to use visuals according to the networks that you’re posting on. From Google+ to Twitter to Facebook, all these networks have cover images, post images, profile images all differing in ideal size dimensions. It is important to adhere to these unless you want to lose brand impact by cropped images that look unprofessional. Tools like Canva or guides such as these offer guidelines and help. All visual content of course has to be in line with your brand tonality and presence. And before you start off on an image posting spree on all networks, ensure you are monitoring and approving posts that are relevant to your brand. Using tools is helpful in this case.

One option is, for instance, using approval tools like Outbox Pro allowing you to keep track of how you share by giving you an approval mechanism so you can customise per network. LinkedIn has recently announced a new tool Elevate, but will only be available by invite at the end of this year and is sadly limited just to LinkedIn content initially.

4. Don’t steal: Stealing means using images from “Google search” or any other means you used to find the images without giving credits to the original creator. Many on the Internet operate using the creative commons license but still require you to give them an attribution (name, source, link) back if you use their images. I recently found a classic conversation between the original creator and the person using the image without the credits on LinkedIn. The conversation spanned over several Tweets and people on Twitter basically portrayed the user as a plagiarist.

As a brand, it is a serious issue and you can be left with legal cases and a severe brand damage and embarrassment if you do not adhere to simple principles. As a brand manager, if you’re not sure what your team is up to, ensure you avoid embarrassment by having a training and approval system in place.

And lastly, have fun with the content!

http://e27.co/4-ways-to-create-effective-visuals-for-social-media-20150424/

The 10 New Rules Of Visual Content Marketing

When it comes to visual content, your customers expect something very different compared to just a few years ago. It is now supercharged by mobiles and visual social media networks.

It used to be OK to have a static website gallery, post text to your social channels, and use corporate photos and videos online. Now, readers depend on visuals to figure out whether your content is worth their time.

Expectations of consumers have changed too. They no longer have time to click through to an image or link to see what your content is about. They make split-second decisions based on the visual content provided.

So whether your content is being consumed within social channels or on your website, visual content remains a powerful tool – but only if done correctly.

Recommended for YouWebcast: The Art of Community Development: Turning Brand Awareness Into Sales

In short, the rules of visual content have changed.

Why should you use visual content?

Just take a quick look at these 3 snack size facts about the visually wired human. In a visual content format :)

Source: Visual Website Optimizer blog

Below are 10 new rules of visual content marketing. Break them and you risk losing your customers.

1. The law of the recent

When we go online, most of the content we consume is from today, or at best yesterday.

Content from last week is practically unreachable unless you’re looking for something specific. And content from last year has become history so ancient, it might as well be obsolete.

Skeptical? Test it.

Go to your favourite social network. Open it up and take a look at your home feed. Can you find a post from last week in the first 25 updates?

Notice something else? The only way you can tell how recent a post is, is by the time stamp on them. Posts from today will either have the time they were published visible or tell you how long ago the post was made. E.g. an hour ago, five hours ago, yesterday.

In order for your content to be relevant, it has to be recent. The best way to do that is by time stamping your content or featuring topical events.

Honda has created a social hub on their website where they curate and display recent customer content.

2. The law of authenticity

People are more likely to trust a referral from a friend or relative than a company.

In fact, research has shown Millennials are even more likely to trust a complete stranger than a company. It’s why user-generated content is considered far more compelling than any content a brand produces.

Photos and videos from your customers tell the real story of your brand and are far more effective.

NZone is an extreme sport (skydiving) company. Customers who share personal pictures of their experience increase authenticity and can instil trust for anyone considering making a purchase.

3. The law of credibility

The law of credibility states that your customers must be willing to stand by your brand by publicly aligning themselves with it.

In layman terms, if your customers are posting images and sharing their experiences, they should be linking back to you or tagging you in their social media updates.

Think about it. What would you trust more? An image or video shared by a company showing how happy and satisfied their clients are? Or the same thing shared by one of their customers?

Dole is an international brand which markets and distributes fruit including pineapples, bananas and paw paws. They often get their customers to share content from events or at home consuming the product.

4. The law of relevance

Visual content needs to be presented in context. It has to be relevant, informative and well organized.

So if you’re selling a product online, you need to provide corresponding visual content for it. Make sure you place relevant content in the right place.

For example if you are selling particular line of clothing not only do you need to place photos of that on the right web pages, you also need to place the correct user-generated photos on the right webpage, which in this case may involve your customers with those clothes in a real life situation.

Superette is an on-line retailer. They take care of this law by linking customer photos to their products.

5. The law of the caption

A picture may be worth a thousand words but a caption or headline can often bring it further to life.

There’s no denying that we process visual content faster than text-based content. But a simple caption is often required to tell a visual story more effectively.

A caption also helps you communicate your brand’s identity. For example if your brand focuses on making things easy and fun for your customers, then the caption can be humorous.

The Press, a daily newspaper, ran a photo competition and asked their readers to submit their best backyard cricket photos for a World Cup promotion. One user submitted the image below with a caption that made a photo infinitely more interesting.

Source: The Press reader

6. The law of social

Your customers expect to be able to interact with your visual content – whether it’s on your social channels or on your website.

Make it easy for them by providing them opportunities to comment on your content, share them easily on their preferred social networks, and even email the content to their friends if they want to.

The law of social doesn’t end here though. Your customers also expect you to acknowledge their efforts. If they’ve left a comment, reply to it. If they’ve shared on social media, thank them for it. Find a way to make it worth their while and they’ll continue giving your visual content the same attention.

Interislander – a ferry service ran a photo contest that asked their customers to share their favourite Interislander memory on their website or Instagram and tag them.

Needless to say, the competition was a huge hit!

7. The law of personality

For too long brands have been bland and boring. Think stock photos.

Thankfully, the recent developments in visual content make it easy to bring a brand to life.

The right visuals, including photos, videos, infographics, and e-books can add depth to your brand story and reinforce your culture.

One of the easiest ways to do so is to give your customers a “behind the scenes” look. Show them what goes into making or marketing your brand, post pictures from office events, maybe even how you brainstorm.

The more your customers know about the culture of your company, the more your brand’s personality will shine through.

The Queensland Opera does this brilliantly. From pictures of their costume designs, rehearsals, and makeup – they keep their fans and followers engaged.

8. The law of consistency

Apart from engaging customers, the role of visual content is to reinforce your brand. For that to happen, your content needs to have consistency.

This isn’t strictly a new law, but it’s worth reinforcing. We’re not referring to publishing visual content consistently. It’s more about elements in your visuals that tell your target market that the visual is from your company – even if you’re not linked or tagged in it.

You can do this by using the same:

• Fonts and colours as your website
• Images in your company’s social media accounts and profile page headers
• Design element like a background, banner, or logo.

Customers should be able to recognize the content is from your brand at a glance.

All Blacks, New Zealand’s national rugby team, have their photos naturally branded. Whether their visuals are from their own team or from fans, they all include the All Blacks in one form or another.

9. The law of resilience

Content never sleeps and neither does your online presence.

Visual content is not a campaign that ends in a few days or weeks. It’s not a one-off thing. It’s an on-going strategy.

Make creating, publishing, and maintaining visual content a key part of your marketing strategy.

Jucy, one of tourism’s top content marketers, has created an on-going visual content, much of which is from their customers.

10. The law of quality

With cell phone cameras getting better and better by the day, customers have learned to take great photos and videos themselves.

And with the numerous filters available through Instagram and others, it’s possible to source high quality content from your customers

The good news is, you can use that content and combine it with your own in-house efforts to help with your marketing activities.

Dilmah, a renowned tea company, encourages its tea drinkers to share their best photos with them for a chance to win awesome prizes like a 10-day trip to New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

A photo submitted by one of Dilmah fans.

Source: Dilmah Tea in the City Photo Competition

Visual content – a vital part of your content marketing strategy.

There’s no denying it. Visual content is a vital part of any marketing strategy.

The days of the old website photo gallery are far behind us. When done right, visual content can drive traffic to your site, increase page views, lower bounce rate, and convert website traffic into sales.

Use these new laws of visual content to up your marketing game and grow your business. Ignore them and you risk becoming obsolete.

http://www.business2community.com/content-marketing/10-new-rules-visual-content-marketing-01188589

Sticking With It: 5 Tips For Keeping The Blogging Momentum

Starting a new business blog or maintaining an existing one isn’t easy. In order to have a successful blog, you need to blog consistently for a long period of time. Between holidays, vacations, illness, or other personal issues that require your time, it’s easy to put off writing blogs to deal with everything else life throws your way.

Even I’m guilty of not updating my blog as much as I should. Recently, I thought to myself, “How can I do a better job at not getting behind on my blogs?” I started thinking about how I handle blogs for my clients, and I realized that a lot of the same rules apply. Blogging can be difficult, but it doesn’t have to be. If you find yourself having a hard time keeping up with blogging, you’re not alone. Here are five tips for maintaining the momentum with your blog:

Have brainstorming sessions for topics

One of the biggest roadblocks I’ve encountered with blogging is coming up with topics. It doesn’t just happen when I’m writing blogs for my clients; it’s also a problem I run into when I write for my personal blog. Not having topics and ideas ready makes it really difficult to keep up the momentum with blogging.

I’ve found that one of the best ways to come up with topics is to have brainstorming sessions. Meet with friends, coworkers, employees, or anyone else that’s familiar with your business and what you do. Having a list of blog topics ready makes it really easy to write a blog. Once you have some free time, all you have to do is go to your list, pick a topic and then you can start writing. Use apps such as Trello , Evernote, or Google Docs to help you keep track of all of your blog topics, and make sure to delete a topic once it’s been used. How often you have brainstorming sessions is up to you. I’ve found that a one to two hour session once a month is enough for me to brainstorm all of my topics for the month.

Set aside time in your schedule to blog

It’s essential that you set a blogging schedule for yourself early on. Even though you may have the best intentions when it comes to writing, life gets in the way. Make blogging a consistent part of your weekly routine. Set aside time in your calendar that you’ll dedicate to blogging, and treat this time like you’d treat any other important meeting or deadline. This isn’t always easy to do at first, especially because you can probably think of a million other things you need to do that are more important. Just remember: Your blog is important too.

Use different types of content

Your blog posts don’t just have to be paragraphs of text. If you’re having trouble writing blogs, try other types of content including infographics, photos, videos and presentations. Sometimes, pictures and videos are easier to consume than text, and you may even find that these posts attract more attention. However, if you do choose to use visual content, make sure you give it some context. Start out the post by explaining what the visual content means and the importance behind it. And if you use someone else’s content, always make sure you provide attribution and link to the original source.

Don’t lose sight of the big picture

It’s easy to get frustrated when you start out blogging. Trust me, I get it. Never let short-term setbacks keep you from remembering why you started blogging in the first place. Whenever you get frustrated or want to give up because it’s not as easy as you thought, just remember what you’re hoping to accomplish through your company’s blog.

Have fun!

Blogging can seem daunting, especially if you’ve never done it before. But one of the best ways to help keep the blogging momentum going is to have fun with it. If you enjoy writing and posting blogs, you’ll have an easier time with keeping up with it. If you’re not having fun, step back and figure out why. Then, find ways to enjoy it more. Maybe that means writing at a local coffee shop instead of in the office or writing first thing Saturday morning instead of staying late on Friday. Whatever it is, find ways to make blog writing fun!

Building and maintaining an awesome blog takes time and effort, but it’s always worth it once you start seeing the results. Following the tips above will help you keep up the momentum with blogging for your business.

http://www.business2community.com/blogging/sticking-5-tips-keeping-blogging-momentum-01149380