How do you create an interactive that will appeal to an extremely broad audience, from six and seven-year olds on school trips to serious Lincoln scholars?
The Lost Speech is one of several iPad and computer interactives we did for the museum’s new permanent exhibit covering Lincoln’s life and career in McLean County. Lincoln spent twenty years traveling central Illinois as a lawyer on the 8th Circuit Court. It’s where he became established his career, became famous, and grew prosperous.
The Lincoln’s Lost Speech interactive is a two-step game that gives visitors an insight into the methods historians used to reconstruct Abraham Lincoln’s Lost Speech. The visual style is inspired by games sold in the 1860s. Correct answers to multiple-choice questions yield puzzle pieces that are rearranged to reveal of drawing of Lincoln delivering a fiery oratory.
The puzzle is simple and fun enough for young kids to solve, and the content satisfies true Lincoln buffs. Even incorrect answers provide teaching moments about types of media that we’re unavailable in Lincoln’s day.
Client: McLean County Museum of History
Category: Interactive, Museum, Education
Explore Lincoln’s Travels on the 8th Circuit Court
When Abraham Lincoln practiced law in McLean County, between 1839 and 1860, it was the economic center of Illinois and growing explosively. Using a slider, visitors get a visual representation of how rapidly the McLean County population grew. At the same time, the interactive illustrates how the surrounding counties changed shape and size to accommodate the influx of farmers and townspeople.
Clicking on the poster touting a tour of Lincoln’s haunts takes the visitor to a map that highlights the homes, hotels, and restaurants, in and around Bloomington, that the future president frequented while on the circuit.
We packed a lot of information into one 22” vertical interactive. And the client was pleased with the modest budget.
