Artivism is the combination of the words art and activism. Art can be and often is used as a tool to create social transformation. Many artists who are activists use their skills, passions, and voices on a variety of different causes to raise awareness, encourage people to join a movement, or simply to make a statement. Artivism isn’t only displayed on murals or within exhibitions, many people choose to take to social media and other online platforms to share their work and have their voices heard.
Free Online Artivism Design Tools
With social media activism on the rise, perhaps you have thought about creating some digital artivism yourself. There are many free online design tools you can use to create artivism—which is perfect for the current climate where many events and protests are still happening online!
Canva
Canva’s free subscription gives you access to many templates, fonts, colors, icons, and more. Canva is very user-friendly and allows you to build art in many different formats, whether you’re wanting to design a social post or a video. They also have an app so you can create art on your phone.
Adobe Spark
Adobe Spark is available to use on the web and in their app. Adobe Spark has many royalty-free images, music, and backgrounds available. You can even create your own templates. Adobe Spark doesn’t currently have a limit to how many designs you can download.
Design Bold
Design Bold has many ready-to-use layouts available for those who are just starting out and are looking for some template options. You are also able to upload your own images and graphics. The downside to Design Bold is that you can only download 5 designs per month with the free version.
Crello
Again, Crello only allows 5 design downloads per month, however, it has over 50,000 templates available. They also give access to millions of images and videos and other royalty-free stock files too!
Artivism Inspiration
Before you get started, perhaps you’re looking for some inspiration or for some more ways to learn about activism. Take a look at the classes, exhibitions, and guides below.
Skillshare with Nikkolas Smith
Nikkolas Smith is a well-known artist and has some classes available on Skillshare. Learn more about him as an activist, illustrator, and author as well as how to create inspiring art for change. Access the class here.
Sybaris Collection on Artivism
Sybaris’s November issue focused on the topic of activism. Purchase this issue to discover some of the most important works on activism as well as the history of this concept.
Artivism Exhibition
Visit www.artivismexhibition.com and explore a variety of artists whose work is based on confronting and learning from past violence from around the world. By visiting this website, you can meet the artists, discover their work, and even take action through some activism challenges!
Also by Anna: 6 Ways To Creatively Channel Your Inner Activist Through Artivism
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Photo: Anna Ashbarry
