Revamped with better graphics, latest facts and improved gesture-based user experience, Walking with Dinosaurs: Inside their World is a revamped version of the original ‘Inside the World of Dinosaurs’ dinosaur encyclopaedia iPad app, which won the 2012 Appy Award for Best Education App.
BBC took notice of the original app after its release and an agreement was later made to rebrand it to join the Walking With Dinosaurs master brand. After some consultation with BBC Worldwide executives and Apple it was decided the app UI/UX would be rebuilt rather than simply be rebranded. As Creative Director and Team Leader I lead and directed a small team consisting of original members to re-render assets for retina compatibility; relayout articles; update article text; update and edit Stephen Fry’s re-recorded narration; and redevelop brand new minimalist UI/UX with iPhone 4, iPhone 5, iPod touch and iPad ‘universal’ compatibility in preparation for the launch of iOS 7.
On release the app reached the top of the sales charts of the iTunes App Store for Education and also ranked No. 1 in Australia, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong and Finland. It got as high as second in Japan. The app is available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch in the App Store.
New app icon
On top of the UI/UX revamp, the idea of expanding device compatibility of the app from just iPad to iPhone and iPod touch came along as well, though a few months after the revamp was completed. Compatibility was extended to iPhone 4 and iPod touch (5th Generation) with their 3:2 ratio screens and iPhone 5 with its 16:9 ratio screen, which were quite different to iPad’s 4:3. This brought a total of 3 screen sizes to design for and 4 devices for performance testing.
App opening splash screen. Sets the “dark and mysterious” tone that the rest of the encyclopaedia app leaned towards creatively, as directed by M5859 founder.
THE REVAMP
With the introduction of ‘retina’ displays on Apple’s iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches one of the top goals of the project was to add more detail to all existing artwork and to add texture to any flat or empty areas – the opposite of the original app’s cleanness and simplicity – to fully take advantage of the increased pixel density.
App home screen with background image using dinosaur pose and render by Damien Schneider and background originally composed by Yulia Vasina along with app logo and separate menu buttons at the bottom.
Dinosaur selection carousel screen on iPad. Sixty dinosaurs in total are on show and selectable.
BACKGROUND OVERLAYS
One of the methods to add more detail to the app cheaply without re-rendering any video assets was to overlay each dinosaur walk-cycle with transparent PNG backgrounds that roughly corresponded to the dinosaurs environment it would have lived in. The background would also add atmosphere and give a rough sense of scale. In total 7 backgrounds were created – S, M, L, XL, XXL, water and sky. The overall darkness added to the mysterious atmosphere that was directed. Combined with the atmospheric audio loops unique to each background and the unique roars and sound effects of each dinosaur in their walk cycle created very convincing and delightful experiences for existing and new app users alike.
Walking With Dinosaurs: Inside Their World was featured and topped the charts in the App Store in a number of countries in the US, Europe and around the world. The original feature graphic I submitted was modified by the Apple App Store team to suit their needs. Thankfully, the “Narrated by Stephen Fry” tag line was preserved.
Original iTunes App Store Feature graphic submitted to the Apple App Store team.
© 2013 BBC WORLDWIDE LIMITED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. BBC, BBC EARTH AND WALKING WITH DINOSAURS ARE TRADE MARKS OF THE BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION AND ARE USED UNDER LICENCE. WALKING WITH DINOSAURS LOGO © BBC 2010 BBC LOGO © BBC 1996. PUBLISHED BY BBC WORLDWIDE LIMITED. DEVELOPED BY M5859 STUDIOS PTY LTD.
