I was shocked when a company called iam8bit sent me a message on Instagram inquiring about my availability for a project designing the front and back of a vinyl album cover. At this point in my journey I had hardly released any patterns, only had a couple hundred followers, and no cohesive brand. How did these people find me? Is this a scam?

In 2021, while recovering from a recent surgery, I wanted to make myself useful and use my art to raise some money for my local Nonprofit: The Grand Rapids Trans Foundation. I thought of the idea…