Last week to vote for the winner of the Digital Illustration course at Smart City Laguna

A group of young residents from Smart City Laguna and the wider community recently completed our free Digital Illustration course, enhancing their employment prospects and giving them the opportunity to generate income through their art.

The course was run over a total of 40 hours from March through to August by our in-house Graphic Designer, Cardoso Júnior – and was promoted by Alkance Soluções in partnership with the Sebrae, Planet Smart City and the Planet Institute.

“We are very happy with this partnership, as we strongly believe in the power of social and digital inclusion for the empowerment of people,” says Susanna Marchionni, president of the Planet Institute and Planet Smart City’s CEO in Brazil.

“Here at Smart City Laguna, the Planet Institute already offers free English, entrepreneurship, IT and handicraft courses, both for residents and those in surrounding areas. The result was sensational, with beautiful works by our young people.”

Classes initially took place in person at the Smart City Laguna Innovation Hub, before moving online as a result of the lockdown. Students learned techniques for beginners, covering the whole process of digital illustration – from conceptualisation to completion. This included how to use InkScape, a vector drawing program to create illustrations.

For Cardoso Júnior, Planet Smart City’s graphic designer and the creator of the course, the training will allow young people in the region a better placement in the job market, as well as the generation of income through the provision of services to residents and local entrepreneurs.

“The course sought to stimulate the participants’ creative potential, helping them understand that results come through effort and practising the knowledge you’ve acquired,” says Cardoso Júnior, who created the course.

“This will help them to enter the job market, as well as give them the ability to express themselves artistically. The basics of entrepreneurship were also taught and online platforms for job marketing were presented.”

Exhibition and voting

The artworks created by the young people are on display at the Smart City Laguna Innovation Hub until Friday 25th September and can also be viewed online here, where visitors can vote for their favourite digital illustration.