Cool Canva Tricks to Elevate Your Branding This Summer

ByCharlotte Cooke

Summer is the perfect season to refresh, not just your wardrobe or office décor, but your business branding too! Whether you’re prepping for a seasonal promotion, refreshing your social media, or just ready to level up your visuals, Canva makes it easy (and fun).

At NIMDA, we love tools that simplify your back office and Canva is one of our favourites. Here are some cool Canva tricks to help you beat the branding heat and stand out this summer.

1. Use Summer Colour Palettes (Without Losing Your Brand)

Canva makes it easy to stay on-brand while giving your visuals a seasonal twist. Try:

  • Swapping in summer-friendly tones: coral, turquoise, golden yellow
  • Searching for “summer colour palettes” in Canva’s colour tools
  • Creating a secondary palette that pairs with your main brand colours

Pro tip: Use the Brand Kit (available in Canva Pro) to save both your primary and seasonal palettes for easy switching.

2. Add Motion with Animated Elements

Do you want to make your posts pop on Instagram or LinkedIn? Use animated graphics, text, or stickers to catch attention:

  • Try summer-themed animations like suns, waves, or ice cream icons
  • Add animated transitions to Reels or Stories
  • Use “Animate” to make text slide, fade, or bounce

Pro tip: Keep animations subtle and on-brand, too much movement can be distracting.

3. Highlight Offers with Frames & Stickers

Got a summer promo or limited-time offer? Canva has thousands of fun ways to highlight it:

  • Use frames (search “summer frame”) around product photos or testimonials
  • Layer stickers like rays of sunshine or palm leaves to draw attention
  • Try ‘glow’ or ‘neon’ text effects for a summery pop

Pro tip: Keep designs clean; use 1–2 decorative elements max per image.

4. Create a Summer Highlight Reel for Instagram

Use Canva’s video templates to create a short ‘highlight reel’ of:

  • Summer specials
  • Client testimonials
  • Behind-the-scenes office fun

Just drop in your clips, choose a summer-themed template, and export!

Bonus: Our Favourite Summer Keywords for Canva Searches

Copy + paste these into Canva to find hidden gems:

  • “Summer Instagram post”
  • “Sunshine quote template”
  • “Tropical business flyer”
  • “Seasonal email header”
  • “Bright mood board”

Ready to Refresh Your Brand This Summer?

Need help refining your Canva designs, updating your brand kit, or planning seasonal content? That’s where we come in. At NIMDA, we offer creative and admin support to keep your business running smoothly whilst you enjoy time away from your business.