Overview

Take your Canva skills to the next level with Canva Design Essentials Pt. 2: Branding & Identity, taught by award-winning designer Dan Scott. In this course, you’ll explore how to build a consistent and professional brand identity using Canva’s powerful design tools. Learn to work with AI-powered features, remove backgrounds, create mockups, and develop branded visuals that resonate—from logos and typography to color palettes and moodboards. By the end of the course, you'll be confident designing for mobile, building out a visual identity system, and applying branding across platforms. You'll complete hands-on projects like logo design, Instagram mockups, competitor analysis, and more—giving you a portfolio-ready body of work. Whether you’re a freelancer, small business owner, or aspiring brand designer, this course equips you with the skills and strategies to elevate your designs with purpose and polish. All you need is a free Canva account and basic computer skills—Dan’s step-by-step guidance makes branding approachable and fun for everyone. Let’s start building your brand! Instructor bio: Daniel Walter Scott is a digital designer, Adobe Certified Instructor, and founder of Bring Your Own Laptop (BYOL). With over 14 years of teaching experience, he has helped thousands of learners worldwide master design and creative software across print, web, video, and now 3D. Daniel is an Adobe Certified Expert and Adobe Certified Instructor who combines industry expertise with a teaching style that’s practical, engaging, and memorable. Originally from New Zealand, Daniel has lived and taught across Australia, Ireland, and beyond—sharing his skills with a truly global creative community. He’s passionate about helping students build real-world skills they can carry into their careers and creative projects. When he’s not teaching, Daniel enjoys life with his Irish wife and kids. He brings this personal, down-to-earth perspective into his courses, making complex tools feel approachable and fun to learn.

Syllabus

Advanced Tools & AI in Canva

Explore Canva’s most powerful design features by diving into tools like background remover, Magic Media AI image generation, and mockup creation. Through hands-on class projects, you’ll practice creating professional assets for social media and branded content, while mastering tools that elevate your visual storytelling.

Designing for Mobile & Templates

Learn to design on the go by optimizing your Canva workflow for mobile devices. This module walks you through editing and posting from your phone, and customizing pre-built logo templates to suit real-world brand needs. You'll complete a logo design project built entirely with mobile-friendly tools.

Moodboards & Ideation

Develop your brand's visual identity by building digital moodboards in Canva. You’ll explore how to organize brand inspiration, collaborate through markup tools and comments, and translate themes into design direction. This module emphasizes ideation and creative strategy as part of your design process.

Competitive Research & Logo Planning

Step into the world of strategic brand development by conducting competitor research directly in Canva. You’ll analyze design trends, explore positioning, and apply these insights to create your own custom combination logo that reflects your brand values and stands out in the market.

Typography & Color in Branding

Typography and color are core to any strong brand. In this module, you’ll learn to choose fonts that reflect your tone and purpose, and apply color theory to develop a cohesive palette. Through class projects, you’ll lock in consistent visual identity elements that strengthen your branding.

Brand Systems & Logo Variations

Bring all your branding elements together by creating a consistent and versatile brand system. You’ll explore how to use gradients, build out light/dark/staked logo versions, and organize everything into a Canva Brand Kit. The final class project helps you prepare your brand for real-world application.