Getting social
While searching ‘obituaries’ I happened upon Canva’s offerings. Yes, Canva - an online graphic design platform used by millions to make their social media posts sing, their newsletters dance, their party invitations fly - has a design section specifically for obituaries!
I am very much hoping that the models they have used are just that - models - otherwise it is a very sad site.
It also highlights the question of exactly what IS an obituary? I write news obituaries for news organisations, but obituaries are also written by families and published in local newspapers - a lucrative form of revenue for many American newspapers, I believe. We don’t do that here so much. Most people post a short death notice and that’s all we get.
However, these obituary suggestions from Canva aren’t obituaries - or even eulogies. They are designs to help grieving families design a funeral booklet or order of service, and they are brilliant but I wonder why they are calling them ‘obituaries’?
It’s another reminder that so many people just don’t truly understand what an obituary is!
“A report, especially in a newspaper, that gives the news of someone’s death and details about their life.”
