Hero’s Journey

Exhibit Design

Skills Utilized

Autodesk Fusion 360, Adobe Illustrator, & Adobe Photoshop

Mission Objective

In a team of four, design a new interactive exhibit for the Strong Museum of Play's Reading Adventureland area that follows their theme of children's literature.  

HERO’S JOURNEY

A colorful indoor playground with a winding gray path on a green surface, several large colored balls, a small red watering can, a green climbing structure, a wooden playhouse with a brown roof, benches, and a small kitchen area.

The exhibit aims to teach children aged five through ten-year-olds about the Hero's Journey narrative through the framework of finding adventure in their backyard.

Garden Playground

A colorful playground area with a red watering can activity and metal jungle gym in a child-friendly setting with cloud and sky decorations.

The backyard can be big and scary, but as a hero you will descend into this new world and navigate through your new surrounding.

Silhouettes of children playing on a green park-themed playground structure with a canopy, a parent watching nearby, and a colorful mural with clouds and sky in the background.

Conquer the playground by climbing up the rake jungle gym to the top! Sit at the top and look out over the entire backyard.

The ropes use leather fabric to aid with grip and climbing. The structure is made out of powder coated steel and has an opening to allow parents or guardians to retrieve their child if they’re playing beneath the gym.

Rake Jungle Gym

Illustration of a child and an adult in an indoor play area with a large red musical watering can that releases sound waves and music notes when played, situated near a staircase and a fence, with green and textured flooring.

The watering can activity allows kids to pretend to be plant and be watered. A swish of air will blow fabric streamers and play the sound of water running.

The structure would also be made of powder coated steel.

Watering Can

The Strong National Museum of Play

Located in Rochester, NY, the Strong Museum houses the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of historical materials related to play.

People walking and children playing outside near colorful large letters forming the word 'PLAY' in front of a modern building with colorful vertical slats and a statue of a dog in the foreground.

What is the Hero’s Journey?

The hero journey is a classic, popular narrative for adventure stories of all levels. It’s present in historical classics to children’s picture books. It is also easy to simplify and explain at multiple levels of complexity.

There are three main stages to the Hero’s Journey

1st stage: Departure

2nd stage: Initiation

3rd stage: Return

Floorplan

A detailed backyard plan with labeled areas including a treehouse in the green section, a garden playground, a backyard space, a hero's garden, and a kitchen in pink. The plan features various walls and measurements.

New Floorplan

Departure

“Real World” setting → Pretend Kitchen

Call to adventure → Open back door

Initiation

Roads of Trials → Yard of obstacles

Achievement of Goal → Going through all of the backyard areas

Return → Celebration

A detailed architectural floor plan titled 'Plan View of Nonsense Space,' measuring approximately 700 square feet, displays labeled walls, dimensions, and construction features.

Old Floorplan

Nonsense House

Located inside of Reading Adventure, the Nonsense house is an exhibit centered around wordplay and rhyming. However, the theme of the exhibit is confusing and not cohesive and it is filled with tired interactives. Due to the claustrophobic atmosphere, the visitors leave feeling over-stimulated. 

Colorful indoor children's play area with a yellow table holding shiny metal bowls with toys, a purple and red wall, and a blue exhibit with large foam letters.
Colorful indoor play area designed for children, featuring a yellow wall, a small table with three colorful stools, and various play structures.

PROBLEM AREA

Targeted Age Group

Our exhibit’s intended audience is aimed at five to ten-year-olds.

At this age group, kids are:

  • beginning to understand the structures of stories

  • making their own creative narratives

  • clearly identifying major elements of stories like plot, problem, and resolution

Reading Milestones (for Parents) | Nemours KidsHealth

Group of children participating in an outdoor physical activity, stepping through a ladder placed on a grassy field

Types of Play

Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development recognizes that play is essential to the advancement of a child’s intelligence. There are four stages to his theory: Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operational, and Formal Operational.

Within each stage of play, there are additional types of play that where children will engage in different activities.

Examples:

  • Pretend Play: Children come up with their own imaginary scenarios that allows them to explore their curiosity, develop their language skills, and express themselves.

  • Physical Play: Encourages kids to be active and build their gross and fine motor skills. Climbing, running, jumping, and skipping.

https://www.gowriensw.com.au/thought-leadership/types-of-play-for-early-childhood-development

Moodboard

Indoor play area decorated with large green balloon tree, small house with yellow and white striped walls, and various play structures.
Colorful playground sculptures resembling houses, steps, and arches arranged on a grassy area outdoors.
Indoor children's play area with a green and wooden theme, featuring a slide, climbing structure, and small table with chairs, with children playing and exploring.
A colorful indoor display with large cartoonish trees, a small bridge over a blue stream, and playful characters, resembling a children's storybook scene.

Earthy, Natural, Bright Color Palette

A young boy with brown hair, dressed in a dark t-shirt and shorts, is planting carrots in a wooden garden box. He is holding a small green toy shovel and sitting on green grass outdoors.
Children playing on wooden playground equipment in a park with green grass, trees, and a woman sitting on a bench.
Children reading a book under a tree-shaped bookshelf in a library

Ideation

A hand-drawn sketch of a building with three doors and a fence, with notes indicating 'Rustle' above the doors, 'Open doors to reveal who's inside,' and a cat sitting near the door, with the question 'Who's hiding?' written in orange.

Idea for an interactive activity where children would hear sounds coming from the garden and would open up doors and “boxes” to reveal an animal and facts about them.

Colorful illustration of a petting zoo with a green climbing structure, purple slides, pink flower-shaped elements, a purple cylindrical tunnel, and a person reading a book inside a transparent enclosure.

Idea for an interactive activity where children physically play with garden related equipment to encourage curiosity and build self confidence.

Refinement

Large cutouts of modeled activities, made from brown paper and taped to a wall, possibly for to scale out the size of the museum attraction.
Colorful wooden blocks in various shapes and sizes arranged on a white background.
Red digital device with a round emits light and a switch at the bottom, positioned against a white background.

Orthographic

I used large paper to create a full scale orthographic drawing of the Watering Can and this helped to visualize the Watering Can in physical space.

Color Palette

Drawing from our moodboard, the color palette for the exhibit is earthy and natural with bright pops of colors.

3D Models

Green playground climbing structure with a slide and ladder in a minimalist style.
A small, stylized mushroom figure with a yellow cap and a light pink stem.

Then I modeled my structures in Autodesk Fusion and also created an additional mushroom stump that children can use as physical obstacles to jump over or sit on.

Scroll back to the top to read about the finished interactive again!

A cartoon playroom with a light blue wall decorated with clouds, green floor, a red and yellow mushroom-shaped object on the floor, and playground equipment including a red watering can and jungle gym.
A children's playground with a red watering can, green slide, and yellow mushroom-shaped seat inside a fenced area with painted clouds on the wall.

THANK YOU!