Playing is Learning
Challenge
Playing is Learning began as a collaborative project between The Iowa Children’s Museum, The Delta Center, and graduate students from the design and psychology departments at the University of Iowa. The goal was to introduce the idea that play is a crucial component of early childhood development and to create an engaging system that could help children and parents explore this concept together.
Role
Designer responsible for logo design and key visual elements for the original museum installation. Later served as the sole freelance designer responsible for adapting and producing the full system for implementation at the Iowa City Public Library.
Approach
The project introduced a playful “gaming system” throughout the museum, using visual cues, icons, and activity cards to guide families through interactive learning experiences. I developed the visual identity and design language used within the system, including icons, cards, posters, and display graphics. When the project expanded beyond the museum, I redesigned and produced the materials for installation at the Iowa City Public Library, adapting the system for a new environment and audience.
Impact
Playing is Learning helped translate research around childhood development into an accessible and engaging experience for families. Originally launched at The Iowa Children’s Museum, the project was later expanded and implemented at the Iowa City Public Library, extending its reach within the community.
Logo Development
When developing the logo, I started sketching everything that came to mind. I took some initial sketches and moved those to vector, feeling out colors and feel. I asked for feedback from fellow designers and my initial vector renderings were rejected. A fellow designer looked at my sketches and asked me about this sketch I had of a little kid holding a pencil. I wouldn’t have thought anything of it if he didn’t point it out. I sketched more from there and then went to vector to render my sketch. I played with type, finessed the logo, and had what I thought was a final logo. After doing a feedback review with parents at the Children’s Museum, they expressed that the logo didn’t really match or inspire the tagline “playing is learning.” They expressed that a child holding a pencil wasn’t really playful. I took the feedback and changed it to the child riding the pencil like a rocketship. I also added a helmet to address other feedback to ensure the child did not lean towards any gender so all kids felt they could see themselvs in this logo. I valued every single criticism, collaboration, feedback, and critique during this process.
Icons
Icons were important to this initiative as they were used to identify the key areas of playing and development. These icons were used on signs and playing cards. The bottom 15 icons were developed for the Iowa Children’s Museum and the top 8 icons were developed for the Iowa City Public Library.
Playing Cards
The playing cards were an interactive element. It encouraged parents to collect cards at each area. Each card was a helpful take away that educated parents on developmental areas and provided at home activity ideas to play with their child. The full deck of cards were also available for purchase at the gift store.
Signs and Installations
Throughout the Children’s Museum and Iowa City Public Library were large signs that had facts and play ideas. There were corresponding cards that parents and kids could grab as well. In addition to these signs, there were other elements such as stamps you could stamp your play passport with, signs that described the Playing is Learning initiative, and other playful informative signs like puzzle pieces, and a photo opportunity cut out.
