How Canva is Winning From the Edge

Thirty years before Canva would change global design from a small office in Perth, another Australian innovation was crafted in the same city that would change sailing forever: a radical keel design that would win the America's Cup in 1984 after 132 years of American dominance.

Both stories share the same DNA - Australian ingenuity triumphing against seemingly insurmountable odds.

When Ben Lexcen designed the revolutionary winged keel for Australia II, conventional wisdom said it wouldn't work. When Melanie Perkins pitched a browser-based design tool that anyone could use, Silicon Valley said the same thing. Both innovations emerged from Perth - a city that sits on the edge of a continent that sits on the edge of the world.

But perhaps that's exactly why they succeeded.

You see, there's something about being on the edge that breeds innovation. When you're far from the established 'centres of power' you develop a different perspective. You learn to solve problems with what's at hand. In Australia, we call it 'tie it up with wire' - finding elegant solutions with whatever's available.

The Australia II team didn't just challenge for the America's Cup - they revolutionised sailing by questioning every assumption about yacht design. They looked at the same problem everyone else had looked at for over a century and saw something different..

Canva did the same thing with design. Founded in 2012, this Australian tech unicorn revolutionised the design industry by creating a platform that makes professional design accessible to everyone. Today, it powers everything from social media posts to corporate presentations, with over 135 million monthly active users creating designs in every imaginable language and format. While Adobe and others focused on building increasingly powerful tools for professionals, Canva questioned why design needed to be complex at all. They saw the same problem everyone else saw - the difficulty of creating professional-looking designs - and solved it with the digital equivalent of wire: intuitive, accessible tools that anyone could use. Today, with this approach, it processes more than 200 designs every second (or about 15,000 since you started reading this post).

It's the same reason that the Australian diaspora shows up so strongly in the creative industry globally. And why I'm proud to be one of them.

The story of Canva begins with Melanie Perkins, who at 19 was teaching graphic design programs at the University of Western Australia. She watched students struggle with basic design software and thought there had to be a better way. This wasn't just frustration - it was the seed of a revolution.

Joined by Cliff Obrecht and Cameron Adams, Perkins didn't just want to create another design tool. They wanted to democratise design itself. It was an audacious goal, especially from Perth, where the timezone alone made conversations with potential investors a challenge.

But like the Australia II team, they didn't see these obstacles as barriers - they saw them as problems to solve. When Silicon Valley investors were skeptical, they kept refining their pitch. When technical challenges seemed insurmountable, they found creative solutions. When the pandemic hit, they adapted and thrived, growing their user base from 30 million to over 135 million.

Just as the winged keel of Australia II was hidden beneath the waterline until the crucial moment, Canva's true innovation wasn't immediately visible to competitors. It wasn't about features or technology - it was about reimagining the entire approach to design.

Traditional design software started with blank canvases and complex tools. Canva started with templates and intuitive controls. Where others saw design as a specialised skill, Canva saw it as a universal language waiting to be unleashed.

The results speak for themselves. Today, Canva is valued at $26 billion - more than the GDP of many small nations. The company that started in Perth now has offices worldwide, but they've maintained their Australian spirit of innovation and accessibility.

Like the Australia II campaign, which united a nation behind the pursuit of what seemed impossible, Canva's mission transcends mere business success. Their vision of empowering the world to design has led to initiatives like providing free access to education and nonprofit organisations.

When Perkins and Obrecht pledged to give away the vast majority of their fortune - estimated at over $16 billion - through their Canva Foundation, they demonstrated another distinctly Australian trait: success doesn't mean forgetting where you came from or who you're trying to help.

This isn't just about celebrating Australian success stories. It's about understanding that innovation doesn't always come from where you expect it. Sometimes it comes from the edges, from people who see problems differently precisely because they're not at the centre.

The Australia II victory changed sailing forever. Canva is changing design forever. Both emerged from Perth, both faced skepticism from established powers, and both succeeded by rethinking fundamental assumptions about what was possible.

What connects these stories - beyond their Perth origins and their global impact - is that distinctly Australian approach to problem-solving. The 'tie it up with wire' mentality isn't about makeshift solutions; it's about seeing the possibility of elegance in simplicity.

Today, Canva serves over 135 million users across 190 countries. Like Australia II's victory in 1983, they've proven that you don't need to be at the centre to change the game. You just need the courage to question conventional wisdom and the ingenuity to tie things together in new ways.

As Canva continues to evolve - now pioneering AI-powered design tools and expanding into workplace collaboration - they're showing that innovation from the edges isn't a one-time phenomenon. It's a continuous process of questioning, adapting, and reimagining what's possible.

The next time someone tells you great innovation only comes from Silicon Valley, remember this: some of the most transformative ideas come from the edges, where necessity breeds invention and where tying things up with wire can change the world.

That's not just the Canva story. That's not just the Australia II story.

That's the Australian story.

And it's far from over.

(By the way, I highly recommend "The Race of the Century" documentary on Netflix about the Australia II victory in 1993-94. It is a wonderful, energising story of innovation and teamwork, and makes me proud to be an Aussie. I must have watched it 10 times…)

Brandflow is written by Justin Billingsley, who has spent his career on all three sides of the industry's table: senior client, global agency leader, technology founder. First published 23 January 2025 in the Brandflow newsletter on LinkedIn.