Digital Art Tool for Indigenous Youth with Waniskâw Foundation

Waniskâw Foundation approached us with the task of developing a digital art tool geared toward Indigenous youth with tech accessibility issues, with the goal of giving them a low-fidelity digital art platform that allows them to express themselves and their creativity, while also teaching them skills that could lead to career paths in digital media and tech. Current art tools are geared toward artists with more access to specialized tech (such as drawing tablets), and are often overburdened with features and addons to an extent that new users find them overwhelming to learn.

One of the goals of the tool we have been tasked with is to streamline the feature set and interface to focus on core art tools. The tool is also intended to run on a web platform that can be accessed on mobile as well, and therefore will need to be light-weight and easy to navigate for the youth. We will also be taking inspiration from the media, entertainment, and art styles that the youth are currently engaged in, so that the tool has features that better serve their artistic needs and desires.

Waniskâw Foundation aims to run art workshops for the Indigenous youth where this tool would be deployed. A successful prototype of the tool would pave the way for the youth to have a platform of their own, built by Indigenous creators for Indigenous creators, on which they can build their dreams and future careers.