How do we encourage more kids who initially at a young age love drawing/sketching/art, etc to pursue careers in tech?

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Rob [Today at 11:09 AM]
I think this is the perfect group to brainstorm ideas for this.  How do we encourage more kids who initially at a young age love drawing/sketching/art, etc to pursue careers in tech?  Is there some way to show a connection between art/drawing/sketching & high-tech/coding? Is-there-a-good-way-to-show-them-that-by-learning-to-code-they-can-enhance-their-hand-drawn-sketches-or-manipulate-their-art? (edited)

6 replies
Tané Tachyon (AND Graduate, Santa Cruz, CA) [26 minutes ago]
I've read a lot of pieces by technical women in particular in their 20's and under who first got into coding by making web pages about their interests, including doing artwork for the pages. The steps you need to follow to do artwork in programs like Illustrator and Photoshop are kind of coding-like in their way, also, like implementing algorithms to get the results you want. (edited)

Rob [22 minutes ago]
Thanks.  That's a great idea.  I will encourage the young artists I meet to try out Illustrator and Photoshop.  This will at least get them into computers.  That's a good first step.  I think it will expand their career options in the future.
Patricia Y. (AND) [16 minutes ago]
I think the dream of game development is how some young people get motivated about coding. That industry does involve lots of art, like character design. And people who are just starting out with drawing may be motivated by doing fanart. (Unfortunately, I hear the entertainment industry is actually very brutal, but I think most people grow out of the game industry dream.)
UI/UX design is very art/sketching oriented, so you could show designers' process -- like starting out with rough paper sketches, then making high fidelity mockups. (There might be some Udacity videos on YouTube that introduce "product design" and mockups.) And while some companies are still traditional about separating designer and developer roles, it's actually extremely beneficial for front-end designers/developers to be an expert on both sides.
And tech-related art/creativity isn't just limited to Web and desktop/mobile UIs... there are also lots of new frontiers like AR/VR.

Patricia Y. (AND) [13 minutes ago]
There are also universities that offer game design/development degrees. (Again, probably not a realistic pursuit, but it is an exciting motivator.) https://www.smu.edu/guildhallsmu.edu
Home | SMU Guildhall
SMU Guildhall is a premier graduate video game education program and the only program with specializations in all four cornerstones of game development.

JaniceM [7 minutes ago]
Wearable tech and fashion that blends colors, fabrics, and tech.
Check out the Levi's / Google Denim Jacket ~~> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY_wfoZ19DE
Much of what is highlighted in CodePen shows the power of blending art, animation and tech skills. (edited)

Rob [5 minutes ago]
Thanks.  These are all great ideas.
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