Sneak Peak: Creating Comics with Bitstrips

Toronto-based Bitstrips.com is a user generated online comic builder, but the tool and its application has potential way beyond geeky comic strip enthusiasts.

I had a chance to test out Bitstrips.com and chatted with Shahan Panth from Bitstrips on June 22. Here's a sneak peak into our Q&A:

Q: How is Bitstrips disrupting the market?
A: Bitstrips is designed to be easy to use and provides a wide breadth of visual variety in terms of characters, poses, emotions and backgrounds, letting users create really unique, personalized comics. The Web-based tool is intended to be social, encouraging comic collaboration, sharing, and interaction between users.

Q: How have customers used it?
A: The Ministry of Education in Ontario licensed a special educational version of Bitstrips beginning in September 2009, making it available to any publicly funded school in the Province. Over 25,000 Ontario teachers have now registered their classrooms with Bitstrips for Schools to engage students in reading and writing using comics as the medium in a private and secure virtual classroom. Close to 440,000 students are now using it across over 80% of the Province's schools.

Q: What's next for Bitstrips?
A: While we're looking to expand Bitstrips for Schools beyond Ontario - we already have hundreds of teachers using it around the world - there's also an opportunity to partner or collaborate with major brands on Bitstrips.com, particularly those that are eager to engage audiences with their products in new ways.