Go.Geolino
WEB-APP / GRUNER + JAHR
SERVICES
Explorative Learning Platform for Children on a Journey of Discovery
With the digital GEOLINO web product for Gruner + Jahr, one of Germany’s best-known educational magazines for children was transformed into an interactive digital experience for the first time. GEOLINO, aimed at children aged 9 to 13, stands for educational content that is both well-founded and playfully presented on equal footing with its audience. At the core of our work was the development of a digital platform that preserved this brand essence: not to instruct, but to spark curiosity – and make knowledge accessible through independent discovery.
Learning Through Exploration
The application was built around an interactive world map serving as the visual main menu. From here, children could navigate to different themed worlds and explore them independently – for example, a giant tree in the rainforest.
IWithin these worlds, content was not accessed through traditional click paths, but staged as continuous, explorable spaces. Navigation was designed as a fluid movement environment: by moving the cursor to the edge of the screen, the surroundings would shift and glide in that direction. This created the impression of freely moving through content instead of opening individual pages.
Each world was designed as its own immersive environment where children could “wander” and discover educational and entertaining content on a topic:
- Short, easy-to-understand informational texts
- Audio contributions for listening and deeper exploration
- Video sequences for visual understanding
- Playful, interactive tasks
Curiosity as a Core Principle
The themed worlds combined different media formats into a layered learning experience:
- Editorially curated texts
- Audio content for listening and deeper engagement
- Video content for visual explanation
- Interactive games and discovery tasks
All content was designed to be exploratory. Children decided for themselves which paths to follow and how deeply they wanted to dive into a topic. Knowledge became something to experience in context.
Transforming a Brand into a Digital Experience
A key challenge of the project was translating existing editorial content into a new medium in a way that remained true to the GEOLINO brand. Content was adapted, expanded, and integrated into interactive contexts while maintaining the publication’s tone, visual identity, and educational standards.
An Integrated Platform Solution
Concept, structure, interaction design, and implementation of the themed worlds were developed entirely from scratch, resulting in a consistent digital environment where content, navigation, and user experience were closely interconnected.
Key Features
Explorative Learning
Free discovery instead of traditional menu structures
Contextual Interaction
Content is explored through discovery, not by clicking through lists
Multimedia Knowledge Transfer
Combination of text, audio, video, and game elements
Brand-Aligned Transformation
Translation of the GEOLINO world into a unique digital experience
Child-Friendly UX Design
Reduced complexity, clear orientation, and high visual accessibility
Screenshots
