Why Canva Sucks: Your Restaurant Deserves Better

Dec 6

When it comes to branding your restaurant, tools like Canva might seem like an easy solution. But what if I told you that relying on templates could actually hurt your business? Here’s why Canva isn’t the answer and why investing in a professional branding agency is the smarter choice.

The Problem with Canva Templates

They’re Overused:
Canva’s templates are generic and widely used. Your restaurant deserves an identity as unique as your menu, not a design someone else has already used.
Lack of Customization:
Canva’s limitations prevent you from creating a truly tailored brand. Changing colors or fonts on a template doesn’t make it yours—it just makes it different from the original.
It’s Not Real Design:
Professional branding is about storytelling and strategy. Canva gives you cookie-cutter graphics that don’t reflect the personality or vision of your restaurant.

The Hidden Costs of Canva

Your Time:
Canva may seem quick, but how many hours will you spend tweaking designs that still look amateur? Your time is valuable—spend it on growing your business, not fumbling with templates.
Lost Business:
A poorly designed brand fails to build trust. Diners judge your restaurant by your branding before they even read your menu or step inside.
Redoing It Later:
Eventually, you’ll realize Canva wasn’t enough, and you’ll hire a professional agency to fix it—paying more in the long run.

Invest in Quality Branding

Your restaurant deserves a brand that stands out, tells your story, and attracts diners. Leave Canva to the amateurs and work with experts who bring strategy and creativity to the table.

Jaci Lund

Jaci Lund partner, creative director, designer Jaci’s quick wit and native intelligence comes across as soon as you meet her—and carries over to her design, where she fuses fun and sophistication in just the right doses. With a dual focus on creating original branding for new concepts and revitalizing the look and feel of even the most-established brands, Jaci approaches each project with a fresh and thoughtful perspective. While she recognizes the relevance of current trends, she’s hyper-conscious of the fine line that separates “trend” from “fad,” and tends toward more timeless and classic looks for her clients. Before founding Treebird, Jaci was instrumental in growing the design department at Atlanta’s The Reynolds Group, Inc. Through a five-year tenure that saw her quickly ascend to senior designer and then become the company’s first creative director, Jaci worked on design and branding projects with visionaries, entrepreneurs, and business leaders whom she admires greatly and whose own passion elevates her sense of what’s possible through new design, branding, and communication. Jaci has won nine ADDY Awards (and counting) for her design and branding work and has twice been featured in the national design blog “Art of the Menu.” She holds a B.A. in communications from Michigan State University and completed the graphic design program at The Creative Circus, where she also teaches a quarterly course called “Introduction to Creative Thinking.” To see Jaci's previous work please visit jacilund.com.

treebirdbranding.com