The Launch will be uniquely focused on making. Every session, every participant will make something — with goals of lowering our own barriers to entry, freeing ourselves from overthinking, and using group accountability to encourage each other to create for the sake of creating.

Each participant will also launch a low-stakes, high-joy personal project to an audience while exploring questions like:

• What is a “launch?” What is a “project?” What is an “audience?” Who do we make things for? Who would we rather make things for?
• What inspires us as humans vs. as workers?
• What would we make if we didn’t overthink? How do we get out of our own way?
• How do we personally and collectively find joyful creative flow?

Participants do not need to have a personal project in mind before signing up. Some examples of low-stakes, high-joy personal projects:

• An installation of miniature paintings for the squirrels outside your apartment.
• A newsletter all about soup.
• A coloring book of fanciful farm machinery for your nephew.
• A spooky custom typeface made out of fingernail clippings.
• A shared map of all the cats in your neighborhood including photos, names, and specific tips on how to visit them.
• A handmade pair of sequin pants to be worn to a very special event.
• The first in a series of weekly DJ sets focused on embracing imperfection.
• A short story about Scrub Mommy sponges auditioning for a Real Housewives franchise.

This course is for you if:

• You make things or would like to make things in any medium
• You ever feel stuck or like you’re not sure which (if any) personal projects to pursue
• You’re looking to inject more spontaneity, community, and intention into your creative practice
• You’re interested in exploring creative work outside of its commercial value

This course is not for you if:

• You are hoping it will help you seek VC funding or a spot on Shark Tank (although “an illustrated zine ranking episodes of Shark Tank based on how much an actual shark would enjoy them” would make an incredible Launch project!)

• Build community through creative play while also holding each other accountable for collective making
• Challenge assumptions about what we make and who we make it for
• Practice getting creatively unstuck by stepping outside of comfort zones and frameworks of commercial value
• Embrace imperfection and run toward the strangeness
• Launch an experimental personal project!

Every session will include at least one “burst of active making” to lower our individual barriers to creation.

Week 1 - Intention & Ambition

We’ll explore frameworks for making, outline our individual and collective goals, and discuss possibilities for unlearning.

Week 2 - Fascination & Generation

We’ll discuss the value of sharing our joy, explore alternative muses, and define our driving themes.

Week 3 - Reflection & Selection

We’ll discuss the freedom of finitude, reflect on internal and external gatekeepers, and declare our projects.

Week 4 - Action & Celebration

We’ll present our progress, collectively troubleshoot, discuss the worth of rest and celebration, and establish means of collective future support.

• Frog & Toad Are Friends
• Influencer Creep
• Mary Oliver on “On Being with Krista Tippett”
• The Creative Independent
• Learning By Heart: Teachings to Free the Creative Spirit by Corita Kent & Jan Steward
• Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management For Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
• How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell

Olivia Crandall is a writer and illustrator based in Los Angeles. Her work — largely focused on how pop culture impacts and reflects the way we live — has been featured in places like Vulture, Gossamer, Dirt, and InStyle. She loves embarking on low-stakes, high-joy personal projects of her own, like a long-running book review archive, a nonsensical newsletter, a collaborative map of the cats in her neighborhood, and an ongoing experiment to see the most absurd thing she can convince New York Magazine to let her publish. When she’s not doing all of those other things, Olivia is also an Associate Creative Director at Butchershop.

Index scholarships are designed to benefit underrepresented groups, BIPOC members of our community, and those for whom the class price is not accessible. These need-based scholarships will go to the candidates who best demonstrate why they should be chosen for the free spot to our class based on the following criteria:

• Belong to groups that are traditionally underrepresented in the graphic design and creative industries
• Do not have jobs that would pay for these courses as professional development
• Cannot independently afford the class at list price
• Share our value of intentional community

The number of selected applicants chosen is subject to the discretion of Index and the instructor, but every course will select at least one. Applications are due Sept Nov 1, 2022 and recipients will be notified by Nov 4, 2022. Apply here.

We get that things come up, but we rely on headcounts in our programs to survive as a business. If you request a refund...

More than 4 weeks before class begins → 100% refund

More than 2 weeks before class begins → 50% refund

Fewer than 2 weeks before class begins → No refund

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