I’m Sharna Jackson, inaugural HBIC of Tate Kids. Here’s five things I’ve learned over the past five years creating digital content for kids.
ONE: Know your people
Get an understanding of who they are, while recognising they’re not a homogenous mass. How old are they? What are they watching? What’s happening culturally – is Justin Bieber over? Is there really a Joe Jonas sex tape? What does this mean for you? What do they expect from your institution? What conventions do they expect from similar content?
Talk to them – find out what they want – but also Listen To Your Heart, as Roxette once sang. Sometimes they don’t know what they want, and you know best. Kids be fickle.
Define your audience and keep them in mind AT ALL TIMES. Yes, that sounds obvious but it’s easy to forget if your project has a million internal and external stakeholders (which they all do).
‘Finished’ (it’s never finished, though, is it? Let’s be real) content can be very different from initial concepts but if your audience’s needs and requirements are kept at the forefront of your thinking, and fed into your decisions then you’re good.
If you remember one thing, let it be this – Kids aren’t tools.
Don’t patronise them, they’re very media literate, and savvier than you might give them credit for. In real terms, this means avoiding any slang, limiting the use of cool, refraining from using emoticons, being wary of over punctuating!!!!!!!!!!! (it’s beyond desperate), definitely no Comic Sans, no to lazy design choices, sparing use of primary colours and absolutely no swapping s’s for z’s. Do not try to be “down” with them. It’s feeble. You know it. They know it, and they will judge you.
TWO: Know yourself
What kind of institution are you? What are your values? What does that mean for your output?
Your positioning will guide what kind of content it makes sense for you to produce. At Tate we, according to our brand guidelines, “invite everyone to look again, think again and join in”. Tate Modern, in particular, is seen, as a bit trendy so there was scope for Tate Kids to develop an ethos around irreverence, iconoclasm, whilst being smart and fun. These values may not be the same for you, but that doesn’t mean you can’t create relevant and appropriate content.
THREE: Make friends (with benefits)
Whether you’re an art-museum-juggernaut or a small gallery with three members of staff, getting kids to come to your content is really hard, so, where possible, take your content to where they are by forging relationships with external partners. They have the audience, we have the cultural kudos.
Tate Kids has teamed up withthe likes of the BBC, Moshi Monsters, Miniclip, The Royal Ballet School in the past. These partnerships didn’t cost any money, so it’s always worth approaching outsiders and asking the questions, as there may be a good brand fit or an opportunity may arise that suits everyone.
When working with digital agencies, let your agency work with you, not for you. Collaborate. Don’t let the power of being a client go to your head. Your strengths lie in the knowledge of your audience, your brand and its assets. Their strength is in, you hope, the creative and technological development of your content. They probably have more experience in making games and toys then you; so listen to them. To this end, I tend to create quite loose and open project briefs. I have a good idea of what I want to create and when it needs to be live, but let the agency fill in the blanks. Give them some breathing room to do what they do best.
These are all external relationships. Internal collaboration can be way more difficult. Working internally at Tate has been described like trying to turn a whale – the myriad of different departments with different agendas and different approaches. It’s stressful. Don’t let this happen to you, be the peacemaker. Do it for the kids.
FOUR: Press Play
Without a doubt, the most popular section on Tate Kids is the games. I bloody love games and toys – and just to note, I make a distinction between the two – games have rules and digital toys don’t.
Three-quarters of my very generous £20k annual budget goes into play, and I actively look for funding so I can do more.
For me, they’re the best way to engage my audience, but don’t be tricked into thinking they are the only tool for you. They’re a gateway, a beginning, the frontline of engagement to deeper content. But, when created well, games are works of art in themselves (play Journey or Maniac Mansion and see what I mean)
If you’re considering games, think hard about what’s doable on your budget, don’t be over ambitious and try to create a FPS console-type experience on £5k, it’s straight-up not going to happen. Do the best you can with what you’ve got.
Play lots of games and find out what you like, discover the different kinds of games and toys out there, and think about how you might use those game mechanics.
Think about what you are trying to communicate with the game, and keep this and your brand and audience in mind.
FIVE: Brotherhood
Or: a brief note on building communities.
To paraphrase from one of the best films from the 80s, perhaps ever:
“If you build it, they will come – then what?” Look at Kevin Costner, and learn.
My Gallery, my games, and myblogs all have content that has to be moderated before it appears online. I manage the process myself. Tate Kids is mostly just me. Once I went away and left it for a few days and there was 18,000 bits of digital arts and craft waiting for me when I got back.
I have to check for unsuitable painting titles, unsuitable artist names, and check the message text they use when sending on to friends to ensure we’re not aiding cyber bullying. It’s a lot. Try and think laterally around this. I clearly didn’t.
Think about how will you sustain, have a plan in place for moderation. It’s not something you can just build and leave. You need money, time and people. If your budget is tight consider working on existing platforms, new and established that are popping up everywhere – vet them hard though.
This article originally appeared in the “Institutional Strategy Digest“, a zine created for the 2013 Museums and the web conference.
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