MANILA – Graphic design tool Canva has launched its Manila office, with a team of eight people to help with marketing, customer service, and graphic design. “We’ve just opened our Manila office this week and we’re very excited about the potential in the Philippines,” said Zach Kitschke, head of communications, during a media launch on August 8.
“The design aesthetic and the creativity and everything here is just so wonderful,” CEO Melanie Perkins said when asked about their decision to launch in the Philippines, which is among Canva’s top ten markets.
Launched about 11 months ago in Australia, Canva has grown to 650,000 users. “We have had such an incredible response… We have been growing like crazy,” Perkins said, noting that they had close to a million new designs created in the last month.
In April, Guy Kawasaki joined Canva as their Chief Evangelist. “Macintosh democratized computers; Google democratized information; and eBay democratized commerce. In the same way, Canva democratizes design,” said Kawasaki, who was an early adopter of Canva.
Perkins shared that she came up with the idea for Canva over seven years ago, when she was teaching design programs. “I realized that the future of design would be entirely different. It would be online, it would be collaborative,” she said.
“This process is so complicated and so complex, and it doesn’t take advantage of the technology that we have available today. Design is very hard, and we don’t believe that this is the way design is going to be done in the future,” Perkins said. Canva simplifies the design process by integrating design tools, such as stock libraries of photos, illustrations and layouts, which include contributions from around the world.
“We’re very excited to watch the team in Manila growing. We really are just getting started,” Perkins said.
In photo (L-R): Cliff Obrecht, COO, Kei San Pablo of Canva Manila, Melanie Perkins, CEO, Zach Kitschke, head of communications, and Tin Atanacio of Canva Manila
