Bic®Kids unleashes digital creativity for kids with the unique DrawyBook gaming experience

Bic®Kids has launched a unique storytelling app which lets children bring their drawings to life with magical augmented reality games.

Thanks to the 'Draw and Scan' feature in the DrawyBook app, children can watch their drawings on paper come to life and become part of their own unique version of an interactive story!

Created and developed by leading digital products and creative services agency Engine Creative, all DrawyBook stories are jam-packed full of great games where they can earn stars and unlock even more great features to help them develop their imagination through play.

A unique way to learn for a new generation of readers
More than just an app, DrawyBook is a fun and interactive multi-channel learning experience for children and has been designed to appeal to a new digitally connected generation.

According to research by Childwise, children spend six hours or more a day on screens* and are a new generation of learners who have only ever known a highly connected digital world. In close collaboration with Engine Creative, BIC has embraced this growing trend by creating a learning platform for 5 to 10 year olds driven by interactive stories that helps them develop their motor skills and creativity at the same time as providing them with engaging and educational screen time.

Rich, interactive learning experiences underpin all DrawyBook activities; in the first DrawyBook story, 'Marty and the Alien', children are encouraged to explore the solar system and learn about the characteristics of each planet as they take a journey into space with a friendly alien.

Blurring the lines between the real and digital worlds
The DrawyBook app is the first project to be created and developed for Bic®Kids by the UK's leading augmented reality agency Engine Creative who were appointed following a competitive pitch. Experts in bringing together emerging technology and creativity, Engine Creative has handled all aspects of the complex DrawyBook project from concept development, through to character design, app development and deployment.

Creative Director, Dan Smith, comments on the concept behind DrawyBook:
“With the Bic®Kids DrawyBook app we wanted to place the child at the heart of the digital experience and give them as many opportunities as we could to use their creativity and imagination. To do this the whole experience had to be playful and so the app is full of games and has a reward mechanism which all children will recognise from the games they're already playing on their mobiles and tablets.

We've really tried to blur the lines between the real and digital worlds with DrawyBook. Whereas the app lets children bring their hand drawn creations into the digital world, the DrawyBook colouring books will let children bring the physical book to life with animations, augmented reality games and audio narration of the stories."

More than just a great app for today's connected kids
As well as the free to download DrawyBook app, Bic®Kids are producing a printed colouring book which allows children to scan pages to trigger animations, games and audio narration through the DrawyBook app using augmented reality.

The colouring book packs will also include a set of 12 magic colouring pens and parents will be able to extend the DrawyBook learning experience by downloading free resources online. Additional stories are currently being created following a successful launch of the the DrawyBook experience in Paris to a select audience of journalists and bloggers.

Unlike other colouring apps, the Bic®Kids DrawyBook gaming experience is based on an original story written by rising star in children's literature, Elissa Elwick. The original story combined with the ability for children to personalise the experience and the range and quality of augmented reality games and educational activities, make the DrawyBook app a truly market leading digital experience.

Elissa Elwick describes the unique creative process:

“Working in partnership with leading digital creative agency Engine Creative has been great fun and an extremely rewarding collaboration. In contrast to my usual format of picture books, it's been an exciting challenge using emerging technology such as augmented reality to bring storytelling to life in a unique way for a new generation of readers."

The UK version of the DrawyBook app is available to download for free now on iTunes and Google Play.

The UK Launch Event for the Bic®Kids DrawyBook app is taking place on Wednesday the 6th of April from 12:30pm to 7pm at The Ice tank in Covent Garden.

*The Connected Kids report, Childwise 2015

All press enquires please to Press@EngineCreative.co.uk

www.EngineCreative.co.uk

www.bickids.com/uk

About Engine Creative

We are experts in bringing brands to life through digital innovations such as augmented reality (AR), mobile brand strategy and bespoke app development for brands. We believe in people-first technology and explore new ways for different audiences to experience and interact with brands.

At Engine Creative, we kick start digital transformation for brands and products.

We have specific expertise working with digital innovations to build user engagement with our clients' brands with achievements including:

- Launching the world's first fully augmented magazine (TopGear, Dec 2011)

- Creating the first fully augmented reality album cover for a UK band (Ting Tings, Feb 2012)

- FIPP Digital Innovators Summit Editor's & Readers Award (TopGear augmented magazine)

- Drum Marketing Award for Brand Development Strategy (Bauer Media heat mobile strategy, May 2013)

- RAR Award and RAR Digital Awards for Creativity & Innovation (June 2014)

- TTE Award for Best AR platform for Engine Creative's innovative AR platform, Reality Engine (October 2015)

- Launch of unique Bic®Kids DrawyBook app and learning tools (February 2016)

Engine Creative is currently working with global brands including Barclaycard, Camelot and the BBC on building consumer engagement through digital innovations.