In 2016, I stumbled upon Skills for Change (S4C), an app that matches volunteers to short, online service opportunities based on their skills and the causes they support. In their own words, S4C is “online volunteering… for busy people (like you).”
When I saw what S4C was all about, I got pretty excited. I had only recently learned about micro-volunteering, and I was eager for opportunities to try it out.
I filled out my skills profile and selected the causes that interest me. One of the first matches was a project to help Seed Programs International (SPI) build visual resources to accompany gardening education programs.
SPl’s mission is to enable access to quality seed, training, and resources to reduce hunger and poverty.
What resonated with me about their work is that they collaborate with local organizations to empower communities to harvest their own food, while being careful not to disrupt local economies in the process.
There were some specific project requirements in terms of the dimensions and colors. Everything needed to be in grayscale since they wouldn’t have access to a color printer. The images also all needed to fit on one large poster, so the best layout was a perfect square.
The first topic I received seemed tricky: soil. There are only so many ways to draw dirt in grayscale, right? Thankfully, SPI’s staff were on-hand to provide plenty of suggestions and inspiration for each of the image prompts.
These images are the results of my efforts over two mini-projects. I’ll be the first to admit, they’re certainly not masterpieces! However, I really enjoyed the creative process and I learned a bit about AutoDesk SketchPad in the process.
