BirdPlay App:
learn and play
OBJECTIVE
To prototype a learn-and-play style app for a target audience of children of select ages.
YEAR
Sophomore
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BirdPlay is an educational app targeted to children ages 7-9, who have learned how to read and are excited to flex their advancing skills. The app is full of information on the characteristics, lifestyles, and habitats of several bird species, which the child can browse and then select for customization in the “color” section of the app. When the bird has been satisfactorily colored, it can be added to the collection of saved designs called “your flock.” BirdPlay combines science with simple creative expression in such a way that it appeals to kids of all interests and pushes them to create and learn on their own. The mascot featured on the app’s main screens and icon is the scarlet macaw character, who is accompanied by the Guam kingfisher, the barn owl, the turkey vulture, the gray catbird, and the chestnut-mandibled toucan.
BirdPlay logo
BirdPlay app icon
The birds are illustrated to retain important identifying features, but each is simplified down into a small number of shapes that differentiate well on screen, can be individually selected during gameplay, and together create cute, friendly bird characters. A subtle gradient is applied to each of the shapes, as well as the branches the birds rest on.
Gradients are also an important factor in creating interest in the background graphics, which had to be simple and quiet enough for the birds to remain primary. A pale blue sky is filled with abstracted leaf shapes in a transparent green gradient, overlapping with each other to create a variety of hues and shades. At a higher level of opacity, these leaf shapes also make up the base of each control icon and button found throughout the app.
Main navigation
Gameplay walk-through video
The final flock lineup in the walkthrough, showcasing the endless potential for color combination.