True innovation comes along only once in a blue moon. The folks at Pixton
have found a way to redefine comics and transform them into both a learning
tool and social community. Pixton
is a web-based comic creation tool. It's currently free and offers different
versions for the general public, schools and even business.
After you join Pixton,
you create a profile about yourself including your location and age. This
helps you find other members in your geographical area or your age group. This
is a nice touch and is a clever way to use comic creation to build a social
network between peers.
You start out by creating your own profile picture. This is a
lot of fun. You select different types of face shapes and facial features, and
can add glasses and facial hair. There are also a variety of body types,
clothes, and limbs. While I could not find my exact body shape -- after all,
this is a comic! -- I was able to create a comic that does somewhat resemble
me.
This easy-to-use interface reminds me a bit of the Wii
interface. If you have ever created a Mii on Wii, then this will feel real
familiar to you. It's click and drag and very intuitive. Unlike the Wii
interface, with Pixton
you can also add backgrounds and props to your characters as well as thought
balloons and text bubbles.
Pixton Templates
After you have saved your profile and picture, you can begin
to create your own comics. You can either select a ready-made template which
shows characters in specific settings or you can create one from scratch. You
can also select characters from their online gallery which includes some
recognizable political and religious figures and celebrities.
Sample Comic
As you can see in the above example, I selected a template
showing a character sitting in a chair and speaking to the reader. Then I
selected a pre-made character for my comic -- in this case, it's Jesus! Now
all I have to do is type text into the speech balloon and I'm done. If I
wanted to add more characters, props or backgrounds, I can click on each cell
of the comic and edit as I desire. I can even zoom in or out or pan from side
to side. Everything on Pixton
is easy as pie.
Pixton
has some very clever applications. Pixton
offers a hosted version of the service for schools. This is a very cool way to
build your own social network within a closed environment. Most social
networks are focused on the public at large which presents eminent dangers for
children. But with a Pixton
hosted social network, children can get to know their peers and teachers in a
safe environment. Children can use it to develop their creativity and
expression in a medium that is both easy to learn and use as well as blends
writing and art. Additionally, Pixton
supports multiple languages, allowing students from different ethnic
backgrounds to share the same comic but read it in their native tongue (over
20 languages are supported through Google Translate).
Schools also have free use of images created within Pixton
comics to help promote their events, use them in school projects or even
include them in school videos or their yearbooks.
Pixton
can also be used in the workplace environment. While I can also envision it
being used to build a company social network (HR should love this concept to
help create a shared corporate vision), it can also be used to help spark
creative brainstorming sessions.
Other features of interest in Pixton
include the following:
- The ability to copy and paste scenes from other people's
comics
- The ability to send comic authors a message or post a
message to their comic
- The ability to allow others 'remix" my comic and add to
it or edit it to make it their own
- The ability to add Pixton
source code to a blog so you can
display your comics for others to read
- The ability to connect to other members as either a Friend
or a Fan
After puttering around with Pixton, I created my first comic.
If you like it, let me know! Just click on it and you'll be taken to my Pixton
page and can read it in the full-sized version. To learn more about Pixton
and to get your own account, please click here.
Pixton
