When creating the long-awaited redux of Carl Sagan’s original cherished series, Fox and Cosmos Studios sought a collaborator to provide the mobile companion and social campaign for COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey.
The resulting app served to deepen the viewers’ engagement & experience of the series, and provided an outlet for viewers to explore content from the series more deeply.
Requirements included the development of a clear user experience across a broad range of iOS and Android devices, while allowing consistent and broad navigation with relative ease. Our solution was to dispense with textbook analogies, and instead, rely on an intuitive forward floating movement through the cosmos. Deeper stories appear as graphical way stations in space. The 13.8 billion year Cosmic Calendar tabulates cosmic events, but allows for an intuitive scrolling experience of the immensity of time. The Ship of the Imagination, or SOTI, serves as our envoy and touchpoint throughout the experience.
Beyond technical and aesthetic considerations, we sought to shepherd an experience in line with Carl Sagan's own values of compassion, empathy and optimism for the future.
The app also provides a social engagement platform, "Your Message to the Cosmos", to utilize user-generated content and drive awareness about the show, while allowing a showcase of device features of major sponsor, Samsung.
Recognized with an Emmy nomination, the app has garnered nearly half a million downloads, peaking as the #3 Entertainment app for iPad, and earning user reviews that average over 4 stars.
I served as creative lead on the project, consulting with co-creator Ann Druyan and partners at Fox and Samsung, overseeing and executing design and animation efforts, and working with programmers to manage efficient delivery and resourceful problem-solving.