canva graphic design assignment

• Education Resources
• Art + Merch

Canva Projects for Digital Art Lessons in Middle & High School Art

If you haven’t discovered the amazing world of Canva yet, it’s time! I have spent the last year developing Canva design projects to introduce design concepts to middle school art or high school art students. It’s a free tool and online program, perfect for Chromebooks, iPads, and similar. This graphic design tool can be used with any experience level because it is incredibly easy to work with. Check out six creative projects for Canva below for ideas to incorporate into your art class.

VISION BOARD CANVA PROJECTS

A great introduction to Canva is a vision board project. Students dive into aesthetics and outline what their artistic likes and dislikes are. For this art assignment, students select a collage base and add their own images reflecting their aesthetic. They are encouraged to change the simple template from Canva to make the design their own.

This Canva project only takes a few days. It’s a great introduction to design, art philosophy, and layout design. This is perfect for any middle school art or high school art course. If you want to hit the easy button, grab this digital art lesson  here . You get everything you need to teach your students how to make these digital photo collages!

LOGO DESIGN PROJECT

My newest project focuses on developing a logo using Canva. Once again, Canva makes this process easy by providing lots of templates for students to customize. This is a great way to introduce design concepts to students since they aren’t faced with a blank page. With Canva, they have a template to jump off from.

You can grab the lesson pack for this on my website  here  or on my TPT  here . Get a digital art lesson plan, Canva how-to activity, research sheets, presentation, rubric, and more.

BUSINESS CARD CANVA PROJECTS

This project pack combines multiple Canva projects into one. With this project, students develop a quick logo and apply it to a business card and brochure for a hypothetical business. Through Canva they are able to easily load their designs and apply them to a business card template and a brochure template. You can check out this project on my TPT  here . You can also get this project as a part of my intro to design curriculum  here .

MOVIE POSTER REDESIGN

This graphic design project has quickly become one of my most popular assignments. Students take a movie poster and redesign it using Canva. In my project pack, students research movie posters, learn the history of posters, and critically think about how to include important information and visuals. Check out this project on TPT  here .

CAMPAIGN POSTER PROJECT

It seems like campaigns are endless in the US. The last midterm election was in full swing when I was inspired to create this digital art lesson.

Building off of the movie poster redesign, students create another poster focused on them. They must create a campaign poster for a hypothetical race. Students develop a style, take a picture of themselves, and select an issue that is important to them. This is turned into a slogan and campaign poster. Once again, they start with the templates in Canva but edit them to make them their own unique design. Check out this lesson  here .

GIF CANVA PROJECTS

This GIF project is perfect for middle school art or high school art students. Using a combination of Photoshop, Pixlr, or hand-drawn images, they create their own GIF in Canva. This project was recently revamped from using an old GIF compilation website to a much simpler compilation process in Canva. Check it out  here . You can also get this project when you purchase my drawing curriculum  here.

Get all of these projects with my 6 Canva projects pack here .

Thanks for checking out these fun projects that use Canva, more to come in the future. These projects are a fun way to get students interested in graphic design while they practice digital design elements. If you are looking for more graphic design or digital design projects for your middle or high school art students, check out more  here  or on my TPT  here . Be on the lookout for my Design II curriculum, slated to be released this spring! Thanks for stopping by, don’t forget to follow me on  Instagram  and  TikTok  for weekly visual journal demos. Until next time!

One response to “Canva Projects for Digital Art Lessons in Middle & High School Art”

I am using Canva more and more. I want to try some of these with my students.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Related Posts

Recent Posts

Another awesome resource from one of my favorite creators! I used this with both in person and virtual students. All were engaged and enjoyed learning." -Buyer, Photoshop Basics Packet

Give us a Follow

Get a free set of 8 elements of art posters when you subscribe!

How to Use Canva for Classroom

Lindsey Becker

Canva is a powerful graphic design tool that can be used to create educational materials in the classroom. With Canva, teachers and students can create visually engaging presentations, posters, infographics, and more. The platform offers a wide range of templates and design elements that can be customized to fit any subject or learning objective.

Getting started with Canva is easy and intuitive. Users can sign up for a free account and start exploring the platform’s features right away. Canva for Education is also available for K-12 teachers and students, providing access to additional resources and collaboration tools. By using Canva in the classroom, teachers can create engaging and interactive learning experiences that help students develop critical thinking and creativity skills.

Designing educational materials in Canva is a breeze with its drag-and-drop interface and user-friendly design tools. Teachers can create custom graphics, charts, and diagrams to illustrate complex concepts or present information in a visually appealing way. Collaboration in Canva is also seamless, allowing students to work together on group projects and assignments. With Canva, teachers can create assignments and assessments that are visually engaging and interactive, helping students stay motivated and on track with their learning.

Key Takeaways

• Canva is a powerful graphic design tool that can be used to create educational materials in the classroom.
• Getting started with Canva is easy and intuitive, and the platform offers a wide range of templates and design elements that can be customized to fit any subject or learning objective.
• By using Canva in the classroom, teachers can create engaging and interactive learning experiences that help students develop critical thinking and creativity skills.

Getting Started with Canva

Canva is a user-friendly graphic design tool that can be used in the classroom to create stunning visuals for presentations, posters, and infographics. Here are the steps to get started with Canva:

Creating an Account

The first step is to create an account. Teachers and students can sign up for Canva for Education for free using their school email address. Once the account is created, they can start exploring the wide range of design templates and tools available.

Overview of Canva Dashboard

Once logged in, users will be directed to the Canva dashboard where they can access all of the design templates and tools. The dashboard is divided into several sections including the search bar, design types, featured templates, and recently used designs. Users can also access their saved designs and folders from the dashboard.

Setting Up a Classroom

Teachers can set up a classroom in Canva to manage their students’ designs and assignments. To set up a classroom, teachers can click on the “Create a Classroom” button on the dashboard and follow the prompts to add students and assign projects. Teachers can also monitor their students’ progress and provide feedback on their designs.

Overall, Canva is a powerful tool that can help teachers and students create engaging and visually appealing designs for the classroom. With its intuitive interface and extensive library of templates and tools, Canva is a must-have for any classroom looking to enhance their visual communication.

Designing Educational Materials

Designing educational materials with Canva for Education is easy and intuitive. With thousands of templates to choose from, educators can create visually stunning materials in just a few clicks. Here are the steps to follow:

Choosing the Right Template

Canva for Education offers a wide variety of templates that are designed specifically for educational purposes. From presentations to posters, and infographics to worksheets, there’s a template for every need. Educators can browse through the template library and choose the one that best fits their needs.

Customizing Templates

Once a template has been selected, it’s time to customize it. Canva for Education provides a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to customize templates. Educators can change the colors, fonts, and images to match their school’s branding or their personal preferences.

Adding Text and Elements

After customizing the template, it’s time to add text and other design elements. Educators can add headings, subheadings, and body text to convey their message effectively. They can also add images, icons, and illustrations to make their materials more engaging.

Using Brand Kit for Schools

Canva for Education also offers a Brand Kit feature that allows educators to create a consistent look and feel across all their materials. By adding their school’s colors, logos, and fonts to the Brand Kit, educators can ensure that all their materials have a professional and cohesive look.

Canva for Education makes it easy for educators to create visually stunning educational materials. By following these simple steps, educators can create materials that are engaging and effective in conveying their message.

Collaboration in Canva

Canva is a powerful tool for collaboration in the classroom, allowing teachers and students to work together on projects and designs. Here are some ways to collaborate in Canva:

Inviting Students to Canva

To collaborate on a project in Canva, students will need to be invited to join the project. Teachers can invite students to join a project by sharing a link or sending an email invitation. Once students have joined the project, they can work on it together with their classmates.

Working on Group Projects

Canva makes it easy to work on group projects. Students can collaborate on a design in real-time, making changes and adding feedback as they go. This is especially useful for group projects, where students need to work together to create a cohesive design.

Sharing and Commenting on Designs

Once a design is complete, it can be shared with others for feedback and comments. Teachers and students can leave comments on the design, making suggestions for improvements or pointing out areas that need more work. This feedback can be invaluable in helping students learn and grow as designers.

Overall, Canva is an excellent tool for collaboration in the classroom. With its powerful features and intuitive interface, it makes it easy for teachers and students to work together on projects and designs. By using Canva, teachers can help their students develop important skills in collaboration, communication, and design.

Assignments and Assessments

Creating assignments.

Canva is a great tool for creating engaging assignments for students. Teachers can create assignments using the templates available in Canva or create their own designs from scratch. To create an assignment, teachers can follow the steps provided in the Canva Help Center. They can also choose to share a template with their students and ask them to customize it according to the requirements of the assignment.

Providing Feedback

Canva makes it easy for teachers to provide feedback on student work. They can leave comments on individual designs or use the comment feature to provide feedback on the entire assignment. Teachers can also use the Canva presentation mode to showcase student work and provide feedback in real-time.

Grading Student Work

Grading student work in Canva is a straightforward process. Teachers can create a rubric or grading scale and use it to evaluate student work. They can also use the comment feature to provide feedback and assign grades based on the quality of the work. Canva also allows teachers to download student work in various formats, making it easy to share with other teachers or administrators.

In conclusion, Canva is a powerful tool for creating assignments and assessing student work. It offers a range of features that make it easy for teachers to provide feedback and grade student work. By using Canva, teachers can create engaging assignments that help students develop their design skills while also meeting the learning objectives of the course.

Integrating with Other Tools

Canva is a versatile tool that can be integrated with other popular tools used in the classroom, such as Learning Management Systems (LMS) and Google Classroom. This integration makes it easy to share your designs with your students or colleagues, and to incorporate them into your existing workflow.

Linking with Learning Management Systems

Canva can be linked with various Learning Management Systems (LMS), such as Canvas, Schoology, D2L, Blackboard, Moodle, and Microsoft Teams. This integration allows you to access your Canva designs directly from your LMS, eliminating the need to switch between different tools. You can also share your designs with your students through your LMS, making it easy for them to access and use them.

Using Canva with Google Classroom

Canva can also be integrated with Google Classroom, a popular tool used by many teachers and students. This integration allows you to share your Canva designs with your students directly from Google Classroom, making it easy for them to access and use them. You can also use Canva to create assignments and announcements in Google Classroom, making it a useful tool for managing your classroom activities.

In conclusion, integrating Canva with other tools can enhance your classroom experience and streamline your workflow. Whether you are using an LMS or Google Classroom, Canva can help you create engaging and visually appealing designs that will enhance your teaching and learning experience.

Tips and Best Practices

Ensuring accessibility.

When using Canva for the classroom, it is important to ensure that all students have access to the designs created. One way to do this is by using alt text to describe images, which can be read aloud by screen readers for visually impaired students. Additionally, teachers should make sure that all fonts and colors used in designs are easily readable and not too small or too light.

Staying Organized

Canva for Education offers a variety of tools to help teachers stay organized and manage their designs. One useful feature is the ability to create folders to keep designs for different classes or projects separate. Teachers can also use the search function to quickly find specific designs or templates. Another helpful tool is the ability to collaborate with other teachers or students on designs, which can help distribute the workload and ensure that everyone is on the same page.

Engaging Students Creatively

Canva for Education offers a wide variety of templates and design elements that can be used to engage students creatively. Teachers can encourage students to create their own designs from scratch or use existing templates to create posters, infographics, presentations, and more. Additionally, teachers can assign design projects that tie into other subjects, such as creating a visual representation of a historical event or scientific concept. By incorporating design into the classroom, teachers can help students develop their creativity and critical thinking skills.

How To Use Canva – Basics Tutorials

Whether you’re just starting to use Canva or are looking to save some time in your projects, these tutorials will help make the essential uses of the app feel simple. Choose one of the quick links below or browse all my Canva Basics tutorials below.

Most Important Lessons

• How To Import Photos In Canva
• How To Use Layers In Canva
• How To Group In Canva
• How To Use Frames In Canva
• How To Erase In Canva
• How To Change Element Colors

Image Editing Basics

• How To Change Resolution To 300PPI
• How To Remove Backgrounds In Canva
• How To Crop & Resize Images In Canva
• How To Flip & Rotate Images In Canva

Exporting & Saving

• How To Export Transparent Backgrounds In Canva
• How To Share Templates In Canva
• How To Download Video in Canva
• How To Make A Slideshow
• How To Make A PDF File In Canva

All Canva Basics Tutorials

How To Outline An Image In Canva

How To Make A Background Transparent In Canva

How To Use Frames In Canva (Ultimate Guide)

How To Copy And Paste In Canva (Desktop & Mobile)

How To Adjust Margins In Canva (Step By Step)

How To Crop A Photo Into A Circle In Canva

How To Create A Watermark In Canva (Step By Step)

How To Use Layers In Canva (Ultimate Guide)

How To Draw In Canva (Ultimate Guide)

How To Rotate A Page In Canva (Step By Step)

How To Download Video In Canva (Step By Step)

How To Make A Slideshow In Canva (Ultimate Guide)

How To Add Photos To Canva (Complete Guide)

How To Merge Designs In Canva (The Easy Way)

How To Erase In Canva (Step By Step)

How To Save & Export In Canva (Step By Step)

How To Change The Orientation In Canva (Landscape To Portrait)

How To Change Image & Element Colors In Canva (Step By Step)

How To Group In Canva (Desktop & Mobile)

How To Fill A Shape With An Image In Canva (+ Add Outlines)

How To Change The Language In Canva (Desktop & Mobile)

How To Change Resolution In Canva (300 DPI Export)

How To Share Designs & Templates In Canva (Step By Step)

Do You Need To Cite Images In Canva? (Explained)

How To Remove A Background In Canva

How To Add A Clickable Link In Canva

How To Crop & Resize Images Or Elements In Canva

Can You Use PSD Files In Canva?

How To Delete Or Recover A Design In Canva (Step-By-Step)

How To Flip an Image In Canva (& Rotate Elements)

As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Brendan Williams Creative also participates in affiliate programs with Impact, Clickbank, CJ, ShareASale, and other sites.

Student Login

329 Howe Street #1413 Vancouver, BC V6C 3N2 Canada

[email protected]

Mon to Friday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm

Privacy Policy

Terms & Conditions

Refund Policy

Cookie Policy

MTT103: 6 Fun Student Assignments Using Canva

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:15 — 33.4MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

We are continuing with our Canva-themed month! Canva is a fantastic graphic design software tool that is free to use.

I’ve been talking about the ways you can use it as a teacher to create your own teaching materials, but it also works really well for student assignments.

Instead of giving students a written assignment, you could ask them to create something visual to show what they know.

Here are 6 Fun Student Assignments Using Canva.

Links and resources

• Transpose Chrome Extension
• Join the waitlist: “Create Beautiful Teaching Resources, Fast” Online Course
• 25+ Ways to Use Canva to Create Teaching Resources
• 8 Creative Canva Projects You Can Do WITH Your Students in the Classroom
• 9 Cool Canva Tricks for Designing Teaching Resources For Educators
• How To Use Canva To Create Beautiful Teaching Resources
• 7 Frequently Asked Questions about Canva for Teachers, Answered
• 12 Canva Project Ideas For Teachers
• Our Top 10 Keyboard Shortcuts for Canva for Teachers
• Sign up for a Canva education account  
• Canva Design School
• Canva Teachers Community Facebook Group

Leave a podcast review

I would so appreciate it if you could leave a review.  Here are some instructions .

Want more help with creating beautiful teaching resources?

Be the first to join my brand new course… “Create Beautiful Teaching Resources, Fast”  Online Course ! 

Create Beautiful Teaching Resources, Fast is an online, self-paced course for teachers who want to create amazing resources for their classroom. 

In this course, you will go from feeling overwhelmed, time-poor and lacking ideas to feeling like a smart, savvy designer who can quickly make custom teaching resources that are worthy of selling on Teachers Pay Teachers.

The Waitlist will get first access to join the course PLUS a special bonus upon joining the program! Join the waitlist to get exclusive, priority access.

Join the waitlist here!

Leave a comment cancel reply, you might also like....

The Best Advice for New Music Teachers Part 2

The Best Advice for New Music Teachers Part 1

Introducing, the midnight music community.

Download Now for FREE...

The ultimate music tech resources guide for 2022-2023.

Claim your copy of our annual guide to free music technology resources, designed especially for music teachers. Discover interactive music websites, software, productivity tools, and assessment resources you can use in your music classroom for free.

Follow Me on Social Media

PRIVACY POLICY

This is the Privacy Policy for the Midnight Music website located at www.midnightmusic.com (“Site”).

The Site is operated by Midnight Music Pty Ltd ABN 87 619 652 603 (“Midnight Music” or “Company” or “we” or “us”).

Midnight Music understands the importance of protecting your personal information and undertakes to adhere to this privacy policy at all times to ensure your personal information is effectively safeguarded.

Information you provide to us

The Site provides various places for users to provide information. We collect information that users provide by filling out forms on the Site, communicating with us via contact forms, responding to surveys, search queries on our search feature, providing comments or other feedback, providing information when ordering a product or service via the Site, and other circumstances where collecting personal information is reasonable and permitted by the Laws of the State of Victoria, Australia.

We use information you provide to us to deliver the requested product and/or service, to improve our overall performance, and to provide you with offers, promotions, and information.

Information we collect through automatic data collection technology

As you navigate through the Site, we may use automatic data collection technologies including Google Analytics to collect certain information about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns. This will generally include information about your location, your traffic pattern through our Site, and any communications between your computer and our Site. Among other things, we will collect data about the type of computer you use, your Internet connection, your IP address, your operating system, and your browser type.

The information we collect automatically is used for statistical data and will not include personal information. We use this data to improve our Site and our service offerings. To the extent that you voluntarily provide personal information to us, our systems will associate the automatically collected information with your personal information.

Use of cookies and pixels

Similar to other commercial websites, our Site utilises a standard technology called “cookies” and server logs to collect information about how our site is used. Information gathered through cookies and server logs may include the date and time of visits, the pages viewed, time spent at our site, and the websites visited just before and just after our own, as well as your IP address.

A cookie is a very small text document, which often includes an anonymous unique identifier. When you visit a website, that site’s computer asks your computer for permission to store this file in a part of your hard drive specifically designated for cookies. Each website can send its own cookie to your browser if your browser’s preferences allow it, but (to protect your privacy) your browser only permits a website to access the cookies it has already sent to you, not the cookies sent to you by other sites.

The Company reserves the right to use technological equivalents of cookies, including social media pixels. These pixels allow social media sites to track visitors to outside websites so as to tailor advertising messages users see while visiting that social media website. The Company reserves the right to use these pixels in compliance with the policies of the various social media sites.

We collect mobile phone numbers to send SMS messages. By providing your mobile number, you consent to receive SMS communications from us regarding our products, services, and promotions. We will not share your mobile number with third parties. Message frequency may vary based on your interaction with us. Message and data rates may apply. You can opt-out of receiving SMS messages at any time by following the instructions provided in the message or by contacting us directly.

How we manage personal information

Midnight Music undertakes to take all commercially reasonable steps to ensure that all personal information collected by us is accurate, up-to-date, complete and stored securely. When your personal information is no longer required for the purposes which Midnight Music uses personal information, all commercially reasonable steps will be undertaken to securely destroy that information.

How your personal information will be used

We use personal information for purposes of presenting our Site and its contents to you, providing you with information, providing you with offers for products and services, providing you with information about your subscriptions and products, carrying out any contract between you and the Company, administering our business activities, providing customer service, and making available other items and services to our customers and prospective customers. From time-to-time, we may use the information you provide to us to make you offers to purchase products and services provided by third parties in exchange for a commission to be paid to us by such third parties. Should you opt to take part in such promotions, the third parties will receive your information.

Disclosure of your information

Midnight Music considers personal information we collect about you to be confidential and will not disclose such information to third parties except in the following circumstances:

• Where you have consented to your personal information being provided to a third party;
• Where Midnight Music is required by law to disclose your information; and
• Gaining access to your personal information held by Midnight Music

Except in circumstances where access to your personal information may be denied by the Privacy Act or other Law of the State of Victoria, Australia, your personal information will be provided to you upon request.

Visitors’ General Data Protection Regulation rights

If you are within the European Union, you are entitled to certain information and have certain rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). These include the following:

• We will retain the any information you choose to provide to us until: (a) you ask us to delete the information; (b) we decide to cease using our existing data providers; or (c) the Company decides that the value in retaining the data is outweighed by the costs of retaining it.
• You have the right to request access to your data that the Company stores and the rights to either rectify or erase your personal data.
• You have the right to seek restrictions on the processing of your data.
• You have the right to object to the processing of your data and the right to the portability of your data.
• To the extent that you provided consent to the Company’s processing of your personal data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing based upon consent that occurred prior to your withdrawal of consent.
• You have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority that has jurisdiction over issues related to the General Data Protection Regulation.
• We require only the information that is reasonably required to enter into a contract with you. We will not require you to provide consent for any unnecessary processing as a condition of entering into a contract with us.

Should you have any queries in relation to the above or require further information regarding the Privacy Policy please contact us:

Midnight Music Pty Ltd PO Box 219 Glen Waverley Victoria 3150 AUSTRALIA

Email address: [email protected]