Shenzhen, China — May 16, 2026

CGGE recently hosted a talk for Shenzhen University students titled “Blender + AI Era: Why Should You Know Penpot?” Delivered by Catina Yiu, China representative of Penpot’s Official Ambassador Program, the session covered Penpot’s value as an open-source design platform, its collaborative philosophy, AI-integrated workflows, and the official certification program. It also marked the first official event of Penpod China. The talk was aimed at students interested in digital product design, exploring how to build future-ready working habits as Blender, AI, and design collaboration continue to converge.

The Penpot Ambassador Program is a peer-to-peer learning network for designers, developers, and educators. It encourages participants to share knowledge through events, support local communities, and help more people discover Penpot. A Penpod refers to a local Penpot community network built and developed with the support of ambassadors.

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From Tool Literacy to Workflow Thinking

Penpot is positioned as an open-source design platform built for team collaboration and design-to-development handoff.

The session began by exploring the relationship between Blender and Penpot, including how Blender officially uses Penpot to host its design system for collaborative work, alongside case studies on design websites and workflow integration. The key message: learning a design tool shouldn’t stop at mastering its interface; understanding its role within the full product pipeline is just as important.

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Open-Source Tools: More Than Just “Free Alternatives”

The talk took a close look at the real value Penpot brings to today’s design landscape. It’s not just “cheaper” or a “free alternative.” What makes it genuinely significant is that it’s built on native web standards, including:

• Built on native web standards: SVG, CSS, and HTML

• Supports Flex / Grid layouts, bringing design logic closer to front-end implementation

• Self-hosting support, reducing vendor lock-in risks

• Creates smoother connections between design files, development handoff, and AI comprehension

Penpot empowers designers to build more autonomous, transparent, and sustainable workflows within the open-source ecosystem.

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From Design Tokens to Penpot MCP: How AI Truly Enters the Design Process

Another core theme was Penpot’s “Design as Code” philosophy. The session covered design tokens, Flex/Grid layouts, inspect and handoff, and Penpot MCP, illustrating how modern design tools are shifting from visual editors toward more structured, systematic collaboration platforms.

Penpot MCP bridges AI with real design environments, enabling AI to genuinely participate in the collaboration between design, code, and design systems. Through structured access to pages, layers, components, styles, and tokens, AI can read, understand, and modify real design assets using natural language.

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Building T-Shaped Skills: From Single-Tool Expertise to Cross-Role Versatility

Rather than treating Penpot as a standalone skill, the talk framed it within the “Blender × Penpot × AI” combination, highlighting why multi-disciplinary capabilities matter more than ever.

In the AI era, the industry no longer looks only for designers who master a single tool. What’s increasingly valued includes a solid understanding of product experience and UI design, proficiency in design systems and component specifications, awareness of developer collaboration, and the ability to integrate and evaluate AI tools.

The concept of the “T-shaped professional” was central, emphasizing that students need not only deep expertise in a specific area but also the ability to work fluidly across tools, roles, and processes.

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Official Certification: Bridging Learning and Practice

The talk also introduced the Penpot Certification Program and its accompanying community contest. The certification starts with the Foundation Badge: Visual Designer, progressing through five Specialization Badges (Interaction Designer, Team Collaborator, Layout Strategist, System Developer, and Web Engineer), and culminating in the Course Badge: UI Specialist.

The Visual Designer exam is a free, 30-minute, 20-question multiple-choice test. Passing earns a shareable digital certificate and verified badge. To mark the launch, Penpot’s community ran a limited-time contest encouraging participants to take the exam, earn their badge, and share their results publicly, boosting learning engagement and giving students a chance to turn their achievements into visible, community-validated proof of skills.

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Rethinking What It Means to Be a Designer

The session was ultimately about helping students understand a fundamental shift: as tools and AI collaboration converge, a designer’s competitive edge is moving away from knowing how to use specific software toward building personal workflows and connecting different tools into a complete creative and collaborative system. The goal wasn’t just to introduce Penpot; it was to help students develop a clearer picture of where design work is headed and how to grow confidently in that direction.