Melanie Perkins is the visionary co-founder and driving force behind Canva, a powerhouse within the startup realm with transformative influence over the design industry.
With Canva’s inception, the landscape of graphic design underwent a seismic shift, rendering it not only accessible but also remarkably intuitive for creators worldwide. Gone are the days of grappling with the complexities of Photoshop or enduring exhaustive training sessions to craft a design; Canva has ushered in an era of unparalleled simplicity.
Through its user-friendly interface on its website and app, individuals can effortlessly fashion designs tailored for businesses, educational institutions, or any conceivable purpose. Remarkably, this revolutionary platform comes at no cost, empowering creators to bring their visions to life in mere moments, unfettered by financial constraints.
“If the whole thing was about building wealth, that would be the most uninspiring thing I could possibly imagine”, Melanie Perkins notes.
“As we continue to make progress on step one, step two becomes more important than ever,” says Perkins. “We really feel a huge responsibility. It shouldn’t matter where you are in the world, your socioeconomic status, or your skills and experience; everyone should have the ability to design.”
Melanie Perkins: the story behind Canva
At the age of 19, Melanie Perkins embarked on a journey fueled by a simple yet profound idea: facilitating the creation of school yearbooks through a user-friendly website. Teaming up with Cliff Obrecht, they laid the groundwork for what would evolve into Fusion Books, later rebranded as Canva.
This modest inception blossomed into a global phenomenon, boasting a staggering 60 million active users spanning over 190 nations. The fruition of this venture has propelled Perkins into the echelons of wealth, with an estimated net worth of 6.5 billion dollars, positioning her among the wealthiest women worldwide.
Beyond personal gain, Perkins exhibits a philanthropic spirit, leveraging her resources to benefit others and support various charitable causes. Together with Obrecht, they allocate over 80% of their stake to the Canva Foundation, channelling funds towards diverse philanthropic endeavours. Among their notable contributions is support for GiveDirectly, a charity dedicated to assisting vulnerable families in Southern Africa. Additionally, their commitment to environmental sustainability is evidenced by their pledge to plant a tree for every print order fulfilled, resulting in the cultivation of over two million trees to date.
Canva revolutionized modern digital workflows
Canva sprouted from the fertile grounds of Perth, Australia, birthed by the collective vision of Melanie Perkins, Cliff Obrecht, and Cameron Adams on January 1, 2013. Within its inaugural year, Canva rapidly amassed a user base surpassing 750,000 individuals. The company’s trajectory was further catalyzed in April 2014 with the enlistment of social media and tech luminary Guy Kawasaki, who assumed the role of chief evangelist, amplifying Canva’s brand presence.
In a pivotal moment in 2015, Canva for Work emerged, honing its focus on marketing collateral and igniting a new growth phase. Initially embraced as a tool catering to novice designers and small enterprises, Canva’s freemium model has since captivated over 60 million monthly users. Notably, the platform has transcended its origins, with more than 500,000 paying teams now leveraging its capabilities. Esteemed entities such as American Airlines, CBRE, Intel, Kimberly-Clark, and Zoom are among the legion of users employing Canva for diverse purposes, from crafting social media assets to crafting impactful presentations for sales and human resources. Even Live Nation, the entertainment behemoth, harnesses Canva to create dynamic assets promoting upcoming rock concerts, underscoring the platform’s versatility and ubiquity in modern digital workflows.
Canva’s collaborative features empower teams and individuals alike to seamlessly collaborate on projects, underpinned by a vast repository of over 800,000 templates. The platform’s intuitive interface, coupled with an array of visual elements such as fonts, colours, and images, enables users to craft polished and professional designs effortlessly.
Such accessibility has catapulted Canva’s valuation to a staggering 15 billion dollars, a testament to Perkins’ unwavering determination and resilience in the face of numerous rejections from potential investors. Her unwavering belief in democratizing creativity resonates through her assertion that everyone, regardless of background or skill level, deserves the opportunity to unleash their creative potential. Perkins’ philosophy on inclusivity and empowerment through design is an inspiring call to embrace creativity on a global scale.
