Swwwift was founded by Ryan Grist, an experienced graphic designer whose career began in 1997.

Ryan started in 1997 as a graphic design apprentice but quickly made his mark, becoming the first student in Hereford Art & Design College to complete an NVQ Level 4 and achieving both NVQ Levels 3 and 4 in just two years – half the usual time.

His exceptional work earned him awards such as Part-Time Student of the Year, alongside accolades for his talent, including winning an external design studio competition.

After his apprenticeship, Ryan joined the renowned agency McCann, working on household brands within the Retail Design division. Driven to expand his horizons, he later transitioned to smaller, local agencies to gain broader experience.

In 2003, after being made redundant, Ryan took the leap into freelancing. He worked tirelessly, often freelancing back with former employers while building his own client base. His dedication paid off, culminating in a significant milestone — winning a House of Lords tender, outshining over 35 global agencies.

In 2009, Ryan identified an opportunity to create and deliver websites for clients.

Over time, his business evolved, and websites became the core of his offering.

By 2017, Ryan had a new vision: to make websites accessible, affordable, and tailored to graphic designers to sell and earn additional income alongside their graphic design business helping to ringfence clients. This idea became the foundation of Swwwift, which started under a different name and has since grown into so much more.

Today, Ryan pivoted Swwwift as a community and is on a mission to make Swwwift the go-to destination for UK-based graphic designers after not being able to find one to use himself. The community provides everything designers need. From community chat, a flight school to Swwwift Box for job opportunities, websites, and peer-to-peer support.

Swwwift is only for UK-based graphic designers.

Ryan found it difficult to find an online community for just UK-based designers so he decided to build one. In 2024, Swwwift has evolved from a website platform to a community.

The community has grown organically, and designers get to know each other so well that they pass work to each other.