Branding, Interaction Design
Branding for Autism-Accessible Exhibits
Fall 2016
THE PROBLEM: As part of an effort to make their museum more accessible for young visitors on the autism spectrum, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences began a redesign of their popular dinosaur exhibit. As part of a collaboration with the College of Design, we were charged with proposing a re-brand and promotional strategy for the museum that was designed to take into account issues of accessibility, especially those of autistic users.
RESEARCH QUESTION:How might we develop a brand and promotional strategy for a newly autism-accessible dinosaur exhibit?
COLLABORATORS: NICOLE FERREIRA, MATT ROGERS, & JACK RATTERREEResearch + Discovery
My team and I began our research on a site visit to the exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in which we heard from museum staff about existing challenges to accessibility. We also did extensive secondary research on the topics of autism, universal design, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Brand Strategy
Informed by our research, we placed interaction, discovery, and inclusion at the center of our brand values. We explored physical & tangible interactions between the user and the promotional materials, and between the promotional materials and the exhibit space.
Our systems approach helped us design a system of interaction with the promotional materials that would not only reach our audience but keep them coming back. Understanding at what point our users would interact with which touchpoint helped us see any missed opportunities for a design intervention.
Final Product Development
Taking into account the benefits of human interaction and sensory stimulus to the experience of children with ASD, we designed 2 concise visual strategies to create a family of touchpoints that included print and digital marketing materials.
Reptilian Patterns
We created a series of simple, reptilian patterns to establish visual identity and unify different promotional materials. By using bright colors and bold typography we reduced the complexity of the visual style in order to appeal to children with ASD.
Word Choice
We developed a set of short, bold, action words related to characteristics of dinosaurs as a means of speaking directly to users and relaying a message of empowerment.
I primarily worked on the mail-out shown above, which contained information about the exhibit redesign as well as a sheet of origami paper and pattern. This was meant to be a positive, interactive moment for children with ASD to participate in an activity with their parent or family prior to their museum experience.