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BBC Climate Change: Bloom,  | International Design Awards Winners
BBC Climate Change: Bloom,  | International Design Awards Winners
BBC Climate Change: Bloom,  | International Design Awards Winners
BBC Climate Change: Bloom,  | International Design Awards Winners
BBC Climate Change: Bloom,  | International Design Awards Winners
BBC Climate Change: Bloom,  | International Design Awards Winners
BBC Climate Change: Bloom,  | International Design Awards Winners
BBC Climate Change: Bloom,  | International Design Awards Winners
BBC Climate Change: Bloom,  | International Design Awards Winners
BBC Climate Change: Bloom,  | International Design Awards Winners
BBC Climate Change: Bloom,  | International Design Awards Winners

BBC Climate Change: Bloom

Lead Designers
Prize(s)Gold in Multimedia / Website Design
Entry Description

Brief:

Bloom is a new BBC website that aims to cut through the climate change confusion and empower people to adopt more climate-friendly lifestyles.

Despite climate change being a major concern, many of us are suffering ?eco-fatigue? and feel overwhelmed by the amount of conflicting information and confused about how we can make a positive contribution. There was an opportunity with Bloom to make something that would create cut through, in way that wasn?t preachy or smug?just fun. And on the back of having fun, people could actively learn something and help make a difference to climate change.

The BBC wanted the experience to be playful, fresh and totally unlike anything they had commissioned before both in terms of design and functionality but at the same time, also be underpinned by their values of trustworthy, balanced editorial.

Solution:

In order to create cut through, we wanted to do something very different and encourage interest in subject which many have become de-sensitised to. In the process we also wanted to create something beautiful and collectable which we felt would really engage with the audience.

We came up with the idea of creating abstract visualisations that you would be given when you pledge to do a climate-change action. We then appointed award-winning digital designer and artist Daniel Brown to create an organic digital ecosystem for what would become the Bloom flowers ? beautiful dynamic visualisations of individual carbon-cutting actions.

Users are rewarded with a flower for each action they undertake ? which could be anything from skipping a flight, eating fewer prawns to buying a greener car. This creative approach turned what could easily be dull information into an engaging, fun experience that still gives you all the facts and advice you could ever need.

One of the biggest challenges was the fact that we wanted Bloom to work with or without the Flash plug-in. Those that have and want to use Flash, experience a more playful journey through the content, however the detail of each action is always delivered in HTML. We made this experience as seamless as possible by using JavaScript controlled transitions which resize the amount of browser window given to the Flash content and the HTML content. This meant that users could leave the flash space and return having read more detail in the html, without losing their place and having to reload the flash on return ? which in itself is a real innovation.

Outcomes:

In development for over 10 months, the Bloom website was a labour of love for both our team and the BBC in-house developers with whom we worked with very much in collaboration.

In terms of traffic precise numbers remain confidential however approximately 10,000 individual carbon-busting actions have been pledged so far which is impressive at such an early stage.

?The site works beautifully ? despite the serious message it feels as if you are disappearing into a cuddly pre-school world of Fuzzy Felt and doodles? - The Guardian 14.06.08