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Imagemakers Interpretive Design & Consulting June 2011 August 2009

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The Armoured Soldiers Story Blast it! Call of the Wild History Illuminated Stories in the Walls Alfa the Alien Revealing The Rows Watch out for 60mph birds! Whats next? The Scoop

Where can you see the biggest birds nest in the world...?

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...in Beijing!
Were thrilled to announce that we now have office space in this prestigious location where our team can work from in China.

Weve also added three new experts to our team in the UK and are delighted to be working with new clients on some seriously exciting projects in 2011. As you can imagine, these developments have kept us extremely busy, hence the recent newsletter hiatus. From our Wildspy App to a glorious Welsh Abbey, its definitely time for an update. Weve refreshed the look and added a section called The Scoop for in-house news.

Enjoy...

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The Armoured Soldiers Story

There is a tented dorm, duty watch The Royal Armoured station, living and survival equipment Corps has been engaged and even the thunder box an outdoor toilet. Opportunities to interact include in some of the fiercest trying on desert kit and exploring how fighting since World weapons or large armoured vehicles like Viking troop carriers work. War Two in combating the insurgency in A lot of the public Afghanistan. Now the basically thinks that soldiers tell their story were getting beat in a poignant new and were not. All exhibition at the you hear about is the Tank Museum. British casualties. Working with the Tank Museums curation and interpretation expert, our challenge was to change public perceptions of the work soldiers do and to show what life is really like. Personal and inspiring stories from all ranks of soldier were placed at the heart of the exhibition. There are few interpretation panels; instead, a Forward Operating Base with authentic objects to demonstrate working, living and combat areas. Visitors enter the base and find themselves surrounded by the Afghan desert landscape. They are immersed in the sights and sounds of life on operations (dogs barking, the thunder of a passing tank, gun fire). LCpl. L, 2nd Royal Tank Regiment Hours of research and live interviews conducted by Tank Museum staff inform the exhibition. There are audio points in old ammunition crates and visitors can find out how soldiers cope with exacting physical and emotional demands. There is front line film narrated by veteran broadcaster Kate Adie and videos of returning soldiers with haunting tales of bravery. Visitors will be inspired by the soldiers courage and leave with a deeper understanding and new perspective on a conflict that is soon to enter its tenth year.

it! ast Bl
At the end of the 19th century, the 36 acre chalk quarry at Amberley, West Sussex was in its heyday. It employed hundreds of men, women and horses in hard labour to extract chalk and turn it into lime. Thriving communities and new transport links sprung up nearby, their fortunes closely aligned to the pit.
The quarry owner, Mr Pepper, was constantly on the look out for improvements and invited the Belgian engineer, Mr De Witt, to apply the principles of his revolutionary down draft kiln system. The De Witt block was constructed, housing 18 new kilns. Sadly the design was flawed and production reverted back to traditional bottle shaped kilns. Eventually, the industry declined and so did the pit, leaving the site to fall into disrepair. Fortunately, two of the original De Witt kilns still exist. The Amberley Museum and Heritage Centre manages the site and with Heritage Lottery funding, they have embarked on a scheme to restore the kilns and create an exhibition in the Bagging Shed of the De Witt Block, now a Scheduled Ancient Monument. We conducted a thorough interpretive planning process to explore detailed themes and storylines; explaining why chalk and lime were important, how the chalk-to-lime process works, how the De Witt kilns came about and why they failed. The scheme we proposed is object led supported by graphics, audio, interactives and sculpture.

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Left: Life size sculptures illustrate key moments in a workers day

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The interpretive elements look stunning and it was a pleasure to work with the Imagemakers team to achieve the Museums objectives.
Claire Seymour, Museum Curator Robust display panels with a chalky graphic feel illustrate the main activities and visitors can explore authentic objects such as an original workmans boot, fossils from the chalk or a sample tile box. There is a rich human story to tell. Audio clips of workers recollections plus life size sculptures such as cycling home covered in dust recreate key moments in each tough working day.

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Can you imagine a world without animals? John Aspinall, founder of Port Lympne Wildlife Animal Park, Kent certainly couldnt. Sadly though, humans are likely to cause the extinction of a quarter of all known species in the next 20 years, unless we protect them now.

A passionate conservationist, John Aspinall bought land in Kent to house rare and endangered animal species in the late 1950s. One park was Port Lympne, which works with animal conservation charity The Aspinall Foundation; a charity that runs animal protection projects around the world. At Port Lympne you can see many rare animals including Siberian and Indian tigers, Barbary lions, black rhinos and a family group of Gorillas. As part of a major restructuring project at the park, we devised a costed interpretive action plan with a raft of creative suggestions to develop an exciting visitor experience and showcase the conservation work. From this we were commissioned to design a visitor centre (The Conservation Station) and a number of external panels and interactive exhibits.

A passport system was one of the solutions we came up with to encourage visitors to move around the site. They receive a Ranger log book on arrival and collect an embossing stamp from each of the walk-through zones. In the African Experience visitors can play a snakes and ladders style game painted on the ground, which explains the dangers of habitat destruction. At the Carnivore Territory Caf, visitors lift the lid on the daily menu of the hungry carnivore residents of the park. The serious work of preventing animal extinction is the main focus for the exhibition within The Conservation Station. Large-scale backdrop graphics tell the main stories, whilst a number of lively, interactive games help convey key messages to younger audiences. The hope is that through these interventions, visitors will leave more informed and motivated to support the work of The Aspinall Foundation beyond their actual time on site.

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History Illuminated
There are few more remote or beautiful locations than Strata Florida Abbey on the edge of the Cambrian Mountains in mid-Wales
Its no wonder a community of Cistercian Monks settled here in the 12th century to live out their lives of austerity, prayer and reflection. They ran a prosperous estate and created numerous manuscripts, which are among the most valuable records of Wales early history. Foremost is the Brut y Tywysogion (The Chronicle of the Princes). With funding from the Welsh Cultural Heritage Initiative, Cadw appointed Imagemakers to improve intellectual access to Strata Florida Abbey and the monastic landscape. We created a new visitor centre reception area, retail provision and interpretive exhibition, together with outdoor interpretation points and signage. Colour was an important consideration and we researched a medieval palette, uniting colours from the present landscape stone ruins, rolling green hills with activities from its past. An illustrated mural depicting the Abbeys heyday in medieval times and a giant map of the estate dominate the new centre and highlight the different activities that took place. Authentic objects on display include beautiful handmade tiles with important symbolic patterns, which visitors can replicate at a tile making station. Two touch screens provide an extra multi-media layer to the visitor experience with games, detailed explanations of key events in the Abbeys history and links to social media.

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Stories in the walls

Chester is a city steeped in Medieval and Roman history that visitors flock to see.
There is no better way to appreciate Chesters past than to walk around its magnificent walls, towers and gateways on foot. This Scheduled Ancient Monument, which is of international importance, is the only complete city wall circuit in Britain and has a rich and eventful 2,000-year history. Legend has it that on 24th of September 1645, King Charles stood on a tower (now bearing his name) and watched his army defeated in the battle of Rowton Moor. The Chester Renaissance in Partnership with Cheshire West and Chester Council is now revitalising these key sites. The 2km circular route provides glorious views of the city and also links to other important heritage sites such as the Amphitheatre, Castle and Cathedral. We are taking an exemplary approach and began by producing an interpretation masterplan in 2010, which involved wide consultation and stakeholder engagement. The approved plan, which is now in the implementation stage, features a cutting edge smartphone app, an augmented reality digital binocular viewpoint, CGI animations, graphic panels produced in enamelled lavastone, arts installations, new orientation signage, a guidebook, an interactive website and activities for families and children. David Masters is our Lead Consultant on the Chester scheme, and has participated in a number of Community of Practice and European Masterclass sessions with colleagues from the partner cities. As a result of our experience, we have had a key role in promoting heritage interpretation within the EU Portico project, and the adoption of best practice in its planning and implementation.

Imagemakers has been appointed to deliver the Portico Project a EU funded demonstration project to tell the story of the City Walls and Towers.
David Masters, Lead Consultant, Imagemakers.

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Alfa the Alien

How do you help school children to understand what it means to live in Somerset and to become future ambassadors of the county? With ALFA the Alien of course!
Our Creative Director David Revell and the team developed an innovative e-learning product, working closely with the council tourism group and specialist e-learning advisors. The premise is simple and fun an alien crash lands in Somerset and the players must help him repair his space ship and collect enough fuel to return to his home planet. The players must travel backwards and forwards in time around the county undertaking a wide variety of mini -games, with the help of ALFAs special tools, to retrieve pieces of his spaceship and fill it up with fuel. The web-based game is targeted specifically at Primary age school children (KS1 & KS2) throughout the county. It is a unique interactive resource intended to raise awareness of Somerset and develop a greater knowledge of the county and provide classroom support for teachers across a range of curriculum subjects. Our biggest challenge was ensuring that the final game earned all important playground credibility and buy in from the broad range of pupils spanning year 1 through to year 6. We achieved this by giving the pupils ownership of the content and design development process. Creative direction was handed over to the experts at three primary schools.

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We ran focus groups with the kids to develop themes and the visual appearance. Their knowledge of all things tech was amazing and we incorporated many of their ideas into the final game. A copy of the game will be sent to every primary school in Somerset and is also live on the Visit Somerset website: www.visitsomerset.co.uk

You have facilitated the creation of a quality resource which Im sure will both encourage families to visit many parts of Somerset and will provide many excellent learning experiences in classrooms across the County. Congratulations to you on this achievement. Ive enjoyed being part of the process.
Julia Briggs, e-Learning Advisor, Somerset County Council

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Revealing the Rows

Where can you see a fireplace high in the wall of a sofa shop or a Roman Hypocaust in the basement of a fast-food restaurant?
There are many hidden artefacts and architectural features buried in the commercial areas of Chester Rows, but how do you bring them to the attention of the passing public? One solution is a smartphone App. We developed the Revealing the Rows App for Cheshire West and Chester Council to encourage visitors to the Rows Chesters unique upper level gallery of walkways into local shops and businesses to discover Chesters rarely-seen historic treasures. The

App is designed around Imagemakers bespoke I-Spy game developed specifically for the heritage sector. Local businesses have welcomed the App as they will benefit from increased footfall and local tour guides see it as a natural extension to their popular service.

Developing this new and exciting app offers visitors and residents immediate, self selected, information and it is just the start of a range of apps, for Chester. Imagemakers expertise and enthusiasm was exemplary, and has continued into developing other related projects for the City.
Rosalind Munslow, Project Officer, Chester Renaissance

Watch out for 60mph birds!

Interactive apps allow visitors to explore Wildspace a 640 hectare conservation area currently in development in East London.
We developed the Wildspace App for the London Borough of Havering who administer the site, to guide visitors on a walk from Rainham village to the River Thames. It is an extension of our I-Spy suite of Apps where multiple players compete to spot wildlife and fascinating heritage features, automatically selected through an inbuilt seasonal filter. High resolution imagery is complemented by spoken narrative, birdcalls and fiendish questions. A multi platform marketing campaign, including posters and a webpage, was also created to raise awareness of the App. It features a pheasant and the little known fact that these birds, when pressed, can run at 60mph! The Wildspace App was funded by the former London Development Agency through a Thames Gateway Parklands grant.

Weve completed two test sessions with the RSPB and our funders. The feedback has been really positive. All ages enjoy the question element of the game it encourages them to learn by stimulating a real competitive streak!
Tracey Boyle, Project Manager, Jacobs Engineering

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Whats Next...
Copper Kingdom
Client: Amlwch Industrial Heritage Trust Content: Interpreting the remarkable story of the Parys Mountain copper mine in Anglesey through a new visitor centre set within a couple of former copper bins on the quayside at Amlwch. The centre promises to become a major tourism attraction and catalyst for regeneration.

Digital Report
Client: Heritage Lottery Fund Content: Commission to document and review digital practice in the heritage sector and elsewhere. This will assist the HLF in implementing new policies on funding digital projects and reflects our position as market leaders in this area.

Ordsall Hall, Salford

Client: Salford County Council Content: Develop branding, signage and interpretive installations as part of a major restoration project for this Tudor mansion. Highlights include a see-through panel offering low-tech augmented reality, tactile buildings plan and beautiful oak panels about the halls ecclesiastical past.

Lime & Ice Exhibition

Client: North York Moors National Park Authority Content: Literally perched on the edge of the North York Moors, the Sutton Bank National Parks Centre is a critical orientation and interpretation point for visitors to the moors. The new Lime & Ice exhibition will use a mix of interpretive media to tell both the geological and human story of the moors.

Canal Connections, Calderdale

Clients: The Waterways Trust & Pennine Prospects Content: Community focused heritage interpretation project on the Rochdale Canal proposing a broad range of traditional and new media based interpretive solutions to be implemented over 3 years.

Conisbrough Castle Interpretation

Cient: English Heritage Content: Concept designs for Heritage Lottery funded Stage 2 bid. We consulted widely with English Heritage and the local community and propose the use of graphic interpretation and exciting new multi-sensory projections including aroma dispersal units.

Alexandra Park
Client: Manchester City Council Project: Alexandra Park Content: Heritage interpretation plan for this stunning Victorian park in Manchester, to support a Heritage Lottery Fund Stage II bid. Proposals have been developed in consultation with diverse local community groups, and will celebrate the parks historic, current and future significance.

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The Scoop
A big hello to
Paul Davies, New Media Manager Whilst youre reading our printed newsletter now, in future, you may be reading it on your mobile device, iPad or even something that hasnt been invented yet. We constantly look for new ways to create engaging experiences and are delighted to welcome Paul Davies to lead our digital team. Paul is a psychologist, designer and technologist with 15 years experience developing unique and award winning projects online. Simon Young, Assistant Interpretive Planner/Project Manager After studying History at Oxford University Simon completed an MA in Museum Studies, focusing on interpretation and exhibitions. He joins our Nottingham office to run projects and brings a keen eye for detail and research. Liz Nelstrop, Marketing Liz joined us in January to shout about all things Imagemakers, to support new business, provide bespoke marketing for our clients and to help us win more shiny awards. She holds the Chartered Institute of Marketing Advanced Diploma and has a background in Brand Management.

Tweet, tweet follow us on @Imagemakers_uk

Imagemakers Blog
Interacting or interfering Paul examines the digital debate in a heritage setting. Simon wrestles with too much information (dont we all) and Phils been out and about in Anglesey check out his snottie video!

Diary
Weve caught up with industry friends and shared insights at some great events this Spring including the Musuems & Heritage Show, Museums Next, and the virtual conferences Musuems and Mobile and Museums and the Web. Keep an eye on the website for info about our speaking engagements over the summer

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Consultancy: Interpretive strategies & plans Access plans Audience development plans Training plans Marketing plans Evaluation studies Funding packages Community consultation programmes Tailored training Design & build: Museum galleries Visitor centres Interactives Outdoor displays Public art Literature Digital Media & Audio Visual Websites Heritage apps CGI (2D & 3D)

Imagemakers Interpretive Design & Consulting

e: enquiries@imagemakers.uk.com w: imagemakers.uk.com

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Atomic House 50 High Pavement The Lace Market Nottingham NG1 1HW t: +44 (0)115 853 2191