Deciding Between InDesign or Canva for Cover

Deciding Between InDesign or Canva for Cover

Recently, my class was given an assignment to create the front page of a sample magazine. Instead of creating the cover right away, we were introduced to two popular designing apps. The main focus of this assignment was to play around with those apps to create a realistic cover that someone would see on a magazine. There were multiple YouTube videos on both Canva and InDesign that helped guide into which app would be best. 

Upon watching the 10-minute InDesign video, I noticed that it was very detailed, and it contained very intricate options. I tried InDesign at first on my computer to get a new feel of this unfamiliar system. However, it was really hard to create the cover because there was a lot to do. The interface of InDesign was very OVERWHELMING to use and to even look at. Despite the cons of InDesign, it is very useful if you want to photoshop, make your cover look very "fancy" in a sense, amazing typography, and etc.

On the other hand, Canva was another app that I was more familiar with. Canva contains a user-friendly setting and a lot of embellishing options that I was really drawn to. The colors of Canva's interface are very bright and inviting unlike InDesign. This app became my decision to work on sample cover.  I liked how Canva was just so easy to use and how the page looked so organized.  In the end, I preferred Canva to make my sample cover and in my next blog I will discuss how I made my sample cover.

To sum it up, these two design apps are two big necessities in my portfolio process. I prefer Canva over InDesign, but that doesn't mean InDesign won't be used. It is commendable that I was given two choices by my teacher and this assignment helped me think like a magazine developer. I learned how to center pictures, create cover lines and so much more!