Wacom's Social Initiatives are driven by the sparks ignited by our team members, which is the reason why we work at Wacom.
In the “Our Sparks.” pages, we introduced the works created by creators in our community whose sparks are felt by those who work together with Wacom. Your sparks are a major contribution to what keeps us motivated and helps us seek out new challenges.
This time around, we would like to introduce a piece of artwork by Arian Rahmatzai from Germany, who did a five-day internship at Wacom in Tokyo. She joined the exchange program by Studienwerk für Deutsch-Japanischen Kulturaustausch in NRW e.V. (Foundation for German-Japanese Cultural Exchange) and stayed in Japan for a month.
The theme for the artwork is the “Japan” that she experienced and “Back to the forest,” the latter of which was also the theme for Connected Ink 2023. With these two different topics to work with, she wove together her experience in Japan and turned it into a piece of art.
Title: Join The Journey Artist: Arian Rahmatzai
About the artwork: Take the risk and embark on a journey into the unknown.
For my internship assignment, I created a piece of art that explored the themes of "Japan" and "Back to the Forest." While I was thinking about how to tie these two different topics together, I was reminded of the bamboo forests I had visited just a few days earlier in Kyoto, Japan. The bamboo forests were so beautiful and endless, it was like a boundless sea of green. I decided to draw that impressive landscape as the background of my artwork.
I visited many parts of Japan on the Japan Exchange Program and I was especially inspired by my trip to Kyoto. The shrines and temples that can be seen throughout the city are truly remarkable. The character holding out her hand, as if inviting you into a beautiful bamboo forest, is inspired by a shrine maiden. On the advice of a team member at Wacom, I incorporated elements resembling a white fox into her hair, creating a character who lives in the forest. I enjoyed the process of drawing the hair and had a great time bringing this piece to life.
About the artist: Born in Bonn, Germany, Arian works as a project manager for Dokomi, the largest anime and manga convention in Germany, while also pursuing her passion as an artist. Her artistic journey began after watching "Sailor Moon," as a child and her favorite subjects to draw are charming characters and birds. She is a fervent admirer of Japanese anime and manga, especially those with poignant narratives.
Her favorite creative tool to work with is the Cintiq Companion2, allowing her the flexibility to draw wherever and whenever inspiration strikes. Currently in search of a new display pen tablet, she worked with a Wacom Cintiq Pro 22 and a Wacom One 13 Touch to create this piece of art.
Wacom Canada has been involved with the "CREATE Program" at Sisler High School as a partner to support students who want to embark on career paths in the creative industry.
The 'Our Sparks.' pages showcases community creators whose works inspire and collaborate with us. This time features Arian Rahmatzai's artwork, a German talent who interned at Wacom.
The aspiration of children who dream of becoming creators is what ignites our team members’ enthusiasm and drives many of our initiatives. One such initiative involved teaming up with an animation workshop in Kinko Town, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan.
Wacom Yuify is an innovative service being developed to authenticate creators' works by embedding invisible micro-marks into artworks and, therefore, addressing unique needs across various regions and cultures.
Lannie Zhang, the only product manager in the Ink Division in China, took the time to talk to us about the initiatives planned to increase awareness and promote the use of digital ink technology.
We would like to introduce the artworks by artists in Oiso Town, Kanagawa, Japan, where we have been working together to support the writing/drawing initiative.
The Wacom Experience Center Portland was created for people to interact with the creative community in the city. We took a look back at its growth with Megan Davis, who has been playing an energetic role there.
Connected Ink 2022 opened with two key questions. Let’s take a look back at some of the sessions in Tokyo that explored them.
Read MoreWe would like to introduce the artworks by artists in Oiso Town, Kanagawa, Japan, where we have been working together to support the writing/drawing initiative.
Read MoreThe partnership with Oiso Town has developed into a city-wide initiative. We spoke with Tadakuni Tsubota of the Creative BU Retail Partnership about this initiative.
How do team members see Connected Ink? The next team member is Yohei Himori who is involved in the planning and operation of Connected Ink together with Heidi.
How do team members see Connected Ink? The first team member is Heidi Wang who has played a key role in the planning and operations when it all began in 2016.
In collaboration with Heralbony Inc. and the General Incorporated Association, Connected Ink Village, Wacom launched a new initiative called "Call & Response” in September 2021.
Here’s a look back at the opening and finale of the nearly 70 sessions held that day and reflect upon what has happened since Connected Ink 2021.
Our sparks meet constantly changing situations, unexpected challenges, and new opportunities. We called on our team members again to show how they see their spark in the world of today and the future.
Connected Ink 2020 was the beginning of a new commitment and challenge for Wacom to continue asking those eternal questions that always play in our minds.
"Stage KOPPA" was created as a stage for Connected Ink 2020. It is a stage that changes its shape and role in response to different situations while connecting the various stories that occur there.
Our sparks meet constantly changing situations, unexpected challenges, and new opportunities. We called on our team members again to show how they see their spark in the world of today and the future.
We had an internal art contest for our Social Initiatives. Let us share the existence of the spark in our team members’ hearts with their artworks.
Yoshinori Mita, a team member of Japan held an online drawing class together with FC KAZO and illustrator Suiiro to provide something fun for elementary school children to do during the COVID-19 stay-at-home period.
As an official partner, Wacom supports FC KAZO, a soccer club in Kazo City, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. We’re excited to introduce our new initiatives with this inspiring club.
We had an internal art contest for our Social Initiatives. Let us share the existence of the spark in our team members’ hearts with their artworks.
Our team members in Germany organized an online workshop “Young Wacom” for the children while schools were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Alex Duffey from our Americas Support team established a new program to support artists. We asked him about a story with Ms. Devon Bragg, the artist who inspired him to establish this program.
KOPPA began in April 2019. Tamotsu wanted to make something that can be used again after an exhibition. We asked Team KOPPA about their thoughts.
We put it together ourselves, set it up, put it back, then travel together again. The Traveling KOPPA, our new display furniture came to be.
KOPPA started out as a challenge: Tamotsu Ito, an architect from Japan, wanted to utilize leftover building materials. Our meeting was pure happenstance.
We had an internal art contest for our Social Initiatives. Let us share the existence of the spark in our team members’ hearts with their artworks.
We gave a marketing lecture for students who are learning to be engineers at the National Institute of Technology Tokyo College.
Every year, we take pen tablets that have been sitting in our warehouse and gift them to high school clubs and winners of high school art competitions to help students create digital contents.
"AI Ink for Education" was developed to capture eye movement information and pen movements while learning, in order to ascertain the characteristics of learning by each student and to create an educational environment suited to each student.
Yoana Simeonova, a software designer working in Bulgaria, introduced Wacom Intuos in a school to make children's IT classes more fun.