SketchDaily Reborn!

Almost 4 years since the initial launch as SketchDaily.io, a major update is here! A new look, new features, and a new address - [sketchdaily.com](https://sketchdaily.com/).

SketchDaily started as a side project, a way to explore new technologies and marry the technical with the creative. It was launched on the 18th September 2017 as SketchDaily.io heavily relying on the "public beta" label to excuse all of the bugs and lack of polish.

As is common with side projects (at least for me), despite a few ambitious ideas I moved on to other projects and left SketchDaily idling in the background for years...

However, as time went on I noticed that people continue to discover and use SketchDaily and it give me motivation to come back and improve things. I started with the visible parts - rebuilding majority of the server-side, behind the scenes stuff to improve performance and a number of longstanding issues.

I then entirely rebuilt the whole user-facing side, albeit my design skills are terrible I'd like to think it's an improvement. This included reworking the core drawing mechanism as well, switching to an entirely different library but overall providing a more flexible sketching experience.

While I was reworking everything, I was inspired to add a number of things and after reviewing the backlog I am happy to say we have a number of new cool features:

• Remixing - You can now remix sketches, using others' sketches as a reference rather than the default lesson image.
• Leaderboard - Because everybody likes a little competition. Currently showing users in order of experience, but the goal is to add other leaderboards, for example based on activity in given time range, or by streak length.
• SketchDaily Plus - Finally live, you are able to subscribe and support SketchDaily to help cover the hosting costs and fund future improvements. You can also download SVG versions of any sketch if you'd like to work on it further in your favourite vector graphics editor. There's also a promotion code for the first 50 subscribers, enter the code EARLYBIRD for 20% off for first 12 months.
• Public galleries - You can now view sketches without logging in, and we now have user galleries so you can share your creations easily.
• Improved profiles - See most recent sketches and users' social media info (you can add this in your settings), feel free to plug your Instagram or DeviantArt account or what have you!
• Blog - Well, you're reading it right now, so you know this already! While this may not be updated frequently, it gives a chance to record progress and announce new features.

With that in mind, this is not the end, but only the next step to set SketchDaily up for future progress. There are a number of features planned out already, and more importantly - more content! I expect to add another 3-5 courses in the coming year and while I have a good idea of what I want them to look like, please feel free to reach out with your suggestions either via contact options on SketchDaily or via social media.

I'd like to thank all of the users who have participated so far, even if briefly - it feels great to see your work used by others! I am also thankful for a number of open-source projects without which SketchDaily would not have happened, or at least not as easily. A link to the open source page is now permanently residing in the footer of SketchDaily.

So that's it for the first blog post on the brand new SketchDaily! Thanks again for being here.

– Paulius, Creator

P.S.: Yep I did make those first course reference images myself in Adobe Illustrator and yes I know they're terrible, but hey - I'm learning too. And yes, the featured image is the very first sketch I made on this site.