Canva may be one of the most AI-forward design platforms in the world, but its latest campaign takes a deliberately low-tech route.
Instead of generating its newest ad with artificial intelligence, Canva turned to painstaking stop-motion animation, bringing back Picci1, the charming pigeon introduced earlier this year in its “Wild Design” campaign.
Created by UK animation studio A+C, Picci1 was built entirely by hand, with character designers, model makers, puppet fabricators and even a puppet seamstress involved in bringing him to life. The craftsmanship gives the campaign a warmth that feels especially distinctive at a moment when AI-generated advertising is becoming increasingly common.
In the new “Wild Design Chapter II,” Picci1 and his friends are enjoying scraps outside an Italian trattoria when a stray cat interrupts the scene. Picci1 quickly uses Canva on a mobile phone to create a social post encouraging someone to adopt the cat. Soon enough, the animal finds a home, gains a new name – Bartolomiao – and calmly returns to the square.
The story keeps Canva’s message intentionally simple: design should feel accessible enough to solve everyday problems, whether you are running a restaurant, creating social content or, apparently, helping a neighborhood cat find a home.
By choosing handcrafted animation to tell that story, Canva also gives the campaign something increasingly rare in advertising: visible human touch.
