Start With A Problem, Not A Solution

Sometimes ‘creative’ briefs are anything but. They already have a solution wrapped up in the objectives, and leave little to no room for genuine creativity at all.

The brief for the original National Gallery project was broad but very clear: how can innovative digital technologies help to attract and engage family audiences to the gallery? From this wonderfully open and inviting startpoint, participating studios were able to embark on a creative odyssey, exploring myriad potential routes before settling on the one that excited us the most. Though certain expectations were set about the playful use of immersive technologies in one form or another, the creative opportunities were limited only by our imagination.

Not only was this the ideal way to spark an effective creative digital process, that same core challenge has remained consistent across each of the successive Keeper experiences, enabling us to progressively build on success at every step of the way.

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Everything Begins With A Hook

It was once put to me that strategists fall into one of two camps: poets and farmers. Poets create beauty but sometimes get so lost in their pontifications that they forget to produce anything at all; farmers get their hands dirty from the start, but who knows whether it will be feast or famine when the harvest comes.

The reality, of course, is that the best live in the intersection between the two - and when searching for a winning idea we are always on the lookout for that perfect match between creative genius and practical impact.

In this case it was the discovery that The National Gallery has had a ‘Keeper of Paintings’ in post since they first opened their doors in 1824. These men (to date they have all been men) were initially responsible for the administration of the Gallery but since the mid-20th century have held more of an overarching curatorial role. There have been only 16 in total, and we were instantly enthralled by the magical possibilities this special name conjures up in the imagination.

This was the creative ‘hook’ we were looking for, and from something as simple as a job title, everything else clicked into place. There was no doubt in our minds that this evocative, fantastical-sounding character would be the basis of our adventure, and when the real-world Keeper - a brilliant and lovely man called Larry - gave us his blessing to use his name in this way, the path was set that would lead ultimately not just to an individual game character but an entire Keeper storyworld.

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Kids Are Brilliant

I often feel that the reason so much of our work has been for children and families is due to the clichéd presumption that fun, digital games are for kids. This was not the case with the Gallery, whose family target was a clear and critical part of their ambition as they renewed their strategy leading up to their 200th birthday in 2024, but whatever the reason, the work we have created for young people has shown us time and time again that inviting them into the creative process, from concept creation to interaction design to testing and refinement, is one of the most exciting and rewarding things we can do.

Not only is it loads of fun, it is also enormously effective. Sparking their imaginations can open doors to the unlikeliest of places, exploring thoughts and ideas that we ancient adults would never have had on our own.

It was the cocreative sessions we ran initially for the original Keeper of Paintings, but then for each of the subsequent Keeper experiences, that firstly led to some of the most engaging elements of the games, but secondly gave us confidence, once we neared launch in each case, that we had the critical kids’ stamp of approval.

The lesson here is to ensure that timings and budgets for any projects focused on kids need to allow for co-creation at every stage of development. The investment is worth its weight in gold.

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The Power of Play

The idea of using play to engage audiences - especially young audiences - in cultural settings is nothing new, but there remains an underlying tension when promoting the use of digital devices as the means of connecting with museum or gallery collections. Some organisations are more open to experimentation in this space than others (see below!), but it is increasingly accepted as proven fact that play has almost unparalleled power in motivating and rewarding engagement, especially amongst groups that do not currently feel the world of arts & culture is for them.

Play in all of its forms is a key ingredient across 1UP work, but the four Keeper experiences all use it to challenge the many deep-seated perceptions of cultural spaces - especially old, traditional institutions like The National Gallery - and show that these are places of fun, creativity and energy where, most importantly, everyone is welcome.

The shift from ‘looking’ to ‘playing’ that our users are invited to embrace, via technology, allows the Gallery and our other cultural partners such as The British Museum and Royal Museums Greenwich to show off their lighter sides, and prove to a wide cross-section of audiences that they remain as vital and relevant to today’s digital society as ever.

Read more about 1UP Studios’ ‘Play to Learn’ philosophy here.

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Progressive Partners

Interest in play-based digital learning experiences is now widespread across the arts and culture landscape, but it is still vital to partner with ambitious, innovative and progressive organisations who are not afraid to experiment in the quest to engage hard-to-reach audiences.

There are still many institutions - or people within them - who prefer to wait until these digital engagement activities are fully mature, with proven impact and guaranteed efficacy. In the chronically underfunded world of arts and culture I do not blame them at all; focusing on results and squeezing every last drop of impact out of every penny spent is an admirable pursuit. But where there are opportunities to reserve resources and use them to explore new ways to engage, the most successful organisations - or, again, the best people within them - will grab them with both hands.

Some in our industry can come across as blinkered when it comes to the effect of screen-based activation; that digital is good, and people who disagree need to get with the times. Our view at 1UP is that it is critical to recognise and respect the entirely valid concerns about the negative impact of excessive ‘junk’ screen time. In common with even the most progressive of our partners, we see experiences like the Keeper games as part of a balanced, complementary set of opportunities for young people to engage with culture. But ultimately we are strong proponents of the view that a digital society demands digital solutions, and perhaps the least effective response to this is to pretend otherwise. Effective partners like the amazing teams at The National Gallery absolutely get it and, today, are leading the sector in the UK and perhaps the world in engaging children and families.

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There Are Keepers Everywhere

Our creative journey began with the transition from the real-world Keeper of Paintings to our fantastical character of the same name, but along the way we discovered that our Keeper is not alone! Not only does The Keeper of Paintings now appear in four separate games, it turns out that they are just one in a veritable pantheon of Keepers, each with their own specialist area and cultural collection. The Keeper of Planets, The Keeper of Oceans, The Keeper of Dragons, The Keeper of Trees, The Keeper of Fossils…the list goes on.

Players get to meet some of them within the current Keeper games, particularly Keeper Council on Roblox, and one or two even have their own games at places beyond The National Gallery, including The Keeper of Measurements at the National Physical Laboratory and The Keeper of Birds at the Shanghai Natural History Museum.

If you’re reading this and are wondering whether your cultural institution has its own Keeper, I have good news: there’s a very good chance it does! Why not drop us a line, and let’s see if we can find them together…