How do you avoid looking like a Canva template?

You avoid it by using the mark, the photo and the material of this venue, not a frame three other bars in the feed already have. The template can hold the price; it cannot be the face of the house. Search your trade on Instagram and screenshot the first three pieces that look the same. If yours fits in that row, the frame has to go. In the sierra several venues open the same café template and the neighbourhood can no longer tell the doors apart. A stock photo finishes the resemblance.

The menu piece and the story piece come out with your mark and your photo, and no downloaded frame. Whoever publishes next receives that base, not a link to the template.

Join our branding community

Join a community for people who care how a brand shows up on the door, the menu and the phone—not just in a pretty PDF. We share brand judgement you can use this week: names, systems, applications and decisions that hold on the floor. No endless moodboards, no empty decks and no agency theatre. Short takes, clear examples and tips for local businesses that already exist and need to look like themselves at every touchpoint.