When Ryan Grist launched Swwwift, his goal was simple: help graphic designers sell websites without needing to know how to code. But as the platform grew, so did the need for something more—a creative community built on connection, support, and a centralized space to grow together.

What started with a LinkedIn group and an overwhelming WhatsApp chat became something bigger: a thriving membership community, built by and for designers. In this story, Ryan shares how he went from running a traditional agency to building a designer-first app experience, and why Movement was the platform that finally made it possible to scale and bring everything together in one place. 

What is Swwwift?

Basically, Swwwift is a community for graphic designers. It originally started as a web platform—a SaaS or PaaS—designed to help designers sell websites in minutes. But when I launched it, I realized there was also a real need for community.

We’ve been on a journey over the last year and a half trying to find the right fit for that community. We started with a LinkedIn group, which is still running as our free group. Then we moved into a WhatsApp group to keep things more engaged. But when I wanted to monetize, I knew we’d outgrown that too. The platform we used next was just a temporary fix—it didn’t meet our needs.

"Then I came across Movement—and to be honest, it was an instant perfect fit. Most of what your app does just worked out of the box. And your customer support has been second to none. I’ve really enjoyed working with you guys."

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how Swwwift got started?

I trained as a graphic designer and, after completing my graphic design apprenticeship, I joined global advertising agency McCann and then launched a successful freelance career. In 2009, I expanded my services into web design and development, eventually running a full brand & web agency with staff and clients of all sizes. I went on to create the Swwwift platform to make it easier for designers—who don’t necessarily have web experience—to confidently sell websites.

As I started onboarding clients, I realized what was really missing was somewhere for them to hang out. When I mentioned building a community, they were excited—so I decided to give it a go.

Honestly, I didn’t think I’d be someone who builds a community. I thought that happened to other people. But at the start of last year, I gave myself six months to try. I started a LinkedIn group, kept pushing out content—and when the first person joined, I thought, “Oh no, now I’ve got to talk to them and keep them entertained.” Then another joined. Then another. Now we’re up to 660 members in the group.

In September last year, I set up a free WhatsApp group to keep people even more engaged. That hit around 50 people and got pretty crazy. Then in January, I decided to monetize it, and that’s when we used Nas. But I knew we still needed a proper long-term home—and that’s when Movement came in.

So from when I decided to really take it seriously last September to now, it’s moved quite quickly. Maybe not as fast as I’d like, but I’ve been doing it all myself to keep costs down. My plan now is to scale it properly. And we’re just about to kick off our marketing and paid ads, so it’s all happening.

What problem were you trying to solve that led you to Movement?

I wanted to have everything in one place.

"The reason it wasn’t working before was because everything was fragmented—we had feeds, directories, all sorts of things spread across different platforms. What I really wanted was to bring it all into one app. "

That "app vibe" was the most important thing to me—something people could save to their phone and get that proper app experience, with everything in one place. That’s what sold me on Movement. You offered that experience.

The feedback so far has been positive. We’ve got 17 people using it at the moment, all paying members. I only launched it a week and a half ago, so I’m now putting together a proper feedback form, but early signs have been very promising.

Did you consider other platforms for your community?

I was, until I saw Movement. When I gave it a bit of a trial, the others were quickly ruled out.

Circle was one, and the other was MemberPress, I think. But honestly, I wasn’t comfortable using them in the first place because they just didn’t have what I needed.

"What Movement has is pretty special, especially for what I was looking for. It was an instant ‘aha’ moment—which is what you want when users come into your funnel. So I’m a big fan of your platform. It does a lot of what we need."

What drew you to Movement? 

Chats were probably the main thing. Before, the community had lots of features, but the main thing people were using on a daily basis (pretty much every minute of the day) was the WhatsApp group.

"So it was really important that the chat experience was good. And I think the user experience as a builder and admin is really intuitive and easy to use. That’s really important when onboarding new people—along with responsive support, of course."

Have you received any member feedback yet?

Yes, I’ve had one so far—and it was actually the best kind, because she was brand new.

We call it the Swwwift Flock. She was new to the flock—started in the free group, then jumped on a Google Meet, and decided to give the paid group a go.

"She absolutely loves it. She said it’s amazing how well it fits what we need as designers. Because it’s exclusively for graphic designers, I’ve been able to put content in there and present it in a way that really feels valuable."

So yeah, she absolutely loves being part of the community already.

Which features have been most useful in building your community?

Definitely the content features. I mainly use it to create pages and then pull them in dynamically, for events and similar things. Events have been really useful!

Aside from that, I just build out pages how I want and save them as templates. That’s a feature I use a lot.

How did you design your app layout and structure?

My background is in design and user experience so I just tried to map it out myself. 

It was really about working out what needed to go in the sticky menu at the bottom on mobile, and then giving them a logical way to navigate everything else in the burger menu. Just thinking through how they’d move around all the features.

What benefits or impact have you experienced since launching the app, even in these early days?

One of the main goals for moving away from WhatsApp to an app was actually to slow down everyone’s contact. It sounds counterproductive, but the WhatsApp group was so crazy—your notifications were going off all the time, or you were missing stuff because you’d muted them.

So one of the objectives with moving to an app was that people could have more control over their notifications and be involved as much (or as little) as they want. And, the actual chat has really calmed down, which is a good thing because people have day jobs to do as well. So yeah, that’s the main thing I’ve noticed, and it’s what we wanted.

The feedback we got was that the WhatsApp group was too overwhelming. People were actually avoiding it, even those who were previously really engaged.

"So, the idea with the app was to give them all the functionality, but have it feel more holistic, not just chat. I wanted the app to be more of a full experience. Somewhere you could go for 10 minutes of downtime from work—like a Facebook for designers. "

You’ve got articles, knowledge shares, events, chats, support, the directory—somewhere people can dip in, browse for a bit, and get back to work. That was the whole mindset of moving to the app.

How has Movement helped you streamline your business and costs?

Because it was a bit of a startup, we were already using free tools. So, in that sense, we didn’t have many existing costs to consolidate.

"But it’s definitely reduced my admin time which, ultimately, is a cost to the business. So yeah, it feels a lot more streamlined now, and it feels ready to scale. Before, even though we had engagement, I always felt like we weren’t quite in a place to scale properly."

One of the main reasons I really like Movement is that if someone stops paying or you can’t take payment, they automatically lose access to the community. Whereas with the tool we were using before, that had to be done manually, which created more admin.

How long did it take you to build your app?

So I actually started when I was on holiday. I took my laptop with me and got going at the end of May so it’s been about six weeks.

"I don’t know how many hours I’ve spent on it—definitely a lot—but it’s been enjoyable. I’ve used software in the past that's just been a headache and you feel like you're battling it all the time to try and get what you need."

Do you have any tips for creators looking to improve their app’s design?

If they’ve got an idea and they’ve got an audience to sell it to, then I’d definitely recommend Movement. I’d say to keep your user experience front of mind and think about what your users are looking for.

"Keep your design simple and straightforward—which Movement helps you do anyway, just by the way it’s structured. So it’s helping creators through that design process already."

Looking ahead, what’s next for the Swwwift community?

For me, it’s all about continuing to add value for the paid users.

Right now, I’m focused on driving more traffic to the public areas of the app, like the directory. I’ve created something called Designer Spotlights, which are basically case study pages. The idea is that marketing managers, business owners, and agency owners can browse those pages and find a graphic designer that fits what they’re looking for.

So over the next 12 months, my goal is to make Swwwift the go-to place to find a graphic designer—and to be a graphic designer—in the UK.

For Ryan, building a community wasn’t part of the original plan. But by listening to his users and trusting the process, Swwwift has become more than a platform—it’s a creative hub for designers across the UK.

Now with big goals ahead, a custom app built from scratch, and a growing member base, Swwwift is set to become the go-to destination for designers to connect, collaborate, and get discovered. And thanks to Movement, Ryan has the tools and support to scale it all without the overwhelm.

Ready to launch with ease? Our team has you covered so you can focus on the why, while we take care of the how.

Check out the Swwwift app.

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