Artdots: The benefits of creating a side project

Source: Dev.to

Three key benefits of creating a side project are giving back to the community, supporting other organizations, and personal growth.

Giving back to the community

One of the greatest benefits of creating a side project is the contribution to society at large. In this example, the main cause is to support art and empower artists and art‑lovers by shining a spotlight on those behind the scenes, celebrating the collaborative nature of the creative process, emphasizing the importance of mutual inspiration, and promoting equality between different art forms.

Many scientific studies suggest great benefits of giving back, such as increased levels of happiness and self‑esteem, overall improvement in mental and physical health, and a longer lifespan.

Supporting other organizations

Creating a side project can be beneficial not only to the community but also to small businesses and non‑profit organizations. The nature of a side project gives the ability to own the decision‑making and make selective choices.

Given the small scale of the project, I decided to avoid hosting the website and database on my personal server to ease the hosting and deployment process. After researching a backend solution, I found positive comments about Pocketbase, an open‑source Go project, and chose to use it. DigitalOcean is also known for being developer‑friendly (supporting Hacktoberfest), so I used their services for the project.

For design elements, I used products from organizations I have used before, such as Flaticon for icons and MagicPattern for patterns.

During promotion and organization, I relied on Notion, a tool I’ve enjoyed working with for almost a decade.

Personal growth

Another reason for creating a side project is self‑development. For me, the most challenging aspects were incorporating the database into the web application and handling its deployment. Later, I also started learning more about SEO, which I had never had the chance to explore before. Making your own project allows you to take creative and strategic decisions. While promoting the site, additional skills such as writing or public speaking can be useful.

Learn more about the project: https://artdots.co/