Interaction - Bachelor

Tall Tales

Tall Tales is a storytelling engine that combines digital collage and hands-on zine making to help people access a playful, imaginative flow state.

Audrey Wren

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A photo of a blank journal, with text above that reads "the blank page".

The cure for creative block?

Even among creatives, creativity myths abound. When ideas aren’t flowing, many people have a tendency to get down in the dumps, blaming themselves instead of removing the barriers that make starting creative projects so intimidating.
I started looking for a solution. How could I make creativity more consistently accessible? While current research has no definitive cure for creative block, there are definitely changes in approach and environment that make it easier to overcome. For my project, I identified three main goals in terms of how I wanted the user to feel during the experience: that failure is treated neutrally, or even positively; that they have the freedom to express themselves without fear of judgement; and that there is no pressure to perform to the greatest of their abilities.

Introducing Tall Tales

A monitor and iPad with Tall Tales interfaces shown on their screens.

What is tall tales?

Tall Tales is a storytelling engine, which means it provides the tools and constraints needed to help people invent and tell short stories. In this case, the stories are small-scale fantasy adventures, with a silly and light tone.

How does it work?

Players build a protagonist and answer questions that bring their character to life.
They then use stickers, drawing tools and collage elements to create scenes like this one, responding to story prompts like:

You’re lost in unfamiliar woods. Who do you meet here?

one of many randomised story prompts.

When they’re finished, their scenes are collated into a zine (short for magazine) booklet and printed out. They then follow the on-screen instructions to cut and fold it, and can choose to take it home with them or donate it to the library.

Q&A

Audrey Wren

Audrey is an interaction designer passionate about creating playful experiences, digital storytelling, and games. She is interested in how design and technology can support wellbeing and create opportunities for human connection.

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