14 DAY TRIAL // Google has long been a proponent that the web can replace every app on your computer and it's certainly working on making that a reality, even though these days it's by writing computer apps in web-native languages.
But even today's web is not enough. Google Docs is great, but there are plenty of other native apps that don't have an equivalent on the web.
Photoshop is often cited as an example of why you still need a Windows computer as opposed to a Chromebook, for example.
One startup is aiming to change that, not by creating a web tool as powerful as Photoshop, but by creating one that is good enough for most people, the Google Docs model.
Canva is not aimed at the professional designers. Rather, it's aimed at people who need to design something fast and easy and still end up with a result that doesn't look like it's been put together from clip art.
The tool is still in limited beta, so you need an invite to get in, but you can put your name on the list right now.
Canva is free and comes with plenty of content, i.e. fonts, images, layouts, and so on, built-in. However, if you want to access the extended library, you'll have to pay, which is how the site plans to make money. Professional designers can create assets for the site to be sold on the internal marketplace, when it opens.
But stock images will be significantly cheaper than on other sites, since they're only licensed for one specific project.
The site also provides simple tools for putting together a poster, a banner, and so on, the idea being that anyone should be able to pick it up in a few minutes. Courtesy of its being a web tool, collaboration is also built right in, so you can work with several other people on a project.