Glorious, glittering graphics galore. He designs and designs but they only want more.

**This story was selected as Best of SNO Feb. 23, 2015.

Freshman Kyle Sproul currently runs and operates his own graphic design business, CrashGraphics, active since May 2014. After doing work for free for around two years, customers began to question why he did not charge people for his products and that is when he got the idea.

“It wasn’t until I had grown my free services large enough to get customers that I started to consider starting up a business,” Sproul said. “I did some research on creating and starting up a website, and after enough planning I decided to give it a go.”

Sproul admits that although he expected to have a couple of customers, he was surprised when he made over $600 in his first nine months.

“On the website, customers purchase ‘credits’ which allow them to buy a certain product, such as a logo,” Sproul said. “After they make a purchase on a product, I message them and get the project details. From there, I spend time bringing what they bought to life and give them the finished product. It’s a fairly simple process and it’s been working well so far.”

Originally he had hired a website manager and two other designers to help him with projects, but when they got too busy he took over the entire responsibility himself.

“Sometimes, it does get overwhelming and it takes me a while to fill orders,” Sproul said. “However I have gotten amazing testimonials from my clients so I’m fairly certain I’m over thinking it.”

Sproul says that the website and business could have a large hand in getting him into a good college so that he can get a degree in digital arts. He dreams to be a graphic designer.

“I got into graphic design when I was around 11, messing around in various programs and doing free work for anyone who asked,” Sproul said. “It wasn’t until I saved up money and invested in Photoshop that I really took off and decided this is what I want to do when I grow up. I’d consider it a passion, as when I grow up it’s what I’d like to continue in doing.”

His teachers and friends know about his business and encourage him.

“I think he’s a great leader in our program and he’s someone that our kids can look up to,” graphic design teacher Andrea Henderson said. “He’s very creative and artistic and plays very close attention to detail.”

Although he says that the business has helped him to learn a lot about designing and the industry, he does not know how much longer he will run it. He believes that as he gets better, there will be more opportunities for him and he plans to “go with the flow.”

“The overall mission for this website was to expand my knowledge, work with actual paying clients, and see if I could manage my own website and business,” Sproul said. “It’s been a major success and I couldn’t be happier.”

Sproul’s website can be found at www.crashgfx.com