The Wonderful Colorful House
roles: concept development • creative direction • illustration • animation
Once the iPad version of “It’s About Life” was finished, I wanted to make more storybooks. I knew I would have to work with a small team since doing it all by myself was an impossible task. I posted a message on LinkedIn to find like-minded people who would be willing to join forces. Sure enough, I received a reply from a writer who had been sitting on a story. We hit it off and formed a small team around us. I took on the role of Creative Director.
The story was not originally written to be interactive. Rather, it was a bedtime story that the writer used to tell his kids. That was our first challenge. We had to create a good flow to the story and make it fun to interact with. Our target audience was young kids, ages 3 to 6.
First, I broke the story up into pages. Next, I created interactions that felt natural, as if they were there from the beginning. When a composer joined our team, he and I worked closely together to make sure his score elevated the story at just the right moments.
THE STORY
Tullik is a boy who lives on the North Pole with his family. He hates white and cannot stand to live in a world without color. He leaves his home to look for a colorful life. At first, he is super excited when he discovers a new part of the world. One that is filled with color, new friends and a new house. But then he realizes how much he misses his family. He buys a ticket for a return flight. On the way to the airport, he stumbles upon a solution to his colorless life and races home to reunite with his family.
Drag the bar across the image below to see the progression from the first storyboard sketches to a more final colored script.
Move the slider in the image below to see the storyboard development
The project was lining up to become a success. Until it wasn’t. Our marketing specialist left the team, which left us without a contact at Apple. It became very clear that without a solid marketing strategy, the app would not reach an audience. We sold a small number of copies, but nothing like what we had hoped for.
For me, that did not ruin the experience. Bringing so many elements of storytelling together was just a huge creative treat. I had a real vision of where I wanted to take the app creatively, and I feel we succeeded in that completely. It taught me some very valuable lessons that ring true to this day. If the opportunity would arise I would do it again in an Artbeat :)
Move slider to see story progression
Move slider to see story progression
Move slider to see story progression
Move slider to see story progression
Move slider to see story progression
Move slider to see story progression
Email: bas@bastopia.com | Copyright © 1999–2024 Bas Waijers. All rights reserved.
Ai Art: Bastopia
Copyright of the images is retained in perpetuity by the artist and they may not be reproduced in any context or media digital or analogue.