Permission to Wonder

10 Jan

About the Project

Permission to Wonder is an initiative from Dublin City Council and The Lab Gallery. The project is rooted in ‘Visual Thinking Strategies’ which is a teaching methodology. It focuses on children learning and expressing themselves through art. The initiative sets to to enrich children’s observational, evidential reasoning and problem-solving abilities. This practice of teaching challenges traditional teaching methods and allows for children’s engagement with a facilitator.

The project is an EU Erasmus project with 5 European partners.

Objective

Produce a design treatment and suitable identity to publicize and develop Permission to Wonder. Communicate the power of ‘Visual Thinking Strategies’ and the Permission to Wonder program while giving The Lab Gallery the best way to explain this strategy to their intended audience. Throughout the project, the task involves producing appropriate design treatments for publicity and promotional material for Permission to Wonder. Visual communication should have its own unique aesthetic, keeping in line with its target audience, The Lab, and its core values.

Create positive interest from education facilitators.
Gain a positive review of the children’s experience.
Implement practical elements effectively.
Educate the target audience on the potential of ‘Visual Thinking Strategies’ as an educational tool.

Shareholders

Students
Partners
Educators

Slogan

"All Big Ideas Start with Wonder”

This slogan was developed as part of the branding.

Design Areas

Branding
Graphic Design
Print
User Experience
User Interaction
Illustration

Research Methods

Double Diamond
Interviews
Surveys
Personas
Secondary Research
Audience Lifecycle

Identifying the Champion of the Project

Since so many people are involved in the project, the team needed to discover the various partner's missions, visions, and positions. The team also needed to simplify into categories the various shareholders throughout the project and identify the project’s champion. A champion sees the value in the product and keeps it in the audience's minds. The three shareholders included students, partners, and educators, with the educator being the champion of the project since they are the connection between the partner, the students, and the student’s parents.

Interviews and Surveys with Educators

The team decided to interview and survey primary school teachers since we identified them as the ‘champions of the project’. They also have an insight into pupils today and will be facilitators of the Permission to Wonder program. Each question was carefully considered and came from ideas about deliverables from the team and our client.
Areas identified are:

New teaching methods are encouraged, including digital means.
Art education is very important in the classroom. Children are excited about art.
Group discussion is encouraged in class.
Children love apps and have a high digital literacy.
74% of teachers surveyed find children respond more positively to electronic devices than books.
Children enjoy seeing education as a game. It keeps them focused.
Teachers have not heard of ‘Visual Thinking Strategies’ but like the idea of using them.

User Personas

A user persona is a character that embodies user research. The team used this to bring together information in an easy identifiable and understandable format. User personas are also excellent for maintaining focus on the needs of the user especially throughout the development stage of the project.

User personas were developed under each stakeholder. This was completed before the development stage to understand what needed to be done to bring deliver value to each user.

Lifecycle Mapping

The user experience is the key to creating an engaging brand. An audience experience takes in the larger range of interaction throughout the project on the long term. There are multiple stages the audience goes through with their relationship with a project or brand.

Visual Language Directions

Stylescapes were used to help determine the visual language of the project. Creating various stylescapes directed the group and the project and allowed open discussion about the branding.

Various main priorities were:

Easy recognition.
Create an identity system that holds deliverables together.
Have the power to unlock memories, feelings, and associations to Permission to Wonder.

These are only some stages of the design process.

Setting final colour and identity system after creating stylescapes and discussing the projects delivery through various platforms.

The logo will be used throughout the imagery of the children involved in the project. The shapes surround their heads signifying the learning process.