Geolino: MELTDOWN

Credits & Description:

Type of entry: Graphic Design & Design Crafts
Category: Promotional Item Design
Advertiser: GRUNER+JAHR AG & CO
Product/Service: MELTDOWN
Agency: KOLLE REBBE Hamburg, GERMANY
Executive Creative Direction: Sascha Hanke (Kolle Rebbe)
Creative Direction/Design: Thomas Knuewer (Kolle Rebbe)
Creative Direction/Design: Rolf Leger (Kolle Rebbe)
Copywriter: Oliver Ramm (Kolle Rebbe)
Illustration/Typograhy: Thomas Knuewer (Kolle Rebbe)
Producer: Martin Luehe (Kolle Rebbe)
Account Manager: Katrin Becker (Kolle Rebbe)
Account Manager: Philipp Kukemueller (Kolle Rebbe)
Game Developer: Tom Schoeps ()
Game Manufacture: Rheinhold Kathoefer (Inch Design Service)
Casefilm: (BIGFISH Filmproduktion)
Casefilm: (Ghostbastard Filmproduktion)
Direction: Steffen Heidenreich ()
Camera: Martin Gasch ()
Camera/Cut: Karl Hofmann ()
Producer: Andrea Roman-Perse ()
Speaker: Michael Grimm ()
Artist: Locoto ()
Sound Mixer: Jochen Hennings ()
Sound Mixer: Oliver Kuirina ()
Brief Explanation
Children love to play. That's why Gruner & Jahr developed Meltdown, the first-ever melting board game. It tactfully demonstrates the effects of global warming as players try to rescue polar bears from real, melting ice floes.
Children first fill a molded tray with water and freeze it. The floes are then placed on a spongy game board that also soaks up the melting ice. In January 2013 GEOlino presented the game to primary schools throughout Germany and in a series of talks. Hundreds of schoolchildren rescued many polar bears while learning about the threat of global warming.
Describe the brief from the client
Global warming is changing our world. It's the generation of our children who will feel the effects - and they will be the ones faced with stopping climate change in the long term. But of all people, our children know far too little about the topic. GEOlino, the children's science magazine from Europe's second-largest publishing house Gruner und Jahr, set out to change this. They realised it's no good trying to get kids interested by spouting dry theory. That's why they looked for an attention-grabbing way of making climate change something you can see and feel.
Design Process
The game's blue box suggests the shape of an ice floe. The sharp lines and faces of an iceberg form the design template for the figures and the lettering. All the elements are child-friendly, with rounded corners and edges. The product design deliberately avoids right-angles. Naturally, all the components of Meltdown are waterproof. Hundreds of ice floes of different shapes and sizes were made to determine the optimum shape and thickness. After painstaking melting tests at room temperature, the makers finally arrived at the ideal ice floe design for the game.
Results
Even beyond Germany's schools, the response to Meltdown was huge. Within just a few days, Gruner und Jahr received thousands of enquiries from all over the world. In the GEOlino online shop, the first edition, produced in a double-digit volume, quickly sold out. Even global games manufacturer Ravensburger paid attention and now plans to launch Meltdown in more than 50 countries. Soon, children all over the world will be learning through play something about the effects of global warming.