Stretching your design

There’s a magical feeling that arises when you put something online and payment notifications appear in your inbox.

The first time this happened for me, was when I crowdfunded my first book Being Bi-BI: a memoir on mental health and sexuality.

I set up a page on a site called Pozible, filmed a video, and put the request up on social media.

I remember going out to lunch with a friend and being distracted by email notifications of people pledging $10, $50 and even $100 to support my book.

I went on to finish the book, host a launch party, and donate the profits to help fund a documentary on the suicide prevention work LifeLine does.

It’s hard to set something up and get paid online, but I encourage you to keep trying.

Ways you can practice this:

Do a fundraising campaign for a cause you care about.

It could be a special run, a physical challenge, or a novelty like shaving your head.

Use the skills you’re starting to learn for your campaign.

• Can you collaborate with a friend who is noisy on social media to chuck you a spicy mention?
• What can you do to help them?
• Can you create some graphics to go on your fundraising page that help make it pop?
• What does it look like on a mobile phone and how can you improve that look?

Practice with a personal webpage.

The stakes are lower than when you’re trying to sell something, but the skills you pick up will help a business page too.

Design flyers.

It’s easy to underestimate how powerful these can be when you’re learning online. Create something visual that pops, and distribute it near where your audiences are (cafes, yoga studios, noticeboards). You’ll be amazed the first time someone you don’t know reaches out and makes an inquiry.

Continue building a swipe file and developing your eye.

You’ll find this skill will continue to build and the things you created a year ago now look ugly compared to where you are today.