Understanding how human intervention can help restore the panda population and their habitats.
The Toronto Zoo - The Giant Panda Exhibit
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Services
Media Planning, Media Design, Art Direction, UX /UI Design, Interactive Media, Immersive Media, Illustration, 2D Motion Design, Live Shoot, Editing, Copywriting, Sound Design, Print Design.
Industry
Culture
2013
Introduction
The Giant Pandas Er Shun and Da Mao came to the Toronto Zoo from China as part of a ten year loan agreement with China and was an incredible opportunity for us at The Design Foundation to create an immersive and educational exhibit. Our goal was to inspire visitors to learn more about these amazing animals and the challenges they face in the wild. We hope that through this exhibit, visitors would be drawn into the story of the pandas and feel empowered to take action to help preserve their habitat and ensure their survival.
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Find the Panda Interactive
Visitors are encouraged to try and find pandas in a large panoramic setting, comprised of many different habitats from forest to cityscape - in this way, they come to understand what environments are ideal for pandas' day to day survival.
The Requirements
The Design Foundation worked in conjunction with the exhibit designers and the zoo team to create and deliver an engaging and informative exhibit on pandas. The media is designed to educate visitors about the vulnerability of these incredible animals. We wanted visitors to leave the exhibit feeling knowledgeable about the endangered status of pandas worldwide, and what the Toronto Zoo is doing to help them during their stay and beyond. The exhibit utilizes visual media to showcase the unique nature of pandas and their habitats, and to encourage visitors to take action to protect them.
Three digital exhibits were designed and produced to respond to various content and its presentation. "Find a Panda" allows visitors to understand the unique environmental conditions necessary for pandas to thrive and multiply. "Meet an Expert" gives the visitor specific information about Panda diets, their day to day habits within the panda community, as well as the specific work the museum staff and curators are involved in with regard to the zoological intervention necessary to maintain the species at large. "Connect the Habitats" allows visitors to understand, through a large group interactive, that in order for the panda population to not only survive, but thrive, requires human intervention.
The Response
The Result
While the pandas were at the Toronto Zoo, two cubs were born, which can be attributed to the success of the zoo's panda conservation programme. The opening exhibit was very successful, seeing an incredible influx of visitors nationally and abroad. Visitor numbers only continued to increase after the birth of the cubs. The Museum quality exhibit maintained visitor numbers well into the 5 year stay. During this time, giant pandas' status has been downgraded from "endangered" to "vulnerable" - a wonderful marker of the North American zoological intervention worldwide.
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Meet an Expert Video Interactive
This interactive allows visitors to hear various zoo staff members describe their job and daily interaction with the pandas at the zoo - from curators, to veterinarians and zookeepers, one is made more aware of the fragility of the panda species, and how human intervention will help them survive.
Attract Screen
Illustration
The exhibit in use and
interactive frame illustrations.
Connect the Habitats
Multi-User Interactive
The group interactive occurs in an area where visitors line up to see the pandas in their enclosures. While waiting in line, they are encouraged to play a game in which they can connect pandas by enlarging their existing habitats by planting bamboo. Pandas can connect in these newly created environments and multiply.
Visitors can understand that the panda population can survive through human intervention through the development of new habitats and maintenance of existing ones.
