Poké Lids: Gotta See 'Em All
A digital storytelling experience that fills in the knowledge gap between Poké Lids and their connection to local cultures
Project Info
My Role:
Gather research & create a compelling story about visiting Poké Lids
Design custom assets that express the Pokémon brand
Motion animate visuals for delightful user interactions
Design Goals:
Spark readers' interest in potentially visiting (or keeping an eye out for) Poké Lids and their local landmarks
Making the local stories behind Poké Lids more accessible from one place for non-Japanese-speaking audiences
Convince existing Pokémon fans and casual visitors alike to check out lesser-known places in Japan
Show Details
Overview
"Gotta See ‘Em All":
A Visual Tour of Japan’s Poké Lids & the Local Stories They Tell
"Gotta See 'Em All" is a digital zine that takes readers on a visual flight around four of Japan’s prefectures while highlighting some popular Poké Lids and landmarks. Poké Lids are artistic covers for utility holes (also known as “manholes”) installed in towns all across Japan. Poké Lids are unique in design, each telling its own story about what makes that town uniquely special.
As part of the "Pokémon Local Acts" project, the Pokémon Company has partnered with local Japanese governments to design and install Poké Lids in order to help attract tourists to smaller, lesser-known towns and cities and to help revitalize city infrastructures that were damaged by natural disasters. Since its humble starts, Poké Lids have become popular travel stops for visitors from all over the world looking to “see ‘em all”!
Problem
The stories behind each Poké Lid is often inaccessible for non-Japanese-speaking travelers and fails to resonate with them
Even for people who are already fans of Pokémon, and who may even know about Poké Lids, additional info about them isn't readily available in other languages. Although the Poké Lids official website does have an English version, this version doesn't provide the same information about the Poké Lid's cultural significance like the Japanese version does. In fact, most information about the Poké Lids including installation announcements can only be found in written Japanese across multiple news sites.
Poké Lids Official Website / English Version
Poké Lids Official Website / Japanese Version
The lack of images on both versions of the Poké Lids website also isn't particularly inspiring to potential visitors who are deciding which places to go for their next travel plans. Unless you are a diehard Pokémon fan, most people wouldn't bother going out of their way to visit a town just to see a manhole cover without knowing about other potential sights and things to do in the local area.
Process & Ideation
Solution: Bring to life the local stories behind each Poké Lid with immersive visuals and compelling storytelling!
Step 1: "Gotta catch ‘em all!" Finding each Poké Lid and their hidden stories
Step 2: Drafting my game plan for grabbing (and keeping!) readers' attention
Step 3: "Keep things realistic." Narrowing down my project scope
Core Design Features
Bite-sized stories designed to grab attention and spark interest
Short-and-sweet blurbs about a handful of Poké Lids from each prefecture. Here, I cover the landmark featured, the Pokémon chosen, the location of the Poké Lid, and how these factors highlight what makes that city or town unique and special. These bite-sized 'stories' are designed to pique interest with a brief overview and inspire readers to visit or seek out more info about that location and/or Poke Lid.
This Poke Lid highlights Toyako’s famous hot springs, alongside Vulpix and three Swinubs—a Pokemon known to sniff out hot springs. Toyako’s scenic landscape is surrounded by the famous Lake Toya and the active volcano Mount Usu. The town is known for having the best hot springs in Hokkaido and for its fertile agriculture and fisheries.
Shichigahama is a town surrounded by water on three sides, including Matsushima Bay and the Pacific Ocean. It has a mild climate, sandy beaches, and abundant marine life, as pictured by the water Pokemon in its Poke Lid. It is home to Shobuda Beach, the largest beach in Miyagi prefecture, and Azukihama, a highly popular surfing spot.
Kyoto is a city with an over 1,200-year history. The city is home to 14 World Heritage Sites and over 2,000 shrines and temples such as Kiyomizu-dera and Fushimi Inari Taisha. The city’s Poke Lid features Ho-Oh, a legendary historical Pokemon that serves as the mascot for the Pokemon games inspired by the legends and lifestyles of Kyoto.
Putting a face to the name! (or in our case,
an image to the place!)
Sometimes, the landmark featured on a Poké Lid can go unnoticed when all the attention has gone to the Pokémon, themselves. To support the text blurb accompanying each Poké Lid, I've also added real-life images of the corresponding landmarks and related points of interest. This added imagery spotlights the connection between the artistic vision behind the Poké Lid's design and the IRL locations that inspired them, further enticing readers to visit in real life as well.
Shobutahama Public Beach
Azukihama Beach
Kiyomizu-dera
Fushimi Inari Taisha
Empower readers with tools to continue their adventure
After inspiring readers to check out some Poké Lids next time they are in Japan, it's also important to offer ways to further jump-start their travel-planning and education. I've compiled resources, both official and fanmade, into one place that is easily accessible to readers for continued learning at their own pace after finishing this digital experience. Whether it's to look for Lids featuring their favorite Pokémon, or just wanting to see what might be nearby, readers can browse and locate any of the 443 Poke Lids.
Total Number of Poke Lids: 8
Distinct Pokemon Species: 15
Total Number of Poke Lids: 12
Distinct Pokemon Species: 17
Total Number of Poke Lids: 36
Distinct Pokemon Species: 46
Total Number of Poke Lids: 50
Distinct Pokemon Species: 54
Final Publication
Experience the storytelling adventure, yourself!
Click below to check out "Gotta See ‘Em All: A Visual Tour of Japan’s Poké Lids & the Local Stories They Tell" :)
Takeaways & Next Steps
'Redesigning' a Website vs. 'Retelling' a Story
It’s important to not consider “Gotta See ‘Em All” as a ‘redesign’ idea for the Poké Lids official website. “Gotta See ‘Em All” has been specifically designed to be experienced in a digital storytelling format. So despite offering similar information at times, at its core, it’s become a very different kind of platform from the Poké Lids official website. Perhaps, the best case scenario is imagining how we can merge facets from both platforms into one. If you know somebody at Nintendo who is hiring, do let them know I would be more than happy to bring that to life for them. :)
Regardless, the next steps on my Pokémon adventure! — As previously mentioned, I would love to fully flesh out every story about all 443 Poké Lids regularly over time if there was no predetermined project deadline. Of course, if that were to come to fruition, I would restructure the Departure Board (i.e. the Table of Contents) and overall user interaction flow to accommodate such an expansive website. Aside from additions to written content, I would also love to incorporate sound effects and background music to further immerse readers into the world of this story even more.
Special thank you to Professor Nancy Smith for your instruction and supportive feedback for this project and throughout the duration of your academic course. :)
The use of copyrighted material on the website is for non-commercial, educational purposes, and is intended to provide benefit to the public through information, critique, teaching, scholarship, or research.
Original Images, Artwork, & Copyright © Pokemon. © Ninetendo. © Game Freak. All rights reserved.