The Invention Cycle
Art direction, Concept creation, Visual Communication
Client: Microsoft
Role: Design lead
Production: Fat Pencil
Year: 2017
Microsoft Innovation Centers (MICs) help educate and create opportunities for students and entrepreneurs spreading in 100+ locations across 34 countries. In 2016 Microsoft decided to offer a series of workshops to students and entrepreneurs so as to foster creativity and build an entrepreneurial mindset. A part of the workshop was addressed specifically to students and children, where a series of academic speeches by Tina Seelig was presented, a Stanford University professor.
The educational material that was used consists of seven different animated educational videos that illustrate Seelig’s framework for teaching students the logic of the Invention Cycle; a pathway for progressing from ideas to actions, through entrepreneurship.
On the whole, this project regards the right visualisation of the speeches in order to facilitate children’s and students’ comprehension around the 4 invention pillars; ➀ imagination, ➁ creativity, ➂ innovation and ➃ entrepreneurship and also achieve better engagement levels during the workshops.
Details of some of the pilot MIC experiences are in this video, which gives an inspiring glimpse of the impact of this entrepreneurship training on students in Canada Malta, China, Korea, and Nepal ⭢
①
Research
The very first step was the ethnographic research and ideation process that led to a better comprehension of the special needs of our audience. A brainstorming workshop was also conducted, where people from 7 - 12 years old participated. The findings were the stepping stone for the creating of the symbolic language of the project.
②
Symbolic visual language system
Our work involved the development of a symbolic language that communicates visually notions difficult to understand by children, such as innovation, engagement or inspiration. Also, the storyboard production for each of the seven videos and in the end, the creation of the final visual elements.
③
Artwork and storyboard production
Based on the elements of the visual language we developed artworks, which were used for the storyboard production for each of the seven videos. The artworks were finally used as standalone elements for educational purposes and also for the creation of the final animations.
④
Animation
This is a sample of one of the seven videos that explain how the Invention Cycle works. This specific video concerns the Motivation and Experimentation part of the Cycle.
