Participatory Media Design

Fantasy: Worlds of Myth and Magic—Interactive Exhibit Experiences

Client:

Museum of Pop Culture

Venue/Location:

Seattle, WA

Browse:

exhibits and interactives

Client:

Museum of Pop Culture

Browse:

exhibits and interactives

EMP Museum commissioned Belle & Wissell to design a series of interactives for their exhibition titled “Fantasy: Worlds of Myth and Magic”.

The Archetypes Interactive is a multi-touch table that uses a hands-on, tarot card approach to exploring roles within the Fantasy genre, and then view examples in pop culture that reflect each role. An integrated quiz let’s visitors see which archetype is the closest fit to their personality.

The Wizard’s Table is a magical, multi-touch experience that provides visitors with a series of themed folios to explore ephemera, multimedia, and otherwise. The content is presented in an abstracted interface, full of lighting effects and programmatically generated movement.

The Mapmaker Interactive empowers EMP visitors to design their own world, choosing from three unique palettes: Wizard (an ancient medieval landscape), Pirate (a water world of allure and danger), and Manga (a land made up of floating islands in the sky). Maps easily can be printed at a station in the lobby for the journey home.

The last experience in the gallery is the Fantasy Photobooth, which completes the connection to the characters first introduced in the Archetypes Interactive. Visitors choose which character they want to embody and a stylized portrait is taken and merged with that character. Then, they select the scene best suited for their character and select attributes that are woven into a tale that appears next to their completed character. Finished portraits are displayed in a digital gallery and shared to EMP Museum’s flickr feed.

Project Accolades:

Geek Wire “Xena, Tolkien, Game of Thrones and all things fantasy at EMP,” 2013
Seattle Times
Costumes of Cowardly Lion, Sirius Black and more at new EMP fantasy exhibit,” 2013

Belle & Wissell Team Credits

Design Director: Gabe Kean
Art Director: Thomas Ryun
Senior Designer: Edrea Lita
Operations Manager: Sarah Faulkner
Technology Lead: Ed Tang
Programmer: Zach Archer
Programmer: Scott Thiessen
Quality Assurance: Siarhei Bokach
Map Illustrations: Mark Selander

Additional Project Credits

Curator: Jasen Emmons
Exhibit Designer: Lead Pencil Studio
Interactive Producer: Aleen Adams
Exhibit Manager: Addy Froehlich
Museum Technology: Brian Phraner
Exhibit Graphics: Benjamin K. Shown
Archetype Illustrations: Stacey Rozich

Belle & Wissell Team Credits

Design Director: Gabe Kean
Art Director: Thomas Ryun
Senior Designer: Edrea Lita
Operations Manager: Sarah Faulkner
Technology Lead: Ed Tang
Programmer: Zach Archer
Programmer: Scott Thiessen
Quality Assurance: Siarhei Bokach
Map Illustrations: Mark Selander

Additional Project Credits

Curator: Jasen Emmons
Exhibit Designer: Lead Pencil Studio
Interactive Producer: Aleen Adams
Exhibit Manager: Addy Froehlich
Museum Technology: Brian Phraner
Exhibit Graphics: Benjamin K. Shown
Archetype Illustrations: Stacey Rozich

EMP Museum commissioned Belle & Wissell to design a series of interactives for their exhibition titled “Fantasy: Worlds of Myth and Magic”.

The Archetypes Interactive is a multi-touch table that uses a hands-on, tarot card approach to exploring roles within the Fantasy genre, and then view examples in pop culture that reflect each role. An integrated quiz let’s visitors see which archetype is the closest fit to their personality.

The Wizard’s Table is a magical, multi-touch experience that provides visitors with a series of themed folios to explore ephemera, multimedia, and otherwise. The content is presented in an abstracted interface, full of lighting effects and programmatically generated movement.

The Mapmaker Interactive empowers EMP visitors to design their own world, choosing from three unique palettes: Wizard (an ancient medieval landscape), Pirate (a water world of allure and danger), and Manga (a land made up of floating islands in the sky). Maps easily can be printed at a station in the lobby for the journey home.

The last experience in the gallery is the Fantasy Photobooth, which completes the connection to the characters first introduced in the Archetypes Interactive. Visitors choose which character they want to embody and a stylized portrait is taken and merged with that character. Then, they select the scene best suited for their character and select attributes that are woven into a tale that appears next to their completed character. Finished portraits are displayed in a digital gallery and shared to EMP Museum’s flickr feed.

Project Accolades:

Geek Wire “Xena, Tolkien, Game of Thrones and all things fantasy at EMP,” 2013
Seattle Times
Costumes of Cowardly Lion, Sirius Black and more at new EMP fantasy exhibit,” 2013