125LESSONS EARNT
DECEMBER 2017 VIRGIN AUSTRALIAD
EAR MELANIE,you’ll grow
up living in Perth, Western
Australia, with two brothers
and a mother who will instil
in you the idea that you can
do anything you set your mind to. You’ll
come up with crazy themes for your
birthday parties and the four of you will
make the decorations. This early party
training will be the reason why you love
throwing such elaborate celebrations to
mark major goals at Canva.
That’s right, Canva. It’s a way of, but
you’ll be the co-founder of a company
that, in September 2016, will be valued
at $458 million and used by more than
12 million people worldwide to generate
about 2.5 million printable designs each
month. But there’s a lot of hard work to
be done before you reach that point.
In high school you’ll want to give
everything a go — internships at a sports
store, radio station and PR agency, and a
stint doing spray-on tattoos at carnivals.
You’ll also start your own business at age
14, selling scarves with a paper tag on
them saying ‘handmade in WA’, so any
flaws will seem endearing. You’ll enrol
in a communications degree at the
University of WA because you want to
keep your options open — you won’t
end up finishing it — and it’s there you’ll
first have the idea that eventually turns
into Canva, an online tool that ofers
DIY design templates for web and print.
It will start, however, in 2007 while
you’re teaching graphic design. You’ll
launch a business called Fusion Books,
a software program to design and create
professional yearbooks — a task you had
heard was a hassle. Your boyfriendA Design
for Life
Tech entrepreneur Melanie
Perkins created a program
that allows anyone to become
a graphic designer. Here’s
what she learnt along the way.
As told to ALIX CLARK