Can Canva’s Neuroscience-Backed Strategy Improve Your Brand?

Canva, the digital design platform used by millions, publishes new research showing that design-led businesses outperform those relying on text-heavy communications.

The findings combine neuroscience with global business insights, revealing how visual-first strategies influence brand strength, productivity and employee expectations.

Brain scans reveal the science behind branding

Canva's State of Visual Communication Report analyses responses from 2,475 professionals in eight countries and pairs this with Steady State Topography (SST) scans, a form of brain monitoring technology.

The SST approach records brain activity to measure how people respond to stimuli in real time.

"Ninety per cent of our decision-making happens in the subconscious – beyond the time of conscious awareness," says Samrat Saran, Head of Client Solutions at Neuro-Insight, referring to the instinctive judgements we make at a glance.

"So you can't really just ask people: 'What is it that you like and what is it that you don't like?'"

By analysing these automatic reactions, the study finds that vibrant, creative visual content can activate memory encoding 74% faster than plain or traditional alternatives.

Canva's data also shows creative presentations generate 21% stronger emotional responses and are rated 16% more likeable than less visual formats. For documents, emotional intensity rises 26% when visual design is prioritised.

The report shows that when content is creatively presented, people not only remember it faster but feel more connected to it.

The neurological response translates directly into higher engagement and stronger brand perception.

Visual-first companies perform better

Beyond neuroscience, Canva's research highlights how design-led companies consistently perform better across several operational and strategic metrics.

Sixty-six per cent of design-led organisations report clearer and more efficient communication, compared to 52% of companies led by text-based approaches.

Brand cohesion scores are also stronger in visual-first teams (61%) than in text-focused ones (57%).

Similarly, 61% of design-led companies report sharper brand differentiation, compared to 55% among traditional firms.

Despite these results, only 22% of global companies describe themselves as design-led.

The rest rely on legacy communication methods that limit their ability to compete visually, even though the tools to improve are widely available.

"We really try to empower our teams to communicate visually at scale too and that's really critical right now because it increases our chances of content landing and converting," says Cat van der Werff, Executive Creative Director at Canva.

Even for companies that invest in visual tools, the reality on the ground often fails to match the strategic vision.

Teams are spread across too many platforms and processes. On average, organisations use 8.7 different visual tools. In India, this number climbs to nearly 12.

In France and India, this fragmentation leads to teams spending over 21 hours each week on outsourced support.

"While 87% of business leaders say visual communication investments enhance efficiency and reduce costs, 71% simultaneously worry about overspending on tools that fail to deliver impact," the report states.

Gen Z demands a reshaping of communication norms

The report finds that generational change is accelerating the shift towards visual fluency.

Gen Z professionals, now entering the workforce in larger numbers, bring a different set of communication expectations.

Ninety per cent say they work best when expressing ideas visually, and 87% believe visual skills are critical for career success.

However, 83% admit they often use unauthorised tools to work around outdated systems.

The demand for modern, AI-powered tools is growing.

When given access to these platforms, 87% of Gen Z workers say they view human-AI collaboration as the future of creativity.

Canva's findings suggest that companies risk losing younger talent if they fail to evolve their communications stack.

Visual-first environments are no longer a bonus – they are an expectation.

The financial implications stretch across the global economy. The visual content creation market is worth US$140bn.

In the United States alone, companies spend $65,000 per creative team member each year.

However, more than 90% of business leaders and Gen Z staff say creative potential is blocked by poor tooling, slow review processes and reliance on external suppliers.

Firms that consolidate their visual technology stacks report faster delivery to market, better collaboration and reduced costs.

Canva’s study positions visual communication as a strategic imperative, not a design preference.

With neuroscience data now quantifying its impact, the case for integrating design thinking into core business strategy becomes difficult to ignore.

Organisations that fail to modernise their visual identity risk falling behind in performance, culture and commercial returns.