Young people are more digitally engaged than ever before, but that doesn’t mean they know it all right away. There is still a whole world of skills and ways to digitally express themselves that they have yet to explore and learn from. This is where Digital Design Club comes in!
Digital Design Club is a Saturday Makerspace morning group run by Paisley YMCA. It stands out as one of the most proactive digital groups, as it focuses on the development of digital projects created by the young people who attend with the goal of having a tangible finished project to present in the Makerspace.
The benefit of this allows the young people to participate in controlling their own projects while sometimes not even realising all that they are learning by doing so. Youth Programme Coordinator Claire McGinley states that, “The digital design club is great because the projects are led by the young people. It’s entirely up to them what they want to create and how they want to create it. But even by saying that we’re going to create a digital story, it’s all the steps they need to take in order to create it.”

The digital design club works as a wonderful showcase for our young people’s creativity and the development of their digital skills through fun activity. As Claire states:
“You’re researching, storyboarding, these are all planning and organisational skills. They get really excited about the project and the steps they need to take to get there and they’re learning design thinking, processes and all these kinds of things. There are real tangible skills attached to that, which translates into their lives and schooling but will also translate into employment as well.”
With many job and work opportunities now taking place online with need of solid technical skills, Digital Design Club stands out as one of the more experimental and educational offerings from Paisley YMCA. It’s a great space to both flex creativity while building up a valuable offering of skills and talents.
For more information about Digital Design Club and how to get tickets, please check the Paisley YMCA Makerspace List.