subject: Is creative design important in virtual worlds for children? [print this page] Is creative design important in virtual worlds for children?
Over the last few years there has been a massive growth in the number of virtual worlds aimed at children. Mostly these are centered on some kind of theme - usually animals, monsters or other 'creatures' of some description. Children sign up to the world and create a virtual avatar which they then use to participate in online games or to chat to other members' in-world. Some virtual worlds carry educational content, many others do not.
Although many of these worlds have a similar theme, where they differ greatly is in how they are presented creatively. The majority place emphasis on the content rather than the design - perhaps in the belief that their target audience, children, are simply not interested in how something looks, but merely on how it plays. From a production point of view this means that for the same budget the developers can pack more features in at the expense of the look and feel of the design. Good design is expensive and perhaps developers feel that it is wasting money to pay for top quality design that will not be appreciated by their young audience. To create good designs means hiring the very best of designers and animators - those who are in the forefront of their field. As a consequence, down the line, everything becomes more expensive - more intricate designs are more difficult to animate or incorporate into online gaming experiences, films or cartoons.
But ultimately quality of design will stand the test of time whereas poor design will have a shorter shelf life and be forgotten as quickly as it came to fame. Beautiful artwork may initially be expensive but will be around for years to come. From a marketing standpoint, this translates into characters and items that can be easily licensed since they have a value of their own, rather than relying on the functionality of the virtual world in which they are placed. Good character designs can be translated into saleable goods which are distinctive and highly desirable. And if the base layer of the virtual world is embedded in high quality of design, the functionality that follows on can be built upon steadily as and when budget allows and user numbers grow.
Aardman Animations, the multi award winning Design Company based in Bristol, England are an organization at the top of their industry who has recently ventured into the area of virtual worlds by creating www.webbliworld.com. Aardman have drawn on the experience they have gained from producing hit shows such as Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep, shows which are led by strong, well-designed and well-rounded characters. Both shows have been around a long time and have a huge following, so when it came to creating a brand new set of characters for WebbliWorld Aardman poured all this expertise into the mix. Tim Ruffle was the artist principally responsible for the original designs for WebbliWorld which are based around characters called Webblis - ecofriendly creatures created by bolting together blocks of colorful pixels. The designs, which include complete environments and homes in which they live are intended to be around for a long time and thus not governed by a 'sell-by' date.
It will remain to be seen over the next few years as to whether high quality of design prevails of cost of production in an already crowded market place, but it will certainly be a subject worth following and one which will continue to provoke much debate.
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