Free Workshops in Digital Design for Teens

Kids were given an opportunity to learn the basics of digital design in a series of free workshops, courtesy of AIGA/NY.  The nonprofit professional membership organization offered the workshops to kids as a means to expose students to design and art at an early age.  While there are many programs available to teach students the fundamentals of design, they usually are only available for a fee.  This free program gave participants a chance to have access to learning important skills that will be necessary in the future.

Through the workshops, the kids have a chance to learn the basics of technology and design in a format that is fun and not intimidating.  There is already another workshop planned for the future that will be given in collaboration with the Brooklyn Public Library.  That workshop will allow kids to make their own iBook.

There were three workshops that were available to the children. The programs were entitled, “Electronics Prototyping with littleBits,” “Making a Mobile App” and “Be a Graphic Designer.”  The electronics prototyping workshop was given an assist by the company littleBits. While the other two workshops were geared towards teens, this workshop was also open to younger children.  The company littleBits is an opensource library of electronic modules that snap together with tiny magnets.  In the workshop the kids used wires, triggers and sensors to create their own drawing machines.  The machines responded to motion or sound.

The mobile app workshop also allowed students to get creative with technology.  The students blended technology with art to make apps.  They picked their favorite art pieces to use to create their own Android apps.  In the third workshop helped students learn the skills of a graphic designer.  The students were taught the basics of InDesign.  In turn, they used their newfound skills to create a poster for the museum.

[Images via mashable & conceptdesignacad]