Last updated on June 6th, 2018

Let’s be honest; designing with fonts can be really overwhelming.

The number of fonts available are crazy and sometimes it’s hard to know how to lay them out in a way that’s eyecatching and capitvating. Afterall, text is like the cherry on top of your image. Your design is whats going to get people to stop, the headline is what’s going to get them to click. You can’t have one without the other.

As always, it’s easier to show than tell so check out my favorite super EASY techniques for making your text stand out.

Don’t forget to check out our other design lab replays for more awesome video tutorials 🙂

 

 

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Last updated on October 11th, 2021

Editing Templates in Canva can be a fantastic way to save a ton of time when it comes to designing your next project or even your social media designs.

But knowing how to best edit them can make all the difference. You should be able to take any template and customize it to your brand- however, it does take a bit of practice to navigate the design.

The best way to explain is just to show it. Watch the video below to learn how to best edit a template in Canva.

Resources discussed in the video:

• Templates in our resource library
• Free list building training 

 

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Last updated on May 27th, 2018

DIY Design lab 02: How to Create a Brand That Screams “YOU”

You want your brand to be everything you are. It needs to speak to you so much that you want to print it on a blanket and wrap yourself in it! Here’s how to create a brand and set up your brand board, step by step! Our design labs are held every Friday at 1pm EST live in our Facebook group. Make sure to join us and interact- I love answering your questions! PS. Go to the bottom of this page to get access to our free brand board template so you can save a ton of time setting up your brand board.

Also, don’t forget to check out our post on creating a brand.

Don’t have time? Pin it for later! ⬇⬇

Just fill out the form below and get access to our design library. You will not only be able to use our brand board template but you will also have access to our other done-for-you templates, step-by-step design tutorials, and other tools like cheatsheets, planners, trello boards, and more.

GET OUR FREE BRAND BOARD TEMPLATE!! ⬇

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Last updated on May 25th, 2018

I think back to my very first attempt at blogging. I did a LOT of things wrong; it almost makes me want to laugh.

One of the biggest mistakes I made? Not having a brand.

But honestly, I’m not the only one. I see it all the time.

Bloggers don’t take the time to brand themselves.

Why would you need to brand your blog? Aren’t “brands” big companies like Nike or Target?

A brand is a style; it’s a theme for your business. It’s your businesses attitude. Most importantly, it’s YOU (if you were converted into colors and fonts).

But what branding can do for you is where most people fall flat. Branding your blog can:

• Save you a ton of time
• Help with publicity
• Increase your traffic and conversions
• Make you more money

Here’s the thing, if all your pins have a consistent look then people will know exactly where that pin came from before even seeing the logo (think of that big red bullseye… We all know it’s Target without seeing the word Target, right?)

If your pins have a consistent look and you use the same templates each time you make a pin for your blog post, then you will end up saving a ton of time.

Same goes for anything you design. If you already know what colors, fonts, and style to design your project with- then you have already cut out half of the design process!

And no, your readers won’t get bored. In fact, the opposite will happen.

People will start recognizing your designs on social media and start clicking through more. They will become familiar and familiar is good!

You will appear professional and as a result, will see an increase in your numbers and get more opportunities, like sponsored campaigns. 

But here’s what a brand is NOT: a brand is not just a color. A brand is not just a font. It’s not a pattern or a shape or a website. Your brand is YOU. It’s a personality.

You need your brand to be everything you are, it needs to speak to you so much that you will want to get it printed on a blanket and wrap yourself in it.

Branding your blog is a lot more than picking out some colors, it’s setting yourself apart from the rest. What do you have that others don’t? What makes you different? What are you saying that others are not? Identify that thing FIRST.

Then, once you’ve figured out what makes you uniquely you, come up with your brand board. Get it on paper (digitally) and put it into your business plan.

Here’s how to make a brand board:

Before you start

Get access to our free design library and download the editable Brand Board template. This is a free template I made to help you set up your brand board in Canva. You can click right here to get access or fill out the form at the bottom of this post.

Your logo

Start with your logo. If you don’t have the funds to pay someone to make a logo for you, you can try your luck on Fiverr or make it yourself in Canva. Please note that you can not use any of the design elements that Canva has available to make your logo, you can only use fonts.

You can, however, purchase a logo design pack on Creative Market (look with ones that have PNG files if you don’t have Adobe illustrator) and use Canva to compile them into your design. Or simply create a text-only logo.

You can also search Creative Market for fonts to use in your branding. They have some really awesome bundles available which can help you save money.

Once you are happy with your logo, save it with a transparent background and add it to your brand board.

Alternate logo and watermarks

Once you have your logo,  it’s ideal to create alternate ones. When you get your logo professionally designed, the designer will likely give you your logo in 2-3 different ways. You’ll get your full logo and then perhaps a circle or “smaller” version. Think of your logo as your full name and the alternate logo is your initials. 

I also like to create an all-black and an all-white version of my logo so that it’s easier to use as a watermark on my social media images.

Inspiration & Style

This is one of the most important sections of your brand board! This is where you are going to choose about 3 different images (ideally stock photos) that truly describe your brand.

These images need to be your entire essence! Your style, your attitude, everything that makes you, YOU (and your brand) all rolled into an image.

They need to be so YOU that anyone who looks at them can tell exactly what the personality is for your business.

Once you have your three images chosen, upload them into Canva and drag and drop them into the frames provided on the template.

Brand Fonts

I usually suggest having at least one premium font that is specific to your brand. This is essentially so that your brand stands out. Everyone is going to use the free fonts provided on Canva and Google. Your premium font won’t be.

I’m not saying you’ll NEVER see it anywhere unless you hire someone to design a custom font (you definitely don’t need to take it that far) but it will definitely be used a lot less than a free one. Here are 5 tips on how to use your typography in your design! 

If you are looking for a way to save on fonts, check out Creative Market and Font Bundles. Sometimes they even have premium fonts for free (usually each week is a different font).

If you get serious font overload, check out our Font Combination cheatsheet in our design library. These are all fonts that come with Canva. If you have a premium font, you can use the cheatsheet as a guide and compare your font to similar looking fonts (If that makes any sense at all)!

Brand Patterns

This step is optional. Unlike the style images, these patterns would be used in the things that you create. So, you would see these patterns incorporated into your website, social media images, products, etc. The pattern doesn’t have to be overwhelming or take over the entire design, just a little hint of it would do just fine.

This works really well if you want to make sure your brand is really recognizable. Using the patterns over and over would get you that familiarity with your audience and anyone that has seen your website and brand.

Choose no more than two different patterns. You can purchase patterns on Creative Market, Etsy, Stock sites, etc. or you can hire someone (like on upwork) to design a pattern custom to your business.

Add your patterns to your brand board and you’re done!

Your brand is a personality, not a color

I can’t say it enough. A brand is so much more than a color palette or website design. Yes, you want your style to be consistent. Yes, colors and fonts are the exterior of a brand – it’s what people see.

But your brand itself is the personality of your business that you want to convey to others. It’s how you talk to people, it’s how you express yourself, it’s your attitude. Even your audience will recognize your branded graphics and pins, instantly! Check out Simplifying DIY Design’s Pinterest board for inspiration! 

So set up your brand board right now! Make sure everything you do from this point out is branded and consistent and I guarantee you will see business growth.

The difference it has made for me since I have really stuck to a branded style is amazing. 

GET YOUR FREE BRAND BOARD TEMPLATE NOW!

Just fill out the form below and get access to our design library. You will not only be able to use our brand board template but you will also have access to our other done-for-you templates, step-by-step design tutorials, and other tools like cheatsheets, planners, trello boards, and more.

Want to remember this post? Pin to your favorite pinterest board! ⬇

Last updated on May 25th, 2022

Product mockup templates are essential for any niche because they’ll boost your email sign-ups and increase product sales. We’re sharing our exact design process to create a beautiful product mockup template that you can use over and over again, cutting your design time in half!

Ready to nail your product launch? Get our FREE Product Creators QuickStart Kit today! This kit has a checklist, cheatsheet, and Canva design template so you can create a digital product for your blog!

Designing a product mockup doesn’t have to be complicated, yet it’s one of the most requested template designs we get.

Showcasing your product in a mockup-style format helps keep your designs consistent.

But, it also helps your audience see exactly what they’re getting, and that can make people feel a lot more confident when putting in their information, even if it’s just handing over their email address.

We noticed a significant increase in email signups and product sales as soon as we started adding product mockups to our website.

Truth be told, we use product mockups everywhere.

Blog posts, sales pages, social media graphics, landing pages, and even Pinterest pins!

Product mockups are a MUST.

And, it’s super easy to create your own product mockup template that saves you a ton of design time and keeps your designs consistent.

Related Post: How to Brand Your Blog and Easily Achieve Brand Consistency

The thing about consistency that most people don’t realize is that it builds trust. If you’re consistent with your designs, your audience knows it’s you.

You can spot our pins in the smart feed a mile away. That’s consistency!

REMEMBER THIS POST LATER! PIN IT TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!⬇

We make all of our product mockups right inside of Canva, whether it’s for a freebie or paid product (to include bonus offers).

Canva makes it so easy to create mockups for almost (if not) every product type and niche. That’s where your creativity comes into play.

If you’d rather have NEW plug-n-play Canva product mockup templates delivered every month, join our DiyDesign Creators Vault!

Now let’s get to the good stuff. If you have your product image already created and ready to go, let’s jump right in!

STEP 1: SEARCH FOR A PRODUCT STOCK PHOTO

Once you’re inside Canva, choose your design size. We like to use an Instagram Post, preferably 1080px by 1080px. 

We found this to be the most versatile size that looks great wherever you use it. Another popular choice is the Facebook ad size, 1200px by 628px.

Now, the first thing we’re going to do is find a product stock photo.

We love Depositphotos because they’re the best bang for your buck. The quality of stock photos is really great for the price, too.

To start, search any kind of workspace – colorful workspace, makeup workspace, tool workspace, whatever your overall blog theme is about.

PHOTO TIP: Choose a photo with a lot of bright, white space. You want the focus on your mockup image and text, not the stock photo itself. Plus, it’s easier to match your brand colors!

When we first started Simplifying DIY Design, we went with flat lay stock photos instead of angled, so we weren’t spending extra money creating 3D cover designs.

If you have a design budget, check out myecovermaker to create a 3D product mockup that really pops!

You can also search for a product stock photo right inside Canva. But just know you’ll have a much larger selection if you upgrade to Canva Pro.

WANT TO TRY CANVA PRO FREE FOR 30 DAYS?

Start your FREE Canva Pro trial today and unlock ALL of their incredible design features, including hundreds of top-quality stock photos in almost every niche.

Once you find your stock image, head to Canva and start designing your product mockup template.

STEP 2: DESIGN YOUR PRODUCT MOCKUP TEMPLATE IN CANVA

We’re ready to add the cover of our product to our mockup template.

If your photo has a notebook, iPad, or any other kind of device, you can add a grid right on top of it, which will allow you to drag and drop your cover image right into it.

We recommend zooming in as much as possible to make sure you line it up to the notebook edges perfectly.

If your stock photo doesn’t have a device on it already, you can search for design elements like ‘iPad’ to add to the space in your photo (or on top of undesired objects like a notebook).

It all depends on the product and how you want to showcase it.

Love this design? These Canva design templates shown throughout this post are from our DiyDesignCreators Vault!

Like we said earlier, you can get as creative as you want when designing your own product mockup template.

Once the grid is added to your stock image, it’s time for the product. In this case, it’s the cover page of one of our page design templates found in our DiyDesign Creators Vault.

And that’s it!

You now have a product mockup template that can be used over and over again, saving you a TON of design time and helping to keep your brand consistent.

Product mockup templates are also an essential piece to launching your digital products.

Related Post: Digital Product Launch Graphics You Need to Create

We made five figures on our first big product launch, and we have our product mockups to thank for that!

Instead of just reading about it, our audience could SEE the templates, workbooks, Trello boards, and video lessons they were about to buy. Total game-changer for sure.

Don’t forget to name this product mockup (to include ‘template’), so all you have to do is click ‘Make a copy’ whenever you want to create a new mockup.

Seriously, it’s that easy! Once you make a new copy, swap out your cover for your new design, and you’re all set.

BRANDING YOUR PRODUCT MOCKUP TEMPLATE

Another thing we like to do for our product mockup templates is to add a phone that has our logo on it.

It’s an easy way to show where this product is coming from without having an awkward logo that never seems to fit.

First, we created a new design using the size 540px by 960px. I found this to be the best size for cell phones.

Then, we added our logo at the top and placed the screenshot of our website in another grid to form one long image.

This design definitely requires a few modifications to make it right, but it looks good once it’s done!

This feature is only available with Canva Pro, but you’ll checkmark ‘Transparent background’ before you click ‘Download.’

It’s a great time to upgrade to Canva Pro because you can try it FREE for 30 days!

You can use many different programs to remove the background of a graphic if you don’t have Canva Pro. If you have a Mac, you can use Preview.

Another option we recommend is Pixlr.com, a free option that anyone can use regardless of what type of computer they’re operating.

Once that’s finished, you can head back to the product mockup template, upload the iPhone image, and try a few different placement variations to give your website a little shout-out.

Your Canva-designed product mockup template is now ready to go! Maximize your time by creating even more design templates to grow your blog!

Related Post: 3 Ways You Need to be Using Templates to Grow Your Blog

THINGS TO NOTE

If you’re looking to create your own Canva templates to sell, make sure you have the commercial rights to sell your purchased stock photos in your templates.

For example, we can’t use a stock photo from Depositphotos or Creative Market without purchasing the license to resell.

It can be quite a bit extra to purchase the Commercial license, but it’ll protect you against any legal action taken from the original owner/creator.

The same goes for premium fonts and design elements, too.

Despite all of that, creating and selling Canva templates can be very profitable, easy to maintain, and can cost you almost nothing to get started!

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS POST:

• FREE Design Vault
• How to Brand Your Blog and Easily Achieve Brand Consistency
• FREE Product Creators QuickStart Kit
• DiyDesign Creators Vault
• Digital Product Launch Graphics You Need to Create
• 3 Ways You Need to be Using Templates to Grow Your Blog
• Must-Have Tools for Creating and Selling Digital Products

Don’t forget to grab our FREE Launch Template Pack now! These fully editable Canva templates will help you create jump-off-the-page product mockups so you can rock your launch!

TRY CANVA PRO FREE FOR 30 DAYS

Start your FREE Canva Pro trial today and unlock ALL of their incredible time-saving features that cut your design time to just minutes.

To be honest? It’s the best $12.99/mo OR $119/yr we spend on our business because that time we save with every design is put back into making MORE money in your business!

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