Design a Shield Game
In May 2009 Newcastle launched its £26m flagship visitor attraction, the Great North Museum. Its Ancient Greek Gallery depicts scenes taken from Greek pottery, including a wall frieze portraying Hoplite soldiers fighting, with one soldier holding a blank shield. An interactive was developed to enable the visitors to design their own Hoplite shields and project them onto this blank space, bringing the mural to life.
Within the Design a Shield interactive, the visitor can explore general information about Greek Hoplites, their armour and fighting methods. The game itself presents the visitor with various icons, symbols, colours and patterns and the user chooses from them to customise their own shield. Once complete the design is projected onto the soldier’s blank shield and the visitor is asked if they would like to email home their design as a memento of their visit.
Regular focus group assessment ensured the interactives were accessible for all, and liaison with the gallery designers, Casson Mann, ensured the pieces matched the gallery’s graphic style set by the designers, Nick Bell Design.
"Your interactives are very stable, very pleasing."
- Steve Mclean, Project Manager - Great North Museum
Services: graphic design, motion graphics, bespoke software production