We created a tactile experience for children to show them the animals that they would encounter if they visited the zoo after dark. Four posters with die cut, fold-out shapes were placed in all the dimly lit walkways and tunnels at the zoo. Kids were prompted to use cellphone flashlights to cast shadows that revealed the animals.

• The Joburg Zoo has a limited budget.

• The agency team needed to explore highly impactful and interactive ways to maximise the awareness of and engagement with the Night Tours on offer.

• The designers wanted to impart a sense of discovery with the design.

• Their object was to achieve the same sense of discovery visitors would experience on a Night Tour.

• We designed a technique using light and shadows.

• The team explored various substrates, cutting techniques and the way in which different light sources and angles affected shadows, until the prototype designs were perfected to accurately reflect some of the zoo’s nocturnal animals.

We discovered that plastics were far too brittle to achieve the desired outcome. In the end, we used Antalis Curious Matter as paper stock, as we found that the rough texture absorbed the light better and could bend sufficiently to accommodate the die cut pieces.

• We sent posters to schools, public libraries and community centres.

• We also targeted daytime visitors to the zoo.

• The posters were placed in the busiest, dimly lit tunnels that linked different parts of the zoo, allowing the darkness to amplify our communication.

• By making nocturnal animals “appear in the dark”, we spoke to the imagination of parents and children and prompted them to book a Night Tour to see the real animals.

• Bookings for the Night Tours increased by 140% in just one month.