Giving Tuesday is today, and, to celebrate the art of giving, I wanted to share how to give back as a designer. Money, food, clothes are all wonderful ways to contribute, but there are needs by non-profits and people that only a creative solution can fix.

One of my favorite examples was a post by CoDesign about making more creative signs for homeless “Can Graphic Design Help the Homeless?“. While the signs weren’t exactly a solution to helping the homeless in the Boston area, it did help to stimulate a conversation about the very people living on the streets and provide a very real voice for some to speak.

Non-profits are a great way to connect to your community. I’ve used Grassroots.org to find non-profits in need of design work whether it’s branding, marketing material or a website redesign. They are wonderful to work with and are extremely grateful for the work since they are usually spending their energy towards their cause. This is also a great way to create new and diverse portfolio work with a story to share to potential clients or employers.

Want to work with other designers? Design Like Mad is a new program that combines designers with non-profits for a day to produce amazing solutions. I was lucky to be able to attend one in Milwaukee for a day. If you feel this is something you want for your city, reach out to them. They are amazing to work with, and you have so much fun with your non-profit.

While these are some ideas, please feel free share your ideas. I would love to hear from you!