symbiosis
abc's
goal
work in groups to create a printed media and interactive project based around the ABC's
TIMESPAN
11 weeks
TOOLS
figma, principle, indesign
ideation
In order to come up with an idea that we all were excited about, we decided to take one minute to write down all the ideas we could come up with. This gave us TONS of ideas to work with, but also took a lot of time to pair down everything to one topic.
We did this by writing everything down and voting!
After about 2 days of narrowing things down, we ended up combining a few things:
animals + environment + working together + teaching children
=
symbiotic relationships <3
research
With this decision in place, we researched how best to present this information to our target age group of 8-10 year olds. We interviewed multiple teachers, who said that something hands on and game-like would be best.
This coincided perfectly with our idea of symbiotic relationships because we were able to make a game based on pairs of organisms in mutualistic symbiotic relationships. Teachers would also be able to use these cards in whatever way they want, and make up games of their own using these pairs. This blew us into two weeks of pretty intense research to find all of the organisms that paired up and also fit into the alphabet.
design decisions
One of the major decisions that took a lot of iterations of was deciding the design of the actual cards. To test out a bunch of ideas, we gave everyone three index cards and about one minute to get our ideas out on paper. We then compared and picked some of the main components we wanted to include.
After a few weeks, we came up with this template for everyone to insert their illustrations and information into.
As part of this project, we planned for an AR experience where kids could use a QR code on the cards to learn more about the organisms and interact with the cards. We created a circular QR code for each pair and put one half of it on each side of the pair, to give a further hint to kids that this pair is a match, apart from the descriptions.
Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to design the AR experience, but it would definitely be something I would like to expand upon in the future.
The interviews from the teachers also further endorsed our decision to use symbiotic relationships because of the curriculum that is taught in this age group - ecosystems. This gave us the idea that we might need to incorporate something about the ecosystems of each animal, hence the creation of the ecosystem tag on each card.
interaction design
As the second part of the project, we made an interactive archive of all the cards that show the pairs and give more information about the organisms to be used on the iPad. We chose to use an iPad after interviewing multiple teachers and doing more research saying iPads were the easiest for kids to use and are often readily available in schools.
letter designs
Everyone got 3 random letters to do. I ended up with A, P, and the cover!
A - American Beaver
The American Beaver benefits other animals directly and indirectly through their environment. This prompted me to include details about the beaver’s habitat in the illustration, particularly the river and damn that they create.
I also wanted to hint towards the interaction with its pair, the Kingfisher, so I included the bird and fish in the river that the bird eats. This also bleeds into the interaction where you can interact with the fish and bird as well as the beavers.
P - Perennials
Perennials are any type of plant that live 2 or more years, which is a pretty broad category of plants and includes many types of flowers and bushes. Because of this, I wanted to represent as many plants possible that would be present in the area where its pair, Xantus’ Hummingbird, lives - aka - Southern California.
I also hinted again at the pair by including it in the illustration and interaction. The art for this piece took me the longest because of the painted style that involved building in many layers.
Cover
This idea came about by looking at a stock image that inspired me to have hands interlocking to represent the idea of working together in a symbiotic relationship. In the hands are images of many of the different creatures within the card deck. This design had the most amount of iteration to come up with something that properly represented the variations of ecosystems and living beings in the cards.
There were some hiccups in the printing process and I found out that I needed a white background to keep the blending styles to stay the same when exported. Despite the differences in color, it didn’t turn out to be too bad.
reflection
The main thing I learned while working in this group is how important it is to have a solid idea of where you are going with the project. Because we were able to figure this part out in the beginning, the rest of the project went much more smoothly. I also learned more about the printing process, which is something I had been looking to get more experience in.
(printed pieces below)
contact me
email elena.cuadra.berg@gmail.com
linkedin Elena Berg
I currently live in Pittsburgh, PA :)
© Elena Cuadra Berg 2024
Product Designer