TechStars.NET Recognizes the Youth’s Role in Building a Global Community

We, at TechStars.NET, believe that we play an important role in helping the youth empower themselves through knowledge. We not only hone their computer skills, we also assimilate them into the working world. In doing so, they not only develop the technical skills required in a career environment - but also, the people skills. We, at TechStars.NET, aim to prepare them for the roles they will have in the future.

Charlotte Mankila, Teenage Illustrator

Charlotte Mankila, or Lotte, as we call her, is a Grade 10 student at International School Manila who had mentoring sessions at TechStars.NET. To Lotte “art is the non-linear processing of the external world.” And so she creates exceptional illustrations by hand and enhances them in Photoshop. When she expressed a desire to delve more into web design, we gave her the opportunity to learn design, basic web development, good web content practices and even SEO (Search Engine Optimization). After that, Lotte usually came in twice a week in the afternoon. This served to open her eyes to the world of web design in a professional setting. This exposure would give her the option and opportunity to channel her talents into a professional career one day, if she so chooses.

TechStars.NET – Where Art and Technology Meet

Stereotypically, most people think that art and IT don’t blend, but in Lotte’s case they do. Art accommodates the new facets of technology, and technology enhances artistic expression. With her two able ‘mentors’ Vivian Lopez and Romeo Osma (who have experience working on some of the world’s most visited sites), Lotte is guided through the different perspectives of creating a website. Romeo explained that Lotte had already had preliminary knowledge of website creation and design, and had awareness that web design incorporated the same elements as general design. So, she simply wanted to enhance her skills more significantly.

Web Design and Creativity Mix

 Vivian affirms that “Good web design is simply good design.” And she goes on to explain “But it is also more than the eyes can perceive. It also involves developing code structure. You should know, both how to build and design it.” Both Romeo and Vivian agree that “In web design, creativity kicks in when we need to balance space versus layout, deal with fonts and colors and arrange it in a format that communicates our message effectively.”

With Vivian and Romeo’s help, Lotte sharpened her knowledge of software tools for websites, specifically Illustrator, Fireworks, Dreamweaver and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Lotte remarks whimsically that “With the CSS, I learned how to create glowing buttons!” At TechStars.NET she learned hands-on in an atmosphere that was casual, fun and friendly. It is where the atmosphere is open to learning, and learning is more of an adventure than a chore.