Recognising that the majority of traditional artists in Australia live below the poverty line, a colleague and I created Mammal; a social impact initiative aimed at helping traditional visual artists more intimately engage with modern audiences.
Mammal was an application that augmented the user experience of artwork, connecting viewers to artists through interactivity and storytelling.
Opportunity statement
How might we increase engagement with traditional artwork
For exhibition attendants
So that so that artists can increase their audience engagement
Project Stages
DISCOVER & DEFINE
Research, problem mapping and journey mapping
Kicking off with a ‘research first’ approach to start this project, we undertook contextual interviews with over one hundred artists and consumers and conducted several observational field studies to support our findings. From this information we completed several current state journey maps and using a technique called systematic problem mapping we identified the reasons why many artists struggle to make a living and have low engagement with their craft. Using this information we landed on a strategy to try and aid this problem.
DESIGN
Formation of video and written storytelling
With storytelling of the artist’s craft and processes acting as a core part of our
solution we proceeded to invest time into writing out engaging artist stories.
After some initial user research we iterated on this idea to test richer storytelling through video content; this process required script writing, storyboards, filming of artist interviews and artwork creation, and post production in Adobe Premiere to cut together small video stories.
Technology development and iterative service testing 
To facilitate consumer discovery of the artist stories we began to explore the use of image recognition technology to augment physical artwork and take the user right into the artist’s world.
A prototype was designed and a functional application capable of realising this experience was built.
Brand creation and style guides
Learning that the art market, and artists themselves are particularly sensitive to the aesthetic quality and perceived reputational association of a service offering, we discovered that we needed to formalise the design around our idea and create a brand to house it.
Using Illustrator I undertook an extensive design process to create a logo, form branding guidelines and content directories for any marketing material.
REFINE
Physical product prototyping
As our idea evolved, opportunities to further extend it’s use into the physical world became present. Seeing this we conceptualised and produced Mammal Inks: Limited print runs of artist work that would work with our technology and could further support artists by creating a new source of income.
Industrial design, and prototyping of physical Inks, sleeves, frames and packaging was undertaken.
DELIVER
Product demos and implementation 
Once a functional application had been created, a physical prototype had been made, and our branding aligned to a standard expected from our target audience we began deeper testing of market engagement.
Including: Live demos of the product and service offering, short online campaigns to gauge perceived interest, and worked closely with artists to implement the technology into their individual artworks experiences and exhibitions.
Result
Throughout our journey we’ve been accepted into and completed the Melbourne Accelerator Velocity Program,
Y Combinator’s Start Up School, and been a part of the Foundation of Young Australians community and co-working space. 
Most importantly, our product and technology has helped modern audiences engage with traditional art in new and entertaining ways and supported visual artists to reveal deeper stories that exist within the work that they create.