Umgungundlovu Multimedia Centre
Creative director, content coordinator, animator, client service
Touchscreens controlling projection mapped table.
Touchscreens.
The Emakhosini Valley is a distinctly rural area in KwaZulu-Natal. The development of the Umgungundlovu Multimedia Museum was a chance to bring the rich unknown history of the valley to life through digital media. We were brought on board to solve the delivery of the narrative by designing and creating interactive software projected onto a contoured map of the valley.
The Emakhosini Valley is a distinctly rural area in KwaZulu-Natal. The development of the Umgungundlovu Multimedia Museum was a chance to bring the rich unknown history of the valley to life through digital media. We were brought on board to solve the delivery of the narrative by designing and creating interactive software projected onto a contoured map of the valley.
Pixel Project created an interactive story-telling experience in Zulu and English that educates visitors about the little-known and diverse history of the Emakhosini Valley. The two multi-touch screens mounted on the side of the table present visitors with a visual menu in both languages. Visitors listen to the stories and watch the animations which projected onto the table. They can toggle between Zulu and English at any stage.
The surrounding landscape inspired the interface, magnificent bushveld and wide-open blue skies surround the centre. Bold icons and illustrations were created and turned into a visual library and used in the narrated animations. Since the animations played in Zulu and English, we tried to use as little text as possible except for place names on the map and legends.
Nearby the massive relief map table, are four tourist kiosks, containing specific content about the surrounding areas and activities. Visitors can read about nearby attractions, scroll through images or slide their way across beautiful, panoramic landscapes. There is even a section where visitors can design a Nguni cow and name it.
Pixel Project created an interactive story-telling experience in Zulu and English that educates visitors about the little-known and diverse history of the Emakhosini Valley. The two multi-touch screens mounted on the side of the table present visitors with a visual menu in both languages. Visitors listen to the stories and watch the animations which projected onto the table. They can toggle between Zulu and English at any stage. Bold icons and illustrations were created and turned into a visual library and used in the narrated animations. Since the animations played in Zulu and English, we tried to use as little text as possible except for place names on the map and legends.
Nearby the massive relief map table, are four tourist kiosks, containing specific content about the surrounding areas and activities. Visitors can read about nearby attractions, scroll through images or slide their way across beautiful, panoramic landscapes. There is even a section where visitors can design a Nguni cow and name it.
Pixel Project created an interactive story-telling experience in Zulu and English that educates visitors about the little-known and diverse history of the Emakhosini Valley. The two multi-touch screens mounted on the side of the table present visitors with a visual menu in both languages. Visitors listen to the stories and watch the animations which projected onto the table. They can toggle between Zulu and English at any stage.
The surrounding landscape inspired the interface, magnificent bushveld and wide-open blue skies surround the centre. Bold icons and illustrations were created and turned into a visual library and used in the narrated animations. Since the animations played in Zulu and English, we tried to use as little text as possible except for place names on the map and legends.
Nearby the massive relief map table, are four tourist kiosks, containing specific content about the surrounding areas and activities. Visitors can read about nearby attractions, scroll through images or slide their way across beautiful, panoramic landscapes. There is even a section where visitors can design a Nguni cow and name it.
Pixel Project created an interactive story-telling experience in Zulu and English that educates visitors about the little-known and diverse history of the Emakhosini Valley. The two multi-touch screens mounted on the side of the table present visitors with a visual menu in both languages. Visitors listen to the stories and watch the animations which projected onto the table. They can toggle between Zulu and English at any stage.
The surrounding landscape inspired the interface, magnificent bushveld and wide-open blue skies surround the centre. Bold icons and illustrations were created and turned into a visual library and used in the narrated animations. Since the animations played in Zulu and English, we tried to use as little text as possible except for place names on the map and legends.
Nearby the massive relief map table, are four tourist kiosks, containing specific content about the surrounding areas and activities. Visitors can read about nearby attractions, scroll through images or slide their way across beautiful, panoramic landscapes. There is even a section where visitors can design a Nguni cow and name it.
Pixel Project created an interactive story-telling experience in Zulu and English that educates visitors about the little-known and diverse history of the Emakhosini Valley. The two multi-touch screens mounted on the side of the table present visitors with a visual menu in both languages. Visitors listen to the stories and watch the animations which projected onto the table. They can toggle between Zulu and English at any stage. Bold icons and illustrations were created and turned into a visual library and used in the narrated animations. Since the animations played in Zulu and English, we tried to use as little text as possible except for place names on the map and legends.
Nearby the massive relief map table, are four tourist kiosks, containing specific content about the surrounding areas and activities. Visitors can read about nearby attractions, scroll through images or slide their way across beautiful, panoramic landscapes. There is even a section where visitors can design a Nguni cow and name it.
There were no drawings or photos of the history of the valley, so all the artwork and illustrations to visualise the stories and support the narration had to be created from scratch.
The locals in the area mostly spoke Zulu, not English and are not tech-savvy. International and national tourists also visited the area.
The location is very rural and remote, and power outages are commonplace. There is no way to access the computers from outside the museum, which makes updates and maintenance a challenge.
There were no drawings or photos of the history of the valley, so we had to create the scenarios and images depicting the scenes.
The locals in the area mostly spoke Zulu, not English and are not tech-savvy. International and national tourists also visited the area.
The location is very rural and remote, and power outages are commonplace. There is no way to access the computers from outside the museum, which makes updates and maintenance a challenge.
There were no drawings or photos of the history of the valley, so all the artwork and illustrations to visualise the stories and support the narration had to be created from scratch.
The locals in the area mostly spoke Zulu, not English and are not tech-savvy. International and national tourists also visited the area.
The location is very rural and remote, and power outages are commonplace. There is no way to access the computers from outside the museum, which makes updates and maintenance a challenge.
There were no drawings or photos of the history of the valley, so all the artwork and illustrations to visualise the stories and support the narration had to be created from scratch.
The locals in the area mostly spoke Zulu, not English and are not tech-savvy. International and national tourists also visited the area.
The location is very rural and remote, and power outages are commonplace. There is no way to access the computers from outside the museum, which makes updates and maintenance a challenge.
There were no drawings or photos of the history of the valley, so we had to create the scenarios and images depicting the scenes.
The locals in the area mostly spoke Zulu, not English and are not tech-savvy. International and national tourists also visited the area.
The location is very rural and remote, and power outages are commonplace. There is no way to access the computers from outside the museum, which makes updates and maintenance a challenge.
The interface and audio for the animations were available in Zulu as well as English. Big, bold, illustrated icons were used, representing the names of the sections.
We set up installers on spare USB devices that would autorun and install should there be a hardware or power failure.
The interface and audio for the animations were available in Zulu as well as English. Big, bold, illustrated icons were used, representing the names of the sections.
We set up installers on spare USB devices that would autorun and install should there be a hardware or power failure.
The interface and audio for the animations were available in Zulu as well as English. Big, bold, illustrated icons were used, representing the names of the sections.
We set up installers on spare USB devices that would autorun and install should there be a hardware or power failure.
The interface and audio for the animations were available in Zulu as well as English. Big, bold, illustrated icons were used, representing the names of the sections.
We set up installers on spare USB devices that would autorun and install should there be a hardware or power failure.
The area is abundant in wildlife and bush, the views of the surrounding landscape from the centre are through horizontal gaps along the passageways in the museum between the walls and ceilings. This view and natural colour palette inspired the design.
The area is abundant in wildlife and bush, the views of the surrounding landscape from the centre are through horizontal gaps along the passageways in the museum between the walls and ceilings. This view and natural colour palette inspired the design.
When I began to design the visual identity of the exhibition, my starting point was to draw inspiration from the rocks. Their physical makeup is faceted which offered a certain pleasing design aesthetic plus there is a multitude of colourful stones embedded within them.
The content was very text-heavy so I knew I needed to design a neat grid structure for the various templates. The templates needed to be scalable and to work across all the banner wall sizes. The treatment for the banner wall titles was also important as they needed to indicate the section and rock type and act as visual markers. Defining templates upfront helped to define a word count for each of the banners, which then helped the content editor shorten the text to fit the templates.