Education is changing to meet changing needs, and part of this is a shift in how we are able to educate ourselves. Several different platforms such as Urducation and 3restart are transforming the way people learn and while these may focus more on traditional educational material, there are other forums developing which focus more on skills based learning.
Creative and artistic skills are often not explored to their full potential in educational forums, and for some years now people have been increasingly turning to social media for tutorials, help and advice in acquiring and developing new skills.
The makers of an app called Artsly have tapped into this online exchange of skills and are looking into the potential of such interactions through the development of a new platform. Artsly is an online platform, which allows users to access various tutorials in video form. Called the “YouTube for Art lessons” it is described as a service that “lets you discover free video lessons in makeup, cooking, crafting and other arts & crafts categories.”
How It Works
The app makers’ purpose behind creating Artsly was “to build a community of Artists and learners who deeply care about learning new artistic skills. And of course key to its success would be high quality video lessons.”
It is a simple concept, envisioned as a platform on which “An artist would upload his paid or free videos lessons on Artsly in any art related category and his lessons would be available to Artsly users.”
The scope for this project is global and though it originates in Pakistan, it focuses on skills and tutorials that are popular globally. The app is available on the App Store for both iPhones and iPads.
Users have the option of logging in with Facebook, Email or setting up a separate log in. There is also an option for skipping logging in, which is useful if you are only interested in browsing or getting to know the app.
There are several categories from which users can search out their specific interests, including makeup, music, dance, photography, cooking and other skills.
The app is targeted primarily towards women, with the app makers feeling that there are already platforms available for skills based learning and sharing which cater more to a male audience. And while there are Youtube videos and channels devoted to tutorials in these and other categories, the app makers feel that “t’s unorganized and finding high quality lessons is not easy, everything else is cluttered. Human beings love organized consumption of content, especially if your motive is to learn something.”
The Visionaries Behind Artsly
Artsly was envisioned and implemented by two brothers, Muhammad Huzaifa (@mhuzaifaali) and Muhammad Jehanzaib. They previously started iKnowl and despite some initial interest in their product, found their approach did not work and chose to focus on a different idea. Hence, they directed their focus on the development of Artsly.
The app Artsly has been met with interest and has been reviewed by TechInAsia, Express Tribune, and TheNextWeb.
Funding From Kima Ventures
Last year, Muhammad Huzaifa and Muhammad Jehanzaib were able to obtain a prominent investor for their startup, which helped them launch their service. Kima Ventures offered the brothers $175,000 which formed the startups seed funding.
Kima Ventures is a fund that supplies innovative startups with seed stage funding. They offer funding to startups in various countries around the world, and new startups looking for funding can apply directly on their website.
The app has a four star rating on iTunes and has already developed a loyal following. With their focus on developing a quality app that people can get interested in and having done the market research that has enabled them to target the right audience, the makers of Artsly are set to make themselves a popular destination for skills based learning and social interaction.
Connect With Artsly
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