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Branding/Identity
Finding the right look and feel for SFSKids.com was a critical first step since 415 knew that this would be the single most important factor in attracting kids' interest. With a vastly different target audience than the San Francisco Symphony itself, SFSKids.com's visual identity needed to be a total departure from the original Symphony brand.

-- Conducted focus groups to discover what attracts kids visually -- asked kids to name their favorite sites, books, games, and CD's
-- Drew inspiration from the various media that kids said successfully engage them and keep them coming back for more
-- Designed a brand identity based on simplicity, using bold, bright colors to generate excitement
-- Developed an illustrated, gender-neutral "host" to guide kids through the site and provide a fun personality and familiar face to "play with" online
-- Created a unique font to enhance the brand and identity of the site

Flash
415 realized that in order to motivate kids to learn they would have to build tools that enable kids to interact with the site as much as possible. 415 wanted kids to learn about music by listening, playing, and creating it themselves -- without encountering any technology barriers.

-- Created interactive site sections such as the "Music Lab", where children and their families can learn about music basics, including musical symbols, harmony, tempo, rhythm, and pitch
-- Built interactive tools like the "Composerizer," which allows kids to create their own musical compositions
-- Constructed "Instruments of the Orchestra" section to show children the composition of an orchestra and enable them to see and hear the unique qualities of each instrument
-- Developed Flash-powered radio that allows kids to "tune-in" to a variety of 50 classical recordings

Interactive Animation
Musical concepts such as harmony, rhythm, and tempo can be confusing for kids to grasp. With this in mind, 415 looked for effective ways to make these ideas more understandable and more fun.

-- Developed animations that made it easy for kids to "see" the fundamentals in action
-- An example: the "Harmonizer," an interactive lesson in harmony that provides a visual demonstration of how different harmonies can communicate different moods, situations, and emotions
-- Created multiple animations of this sort to deliver a visual experience that makes abstract concepts tangible and takes away any frustration or guesswork on the part of site visitors

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