How They Handle Typography: Survey of Canva, Kittl and Express

Carl Shank • April 18, 2023

How They Handle Typography: Survey of Canva, Kittl, and Adobe Express

How do some of the major quick illustration programs handle typographic challenges? First, a disclaimer. This is not an exhaustive survey of Canva, Kittl or Adobe Express. However, since I have used these three programs in illustrative purposes, I wanted to find out how they might handle a typographic challenge, namely the banner of a 1901 Calendar. I have worked with this Calendar on a separate blog ("Digitizing the Past") and you can find important information there about the Calendar's source and creators. I have also worked to some extent on Adobe Express, Kittl and more recently Canva. All three have their purposes and strengths and weaknesses in comparison with one another. This blog is not about that comparison.


I wondered how these three programs would deal with a typographic challenge presented by this old 1901 Calendar. It would only be fair to say that none of the programs, nor my professional Adobe InDesign program, was up to the challenge, since the typeface used on the Calendar was not to be found anywhere (it might be closest related to Legal Brief JNL Regular, but that's a stretch). It was most likely hand drawn letters (I would invite my readers to state and show otherwise), especially noting the elongated bottom serif on the "E" of the banner and the "R."


Some general comments in using Express, Kittl and Canva might be in order in terms of typography. First, they are not precise typographic programs. They are mostly used and have been created for non-designers to be able to draft pleasing and eye catching illustrations and designs, especially for POD tasks (Printing On Demand). Kittl especially provides some nice Victorian art and design venues for an older look. Canva has the greatest image factory with thousands of images and designs at your fingertips. Adobe Express allows Creative Cloud members such as I am to quickly draw or design something not using Photoshop's or Illustrator's many features and steep learning curves. And Premium membership is free for Creative Cloud subscribers.


Kittl, and to a lesser extent, Canva, allows the typographer to play with type in a creative and fun way. In Kittl you can twist, rotate, skewer, shade and do other special effects on type that would require much time and work in the classic design programs, like Illustrator, Photoshop and the older Freehand. I have a number of issues of that wonderful design magazine, Before & After, by John McWade, now out of print, that delighted illustrators and type designers like I am for a number of years. These three programs  are quick-draw, down-and-dirty, if I may use that phrase, programs that are sight oriented with little to no measurement or precision. What looks good or nice or playful or whatever is what they give you. Precise typesetting tools and measurements are not there, such as technical letterspacing. Small caps are often missing on the glyphs presented in the programs, though they do have many of the glyphs of a regular typeface. But, they would say that more technical programs are what are to be used by professional typesetters and layout designers, especially for typesetting.


I have provided below the Calendar challenges and what I discovered these programs, along with my trusty Adobe InDesign program, can provide. I am not an expert user of Canva, or Kittl, or Express, and I am certain that tweaking is possible with these illustration programs. You can judge for yourself. What I finally had to do to give typographic justice to the banner in the 1901 Calendar was to actually craft a typeface from the letters provided on the calendar using Fontographer.

Canva (above) and Kittl (right)

Successful Layout & Design

Art Nouveau Typography

By Carl Shank • September 6, 2025
Art Nouveau fonts grew out of the late 19th-century Art Nouveau movement (c. 1890–1910), which sought to break away from academic, historicist styles and create a new art for the modern age. The style flourished across Europe and America in architecture, furniture, illustration, and typography. In lettering, Art Nouveau embraced organic forms, flowing curves, floral motifs, and asymmetry, reflecting the movement’s fascination with natural growth and hand-drawn ornament. Art Nouveau took its name from the Maison de l'Art Nouveau, a Parisian gallery that exhibited the works of artists and designers who were associated with the movement. The style was characterized by flowing, curvilinear forms inspired by natural shapes and motifs such as flowers, vines, and insects. It also incorporated elements from other artistic traditions, such as Japanese art and the Arts and Crafts movement. Art Nouveau was particularly popular in Europe, where it influenced a wide range of artistic disciplines, including architecture, interior design, furniture, jewelry, and graphic design. Some of the most notable Art Nouveau architects included Hector Guimard, Antoni Gaudí, and Victor Horta, while artists such as Alphonse Mucha, Aubrey Beardsley, and Gustav Klimt were celebrated for their decorative and ornamental works. Art Nouveau declined in popularity after World War I, as artists and designers began to embrace new, more modernist styles. However, its influence can still be seen in many aspects of contemporary design, and it remains an important and influential movement in the history of art and design. 

Ornamental Gothics

By Carl Shank • August 30, 2025
Gothics History. Gothic typefaces are a broad group of styles rooted in medieval calligraphy and evolved into distinct print types during and after the invention of movable type via Gutenberg in the 15th century. They are sometimes confusingly named. In Europe “Gothic” usually refers to blackletter (medieval scripts), while in the U.S. “Gothic” often refers to sans-serif typefaces since the 1830s. Gothic script is a broad term for the entire family of medieval European scripts that developed from Carolingian minuscule around the twelfth century. “Minuscules” are lower case letters as distinct from capital letters, or uncials. Type developed in the sixth through tenth centuries with modern lettering evolving from Carolingian scripts. The Emperor Charlemagne used these letters as an educational standard. These densely packed scripts featured tall, narrow letterforms, strong vertical emphasis, sharp, angular connections, a dramatic thick/thin contrast and minimal spacing between letters. Gothic-inspired fonts create immediate medieval impact and work beautifully for titles, logos, and short display text. They are used today in Fantasy Gaming, Historical Projects, Themed Entertainment (like the Renaissance Fair), Book Design, Certificates, Breweries and Distilleries. Jack Nolan, a professional graphics designer, has provided a fetching display of such faces in his "33 Medieval Fonts Perfect for ‘Ye Olde’ Designs in 2025."(1)
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