NATURE'S SILVERWARE
STUDENT PROJECT, 2016
My favorite part of trips to the Cincinnati Zoo was visiting the bird house, The Wings of the World. I have a lot of fond memories of the interactive exhibits that teach kids more about the birds they can see in the building. Upon visiting the house as an adult, I noticed that the exhibits have fallen into disrepair and teach lessons that are above the reading and interest levels of most kids.
I made it a personal goal to attempt to remedy this situation. My idea was later pitched to the Cincinnati Nature Center to help them formulate new ideas for new activities and displays.
INTEGRATING INTERACTION
A new interactive exhibit about the shapes of different birds' beaks was created to overcome this problem. By using a system of icons, photos, and large text, children can more easily learn about the birds they are going to see at the zoo.
Snapchat filters were also created for older audiences walking through the exhibit that allow them to easily learn and share bird facts. A babysitter or parent would also be able to use this as a tool to have kids find the birds in a scavenger hunt to take pictures with the bird fact attached.
PROCESS
I began this process by seeing the current state of the displays at the zoo were not nearly as exciting as they seemed to me when I was a kid. Educational signage is already present, but it was outdated, obscured from view, and hard to differentiate different birds. Many worksheets for kids online also either relied exclusively on colors or were too detailed to know which part was the focus.
I used the information to benchmark what I needed to create, and began developing a system of icons to detail the shapes of birds' beaks. Initial sketches to determine best angles and images to use before exploring style options. Later sketches were done to determine the style of icons before being digitized and refined.