Second Story Interactive Studios were recently approached by Sesame Street to create an interactive table at their New York City headquarters. From AIGA National:

Sesame Workshop is the “nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street and so much more.” Their mission is “to use the educational power of media to help children everywhere reach their highest potential.” This inspirational brand messaging immediately reminded us of Sesame Street’s nickname, the “Longest Street in the World.” The challenge was how to communicate these concepts to visitors and take advantage of the table as a digital canvas.

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We immediately tossed out classic cartography standards, by which a map is designed to be viewed from only one orientation. Instead, we looked to children’s atlases for inspiration, as they often divide maps in unorthodox ways in order to focus attention on interesting facts and details. Making the leap to think differently about world maps, we chose to subdivide the world and fan out the continents around a central point—a creative approach that joins the traditional image of a round world with a bit of whimsy.

Employing trial and error, and loads of sketches, we were able to sculpt the world into a design that represented Sesame Street’s presence in 39 locations. Each location, marked by a street sign, is interactive; activating the sign triggers videos, each with a different song and style.

Read the entire case study and see photos of the process here. Check out video of the table in action below.