Chiiild’s play
A storytelling platform for doodles
June 27, 2024
“This is goes like this, like this, like this, like this, like this, like this. That’s a rainbow. That’s at nursery with everybody.”
A quick IIIF intro
At Cogapp, we utilise IIIF in our digital projects for the world’s leading art museums. IIIF provides collection-hosting institutions with a universal standard for presenting images online and at scale. Examples of IIIF in use can be viewed in this Rembrandt drawing and through our free, open- source online storytelling platform called Storiiies.
In the Peck Collection, IIIF supports the late art collector Sheldon Peck’s vision to extend the boundaries of seeing by encouraging a closer look at artist drawings. The technology enables users to zoom into the details of pencil strokes and develop a discerning eye.
In Storiiies, we give museum professionals the platform to curate a detailed story, taking users on a journey around an artwork.
IIIF hackday idea
Our technical lead Tristan sent the team an internal brief asking us to come up with ideas on how IIIF could be used in novel ways.
As a parent of a 3 year old toddler, I am constantly gifted with scribbles and doodles. I collect them in a box under the bed or stick them on my wall behind my desk. Occasionally, I scan them and make birthday cards for my family. I like them for their purely expressive quality alone. There’s something so free about toddler art, unhindered by self-doubt or criticism.
What if we used Storiiies to curate a journey around the proto-artform of a toddlers doodle? I thought.
Beyond the formal qualities of the untethered crayon strokes, I wanted to know if there was a story she was trying to tell. Often, if I do notice more discernible shapes in her art, I will project my own story onto the image.
A doodle is just a doodle, right?
For the internal IIIF hack day at Cogapp, I wanted my toddler to lead the way and describe her doodle. I sat down with her and recorded her response to my pointy-prompts.
I didn’t anticipate how much fun and surprising this process would be. One of the things that amazed me was her gestural hand movements.
In addition to her sometimes indecipherable verbal descriptions (and unexpected burp 😂), she made circular, pinching, and scratching motions to explain how she made the marks in her picture. I incorporated these “actions” in the text description because I felt they were intrinsic to her description. A future iteration might present these actions as icons or animated icons.
You can watch the full video below and enjoy Comic Sans in full UI-enhancing swing … you can thank my colleague Luke for that design delight.
Design and concept by Grant, Head of Design at Cogapp.
Doodle by Grant’s toddler.
Development by Luke, Senior Producer at Cogapp.
Cogapp are a digital agency specialising in the cultural sector. Please get in touch if you’d like to hear more about our work.
If you’re interested in joining us for a hack day, there’s more information on our website.
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