There's A Noise In The Shed
Scope: 6 Weeks Type: University Project Tools:Illustrator, Photoshop, Procreate, After Effects
The Brief
For this project, we were asked to come up with a creative solution having the 2020-2021 D&AD Competition Briefs as a base and yet go beyond the limitations of the competition brief. The brief I chose was Audible's ‘There's A Noise In The Shed’, a fantasy audiobook for kids. As a kid, I've always wanted to see characters who look like me, think like me or speak like me. Most children's book characters are either white or animals but the children who consume these stories are from all over the world.
Case Video
The Campaign
'Medley The Monster' is a campaign aimed at having diverse and inclusive characters in stories. Through this audiobook, kids will have the opportunity to experience a diverse range of characters. The name Medley signifies both the importance of sounds through the audiobook and the diversity offered through this story. The campaign will have multiple assets making the cause stand out and make a difference.
Trigger
Even with an abundance of children’s stories out there, the representation of characters still lacks diversity and inclusivity. Stories that are consumed by kids from all across the world, kids with different personalities, traits and backgrounds fail to represent the same diversity in their characters.
Target Audience
The campaign will mainly be targeted at young families who are looking to have an entertaining yet morally informative time with kids. The primary target group will be young children of age 5-7 from both majority and minority groups who are just starting to develop a story reading/listening habit.
Monster Maker Application
To make the campaign interactive and reach kids, I've designed a fun monster maker application. The monster maker application will kids a variety of body shapes, fur colour, expressions, accessories and sound effects to choose from. The monster options given are as diverse and inclusive as possible. I believe that this monster application will allow kids to create monster characters that reflect their physical appearance and personality as well.
Application Screens
Research & Infographic
I did a small survey as part of my research to understand people's mindset on the lack of diversity in character representation. Post the survey, I also created an infographic to make better sense out of the survey results.
Cover Design Exploration
For the Audiobook cover, it was essential to keep in mind that this will be a digital cover aimed at kids. The idea behind the cover is that, the 'Noise' that came from the shed will be the main character of the campaign. I did some design explorations with different layouts and colours before settling on the final one. I had a lot of fun illustrating the cover since I got the opportunity ti combine my love for illustrations into this project.
Environmental Design
As part of the campaign, libraries will have specific listening corners just for 'There's A Noise In The Shed!'. The space is designed in a comfortable yet interactive way where kids can move around, have fun and listen to a small teaser snippet of the story. The space will be designed in an immersive way where kids feel like they have transported to the magical story realm. There will also be an outdoor space with the famous monster characters displayed.
Process
For the monster characters, I did a bit of form, personality, and colour exploration before finalising on the final monsters. I had a lot of fun coming up with these monsters since the entire idea was to have them with imperfections just like all of us. For the case video, I also did a rough storyboard before starting with the execution of the video itself.