I Tried Motion Design in Canva — Here’s What Happened
A beginner-friendly tool turned into a surprisingly fun way to experiment with animation and UI movement.
Hey friends,
Today, I want to share something unexpected I tried recently that turned out to be one of the most fun design experiments I’ve done in a while.
I was working on a quick visual for a concept UI design, and instead of jumping into After Effects or Figma’s Smart Animate, I opened… Canva.
Yes — Canva. The tool we usually use for posters, slides, and social posts.
I know what you're thinking: “Canva? For motion design?”
That’s exactly what I thought, too. But curiosity got the better of me — and I’m glad it did.
Why I Reached for Canva
Let’s be honest — most traditional motion design tools come with a learning curve. After Effects is powerful, but it’s not always friendly. I just needed something quick, light, and expressive.
I was already familiar with Canvas design flow, so I thought: “What if I just test this animation tab and see what it can do?”
To my surprise — it worked.
What I Discovered
Quick Prototyping
Canvas animation presets made it super easy to simulate scrolls, button transitions, or mobile UI flows. I created simple animated mock-ups that helped me show interactions, not just explain them.
Beginner-Friendly Workflow
No timeline. No keyframes. Just drag, click, and preview. It’s perfect when I want to focus more on storytelling than technical polish.
Reusable Templates
After playing around a bit, I started saving my motion layouts as templates — now I can reuse them across different projects or case studies.
My Favorite Little Tricks
The layered text is revealed using multiple animations with slight delays
Simulated scrolls by animating parts of a mobile UI mock-up
Micro-interaction loops using duplicate slides for bounce-like effects
Nothing complicated — just lightweight movements to enhance clarity and experience.
Is Canva a Motion Design Tool?
That depends on what you need.
If you’re trying to:
Explain UI ideas with motion
Make social content pop
Create lightweight animations for portfolios or presentations
Then yes, Canva is surprisingly capable.
But if you need:
Frame-by-frame animation
Custom easing and timelines
3D or complex character motion
Then Canva won’t replace After Effects — and that’s okay. You can still use it as a starting point.
My Takeaway
Exploring motion in Canva reminded me that you don’t need fancy tools to be creative. You just need a tool that lets you start — and Canva gave me that.
And sometimes, starting is more important than mastering.
Have you ever tried animation in Canva?
Or maybe you’ve used an unexpected tool to solve a creative problem?
I’d love to hear what worked for you. Hit reply or leave a comment — I read everyone.
Until next time,
— Gulshan
P.S. I’m thinking of turning this into a short tutorial series with Canva motion examples. If you’d be interested, let me know.