Saturday, 2 November 2013

Hoveton Hall Gardens: Children's Trail

Hoveton Hall Gardens went through a rebrand, starting in 2007, by working with the company TEN Creative. Perhaps the design is outdated now, but I still felt that it linked well to my Negotiated Project. I was more interested in the redesign created for the children's trails in 2011.

The first trail was aimed at children between the ages of 2-6. The idea of this trail was to collect all six animal stamps, which are located around the gardens, to win a prize. This is quite a similar technique to what was done in the London Transport Museum (see a previous post) and encourages the children to “collect them all”, therefore keeping their interest for a longer period of time. A prize also offers a further incentive. 
The second trail was for the ages of 5+ and involved a friendly dragonfly mascot, Harry Hover. The dragonfly guides children through interactive challenges and activities. TEN Creative said that the dragonfly, “Was an instant success! And feedback from the visitor cards echoed this resoundingly.” Introduction of a character, such as “Harry Hover” is always a strong technique that manages to get children involved. 
 

They also created colour quiz sheets, with an illustrated trail map to lead the way, colouring sheets and puzzle sheets. A lot to keep children entertained. 


I felt that the designs above were rather outdated and could be improved. Though they are very busy, which will grab the attention of children and the character does appeal to a younger audience. Perhaps the leaflet itself could have been even more interactive, offering more than just a flat surface of information. 

References:  
http://www.hovetonhallgardens.co.uk/index.asp?pid=7

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