Datorika is computer science course pilot in 150 Latvian schools ranging from 1st class to 9th and spanning over 3 years of testing and evaluation of the course.
This project has a long history and taking roots in another project - Start(IT), both courses are meant for developing computer science skills as well as other abilities that will become valuable in long-term no matter what you decide to become.
This project has a long history and taking roots in another project - Start(IT), both courses are meant for developing computer science skills as well as other abilities that will become valuable in long-term no matter what you decide to become.
Somehow at some point there was an idea, that we definitely need some characters to come along to help the learning process to become more fun, whimsical and easier for the smaller classes. Because why not?
Few weeks later we come to realization that we will need to draw zillions of those things over the course of next few years, so we settle on easier forms that can be drawn faster and by illustrators of various skills.
And so there is this - Lenny, the slightly awkward robot, who likes to do things the easy way, figuring out how to cut corners and the other one is Zippy, the more technical one, who likes to do things right, even if they sometimes turn out to have more complexity. But together they form a good team, that complete each others shortcomings to create a better, more efficient result.
At some point, a brandbook seems like a legit idea, because why not? Maybe one day even math might get a visual revamp and become much more interesting.
After a launch and few contests, tours and minor feedback, you let it go. After a little while it feels like the effort was wasted and why would children bother or even care that lessons in school have their own mascots, characters, guidelines, tours and all the other stuff.
Brief brainstorm over a contest "Imagine the future and show us how you see it" turns out to bring in some interesting fanart...
... and over 350 other awesome ideas written, drawn, coded, molded, even videos created, later, it turns out that it does matter. And else can you do with all those ideas, but start working on them and creating brighter future?
This, by far, is the most important work we've done and probably will be for a time to come.
P.S. we're open for that math course rebranding.
P.S. we're open for that math course rebranding.
