Canva recently celebrated its 10 year anniversary. But, its users are the ones receiving all the presents. Namely, in the form of new platform functionalities – after the digital design service collaborated with the ever evolving world of Artificial Intelligence and revealed its plans to introduce a suite of AI products.
WLT recently sat in on an exclusive virtual press conference with Canva co-founders Melanie Perkins, Cliff Obrecht, and Cameron Adams. As they revealed what this means for the future of their company and visual communication as a whole.
A decade of democratising design
A pioneer in democratising design, Canva’s appeal arose through its effectiveness in simplifying design for everyone. A start up with serious vision, Canva has come a long way since its inception a decade ago. From humble beginnings, it has transformed into the world’s largest and most widely used visual communication platform. Today, its growth has seen it used by over 140 million monthly active users (including over 45 million new users added in the last year alone). Across 190 countries. And more than $1.7 billion in annual revenue. So, it’s no surprise that Canva has also quickly jumped on the AI band wagon.
Canva and AI: A crash course
The buzz around the impending Canva and AI launch was undeniable. With Canva’s commitment to making technology as accessible as possible through the incorporation of cutting-edge AI technology. And we were not disappointed.
Led by the team’s terrific, tech-loving trio, Melanie, Cliff, and Cameron the press conference introduced Canva’s new Magic Studio functionality to the world. And with it a host of cutting edge AI features.
“A decade ago, Canva set out to empower the world to design. By simplifying a complex and fragmented design eco system,” says Melanie. “As we go into the next decade of our journey, we’re incredibly excited to be taking a massive leap forward with the launch of Magic Studio. The first all-in-one suite of design AI tools created to super charge the way teams create and scale visual content.
“Magic Studio was built for the 99% of the world without complex design training. And focuses on making complex things simple. This launch marks the start of an exciting new chapter as we double down on empowering over 150 million individuals and thousands of businesses to achieve their goals,” she adds.
Magic Studio builds on the success of Canva’s previous product mile stones (such as the popular Visual Suite and AI tools). And leverages proprietary AI models and industry partnerships to deliver a groundbreaking suite of truly all-encompassing AI design tools and solutions that address the needs of individuals who lack advanced design skills.
Making magic happen
Some of the remarkable features introduced in Magic Studio include:
- Magic Switch: An industry game changer that swiftly transforms your designs into various formats with a single click. Whether you want to convert a presentation into a concise executive summary. Or, turn your brain stormed ideas on a white board into a full fledged blog post, Magic Switch has got you covered. Plus, it simplifies the translation process into multiple languages.
- Magic Media: With text-to-image and text-to-video functionalities, this feature allows you to effortlessly convert text into captivating images and videos. And take advantage of an array of new style options for your desired outcome.
- Magic Design: Your ticket to turning prompts or your own media into fully designed videos, presentations, and more. Accelerate your creative process by entering your concept, selecting color schemes and customisation, and witnessing complete designs come to life.
- With Brand Voice: Canva’s Magic Write copy writing assistant has undergone a powerful upgrade. It is now capable of crafting content in your brand’s unique tone of voice within any design or document. You simply need to incorporate guidelines into your Brand Kit, and you’ll easily generate on-brand content each time.
- Magic Morph: Instantly convert words and shapes into fresh colors, textures, patterns, and styles with a straightforward prompt.
- Magic Grab: Finally, this innovative feature can accurately select and separate subjects within your photos. This enablew you to edit, reposition, resize or manipulate them as needed.
- Magic Expand. This tool can rescue zoomed in images or effortlessly transition a vertical shot into a horizontal one by recovering what lies outside the frame.
Artificial Intelligence, with ethics
Given Canva’s unwavering dedication to ethical business dealings, the launch of Magic Studio delivered an opportunity for the brand to emphasise the vital role of creators and designers. To reflect this, Canva also announced a significant commitment of $200 million for content and AI royalties, scheduled to disburse to Canva’s creator community over the next three years. Known as the Creator Compensation Program, the initiative will compensate Canva Creators who grant permission for their content to be used in training the company’s proprietary AI models.
Ultimately, whether you’re a complete novice or a seasoned creator Magic Studio promises to revolutionise the way you create visuals. And allows you to harness Artificial Intelligence for design with enhanced creativity, efficiency, and impact.
