The genesis of Maptivate
Let us take you back to our origins and share where the idea for Maptivate came from — and why we believe it’s such a powerful tool to connect with audiences in a memorable and meaningful way.
The concept of Maptivate was born out of the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenge that it presented around ensuring people still had an opportunity to experience an event and explore urban design at a time of great uncertainty.
Geelong Design Week is an initiative of Geelong UNESCO City of Design and the City of Greater Geelong. In 2021, our creative consultant, Dr Mary-Jane Walker (also Founder and Director of The School of Lost Arts), took the opportunity to create an interactive outdoor exhibition that could still take place despite social distancing.
The exhibition was created to inspire people to explore the idea of a nature based city showcasing the work of artists in public space including shop windows, and linking key ideas of biophilic design to local landmarks.
Creativity is the spark which happens when we link diverse ideas together and see what happens. Maptivate was born out of just this process.
How do we cut through the noise of the digital landscape and tap back into our biology again so we can connect better? How can we excite and inspire people to go on a journey of the mind? The solution was Maptivate.
Dr Mary-Jane Walker
The creation of this new and complex multi-dimensional project was helped at the very beginning by collaboration with the technical excellence of OneMap. Their unrivalled expertise in the delivery of Geographic Information Systems mapping and their interest in working to bring the creative vision of The School of Lost Arts team to life began a conversation that is ongoing.
From our understanding of evolution and modern neuroscience, we know that we remember and engage with information best when it is linked to place.
I like to call this “the geography of ideas” and this concept was the catalyst to creating Maptivate.
Dr Mary-Jane Walker
The Journey of Extraordinary Encounters exhibition took place during the 2021 Geelong Design Week festival and attracted hundreds of exhibition-goers from Australia and globally. The extraordinary success of this first venture made it clear that this way of organising information and using art and design to lay information out visually and geographically also tapped into some important elements of our biology. As storytellers, biologists and artists, we can see how this could change the way we see and connect with new ideas and tell stories, especially at a time when we are overwhelmed with digital information. Maptivate crafts a clear path through the digital landscape that we all now live in. It brings together science, design and technology.