Celebrating Gen Z Nostalgia and Creativity on Canva’s World Tour
Images via the author and Canva
Ohhhhh, Polaroids!
Wait, remember these?! I had these patches!
THIS was my favorite candy…
Hang on. Look what you can make with this…
Snippets of conversations I heard at the opening of Canva’s 2025 World Tour in NYC last month when Gen Z creatives stormed a technicolor Brandwagon Tour Bus to indulge a growing sense of nostalgia while exploring a new set of innovative tools.
A simultaneous look back and leap forward – and rising creators are here for it.
According to a Harris poll, while 84% of Gen Z members surveyed find it important to keep an open mind about new technologies, 60% say they wish they could “go back to a time before everyone was plugged in.” As this would necessarily involve going back to a time before these Gen Z-ers were born, the term historical nostalgia comes into play and brands are leaning into this trend.
Images via Canva | Teen Vogue | GearNews
From the music industry, where Gen Z has been deemed the driving force behind skyrocketing vinyl music sales with sound quality, collectability and authenticity being three of the reasons why, to photo content creation and Gen Z’s growing obsession with digital and disposable cameras (citing collectability along with screen-free experiences and analog aesthetics), Gen Z is getting creatively nostalgic.
There’s more.
From fashion, where grunge, Y2K and Doc Martens are filling Gen Z closets and thrifting and sustainability are firmly-embedded values, to TV and movies where DVDs have seen a surge in popularity (for the certainty of ownership, throw-back feel and bonus features) and 90’s-centered prequels like Elle are eagerly anticipated by Gen Z-ers twirling retro phone cords around their fingers. Indeed, phones themselves are going old-school with new looks and consumers can’t get enough.
Brands are leaning in and Canva is popping up right on time to power this nostalgia. All last month the Canva Brandwagon traveled across the U.S. bringing Canva users together to celebrate and create with on-site workshops, IRL activations and inspo nodding to the past while paving our way for the future.
Images via Canva
I was thrilled to attend the first Brandwagon stop in NYC during ADWEEK and chat with Kailyn (Paretti) Nunn, architect of Canva’s Influencer Marketing engine. What was the number one thing she wanted Gen Z users to know?
“Canva is all about creating whatever you can dream,” she told me as activity swirled around us in Herald Square Plaza. “And you should dream big! There’s no dream too big to try for, so have crazy big goals.”
“Everyone’s gotta go after their crazy big goals!”
NYC Canva creators needed no encouragement. And as I dove into the interactive sessions on and off the energy-infused bus, I noticed two things: (1) the vibe was deliciously nostalgic, with vintage stickers, memory-invoking charm stations and old-school candy, but (2) the tools were decidedly modern, with fresh AI features we couldn’t absorb fast enough.
Images via the author
Highlights from last month’s Canva World Tour give a taste of the multi-city experience, and more can be seen in a one-minute review here. But the best part came last week when Canva co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins unveiled Canva’s next stage at this keynote – aptly called The Imagination Era.
Click image to play
My favorite takeaways?
That the World Tour’s original goal was to train 1 million people in Canva in 30 days
That the tour reached 40 cities across 30 countries over 260 events
That Canva’s biggest product drop to date happened during the last stop in Sydney
That Canva AI may just house the most explosive new design ideas in…ever.
What might Gen Z creators take away from Canva’s Brandwagon and keynote as they embrace nostalgia with new tools?
I go back to Kailyn Nunn’s comments as we stood on 34th Street: “Canva is all about creating whatever you can dream…and you should dream big!”
Looking forward while remembering fondly,
Illana
ÊXTRAS: Three more Canva moments you won’t want to miss: watching Gen Z creators get Canva certified, hearing what Canva execs loved the most about the Brandwagon (hint: they affectionately called it “Brandy”), and saying hi to Canva’s AI assistant. We’re waving back.
