DIGITAL CREATOR ECONOMY IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH
This research project aims to unpack what constitutes as digital creativity and the creator economy in the Global South, with a focus on Gen Z populations (18-25 years) from resource constrained contexts in India. The goal is to critically assess the shifts in how creativity is defined, being learnt, and perhaps even monetized among these youth. We delved deeper into what kinds of content do youth aspire to make and why and the choice of design tools in enabling their aspirational creations. The Global South have been long overlooked in the creative industries or typically framed as imitative cultures. We partnered with global design tech companies to make creative tools accessible and inclusive to populations beyond traditional design communities. This project focused on new users coming online in a quest to participate in the global online community through creative expression. Through semi-structured interviews with 30 Gen Z people including influencers, creative micro-entrepreneurs, artisanal communities, aspiring designers, small businesses, workshop series in schools, and an Instagram Masterclass with an influencer on ‘Hacking Creativity,’ we gained insights on the future of the creator economy and provided guidelines on inclusive design.

Payal Arora
Principal Investigator

Laura Herman
Principal Investigator

Amulya
Lead Researcher

Gargi Shivanand
Assistant Researcher

Manisha Madapath
Assistant Researcher

Upasana Bhattacharjee
Junior Researcher

Mohit
Videographer

Kiran Bhatia
Lead Researcher

Manisha
Advisor

Trupti Shirodkar
Masterclass Influencer

Siddhi Gupta
Design Education

Stuti Dalal
Assistant Researcher
Select Outputs
- Decolonizing creativity in the digital era (Laura Herman & Payal Arora) International Association of Societies of Design Research