Canvas was a passion project with the goal of matching mission-driven organizations with values-aligned artists to amplify the power and reach of their communications. It ultimately did not come to fruition, but it was nonetheless a rewarding experience.
freelance product design / canvas, 2019
All information in this case study is my own and doesn’t necessarily reflect the views of Canvas. The organizations and artists featured in the mocks aren’t affiliated with Canvas—I just admire them!
project type
Desktop Web, Mobile Web
team
Max Silverman (Founder/CEO)
my role
Wireframing, UI/UX design, prototyping
status
Not shipped (pending user testing, fundraising, and hiring)
run design for something
Max and I previously led Product at similar companies (Seed&Spark and Stareable, respectively), where we built tools for filmmakers in an effort to democratize storytelling. He had the idea of building a creative marketplace for progressive politics, and I teamed up with him to help bring Canvas to life through design explorations and prototypes.
This case study reflects my contribution to Canvas in the early stages, as we figured out the product’s direction, business model, and marketplace dynamics.
The tweet that introduced me to Canvas and led me to connect with Max, the founder.
context
In 2018, Democrats nominated 158 first-time candidates to run for the House. These grassroots candidates galvanized communities across the country, but generally lacked the resources (operating budget, campaign scale) of establishment politicians. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stood out among these progressive, "outsider" candidates. Her campaign was effective for many reasons, but it’s impossible to overlook the brand and visual identity (an in-kind donation by Tandem Design NYC) as a contributing factor to her success.
What if every down-ballot candidate had access to professional artists? What if artists had an easy way to collaborate with campaigns that align with their values? (Note: Canvas defines "artist" broadly – including, but not limited to: designers, filmmakers, composers, animators, photographers, and writers.)
These questions were the seeds out of which Canvas eventually grew. Though it was initially conceived as a platform for progressive politics, we decided to broaden our reach and include NGOs and social enterprises. This decision was due in part to the seasonality of elections (how would we deal with lulls and off-years?) and in part due to scalability considerations (would there be enough demand from government orgs alone to build a sustainable business model?).
studying the existing landscape
Our current political climate has spawned numerous organizations committed to activism and grassroots organization, such as Run for Something and Emerge America.
The gig economy has also exploded, with more than 35% of the US workforce identifying as a “gig worker” in 2018. These two trends helped validate our value hypothesis for Canvas.
While there are existing channels for orgs to engage professionals, we saw an opportunity to differentiate ourselves through skills vetting, data-driven matching, simple workflow tools, and a specific focus on artists.
By surveying both artists and folks in the political space, we furthered our understanding of the existing landscape and used those conversations to help guide our MVP development.
Some organizations that overlap with Canvas, in terms of mission and/or marketplace dynamics:
Ragtag: Organizes and manages tech volunteers to build products and tech projects that amplify the work of progressive groups.
Catchafire: Connects nonprofits with pro-bono professionals looking to donate their skills.
Collective Agency: Brings together media professionals who want to use their expertise to amplify the efforts of resistance groups across the country.
Upwork and Fiverr: Freelancing platforms where businesses and independent professionals can collaborate remotely.
early iterations
Based on conversations with both artists and political strategists, we realized that the latter group would need more of a push to join Canvas. We found that artists were already motivated to use their skills “for good” but didn’t know where to find such opportunities. Orgs, on the other hand, had to be convinced of the value of engaging artists via a self-service platform like Canvas.
Early flowchart detailing the onboarding process for artists vs. political campaigns. We ultimately expanded our definition of “organization” to include all mission-driven organizations.
Early wireframes of the onboarding process focused exclusively on down-ballot political candidates (before we pivoted to a more general approach). Max suggested re-orienting the flow around campaigns instead, so that any campaign staffer could use the self-service platform on behalf of their candidate.
Onboarding flow oriented around candidates
Onboarding flow oriented around campaigns
bringing canvas to life: onboarding orgs
As we continued to iterate and move towards prototyping, we reduced the amount of steps and reconsidered the flow so that it would work for all types of progressive orgs; not just political campaigns.
Earlier iteration focused exclusively on political campaigns (with an overtly political Canvas logo to boot!).
Orgs with an immediate need are prompted to input project details as part of the onboarding flow. By capturing “urgency” early in the onboarding process, we hoped to reduce friction and streamline the matching process.
Issue-alignment is critical to the matching process, so we ask both artists and orgs to rank their priorities and “key issues” when creating their profiles.
The final onboarding step captures project details, which also help determine artist matches. Orgs specify the type of artist (designer, musician, writer, production, etc), project (ongoing vs. one-off), deadline, and budget.
Given the nature of the platform, we anticipate that most users will onboard via desktop web. However, I made sure to design everything with responsive layouts in mind.
Based on the inputs above, Canvas surfaces the artists best suited for the org’s creative needs. Orgs can further refine their search or explore the matching artist profiles.
Artist Feed
Mobile Artist Feed
Artist Profile
bringing canvas to life: onboarding artists
The landing page primarily addresses organizations, since they are essentially the “buyer” of our product. The assumption that artists will be easier to acquire and therefore don’t need as much targeted language is definitely something we will have to validate through testing. An earlier version of the landing page allowed users to tab between the two value propositions, giving orgs and artists more equal footing.
The green text rotates through all the different types of orgs that Canvas supports (NGOs, government offices, political campaigns, social enterprises, etc).
“Join as Artist” is the secondary CTA, which prompts a standard account creation modal so we can capture emails and follow up in case of drop-off.
We wanted to make it easy for artists to import work from existing platforms, while also providing the option to curate a selection specifically for Canvas.
I designed this element to allow for importing from other portfolio platforms, such as Vimeo and Behance.
After inputting their availability, preferred turnaround time, and hourly rate, artists can sort through a feed of active projects that align with their values, skills, and availability.
Project Feed
I opted for list view vs. grid view, since project components would be more text-heavy and less visual. From this list, artists can either click on the org name/thumbnail to learn more about the organization, or click “See Details” to learn about the specific project.
Project Page
Organization Profile
We also wanted to test the scenario where an artist pitches an org on a project. For example, a band could partner with a political campaign to set up a voter registration booth at an upcoming concert. This would allow for orgs with less visibility to leverage artists’ existing audiences in order to amplify their messaging.
Artists can submit their own project proposals, leveraging existing work or events to support causes they believe in.
final thoughts
Ever since Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, I’ve been intrigued by the intersection of design and politics. After November 2016, I felt compelled to use my skills to create the change I wanted to see in the world. I started a project called Stranger Homes, with the intent of encouraging cultural exchange through personal space. I freelanced with Shine, a platform focused on self-care. I volunteered with Make a Mark, a design and development marathon benefitting local humanitarian causes. I left my stable job in ad tech to work for a startup dedicated to supporting diverse voices in media.
Canvas is the product that I’ve been wishing for since 2016. As a designer, I’d love an easier way to search for one-off civic projects that align with my values. I’d love to design a poster for a rally to end gun violence, or a logo for a down-ballot candidate whose platform I support. I feel grateful to have had the opportunity to help out during the early stages and I’m excited to see where Max takes it from here!