Melanie Perkins
Co-founder and CEO, Canva
Australian founder who started Canva to make design approachable for non-designers; its Magic Studio tools brought generative AI to the same audience.
Key arguments & positions
- Argues design tools failed most people by being expensive and hard to learn, and that templates fix more than tutorials do.
- Frames generative features as one step inside an existing workflow rather than a separate AI product.
- Committed most of her and her co-founder's equity to philanthropy through the Canva Foundation.
Accomplishments
- Co-founded Canva in 2013 with Cliff Obrecht and Cameron Adams; it now serves hundreds of millions of monthly users.
- Launched Magic Studio, bringing text-to-image, writing, and editing tools to non-designers.
- Runs Canva for Nonprofits and free education plans alongside the free consumer tier.
Papers & key writings
Communicates through Canva announcements, keynotes, and interviews rather than written research.
Links
In the library
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