Turn your students into gangsters—the educational kind, that is—with Graffiti Creator, a nifty web tool that allows users to design an authentic looking graffiti-style name or logo within a matter of minutes.

Yo—that’s right! After selecting one of ten graffiti fonts, the customization is limitless—bubbles, stripes, shadows, outlines and highlights—all of which enhance the logotype to resemble the real thing. A wide range of color options as well as abstract images are also available. And the best part? Not only is this web tool easy to use, but it’s free—and students love experimenting with it!

Check out the Graffiti Creator example shown below and be sure to visit my Classroom 21 wikispace to see how my Language Arts students have included customized logos into their digital portfolios.

By the way—Once the logo is generated, there are options to print and save; however, the latter is not always reliable. With that said, I showed my students how to utilize the Snipping Tool on the PC to snag the image from the Graffiti Creator site—another digital skill they have now acquired!

Classroom Connection:

Use Graffiti Creator to provide students with a creative outlet in order to generate logotype graphics for digital activities—blogs, wikis, web sites—as well as print projects—reports, booklets, posters, brochures, nametags and more! This text generator could also be used to add a unique touch to signs advertising classroom and/or school events.

Or how about utilizing this “cool tool” to create a very visually appealing collaborative word wall focusing on concepts, topics, authors, literature selections, themes, etc.?

Graffiti Creator could also be a low tech way of integrating a digital tool into the art classroom. Use it as a design activity and/or as a way to look at the use of color schemes.

So, put that spraypaint away and boogie on over to the Graffiti Creator to unleash your inner homie…Word!