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MUNAF · Museo Nazionale di Fotografia · 2026

Hands-On Learning

Federico Patellani was one of Italy’s first photojournalists, and MUNAF keeps more than 700,000 of his images. The challenge was to open that archive to visitors aged 10 to 14. The answer is a small system built around one character: a camera mascot in pen and ink that hands out a composition keychain at the ticket desk, points the way on signs, and hosts two touch-screen games about Patellani’s travels and the cameras of the past.

My role
Project lead — visual identity & mascot, the two touch-screen prototypes, research
Project
Museum installation and visitor tools
Audience
Young visitors, 10–14
When
2026
The two touch screens and their illustrated panels mounted on a wall in the MUNAF hall
Case study Project description The challenge, research, the mascot, the keychain and the visitor journey. Play · touch screen 1 Patellani globe Spin the world through Federico Patellani’s lens. Play · touch screen 2 Camera Assembly Rebuild a camera to unlock a photo.

Case study

21 slides

Title slide: Hands-On Learning, a visitor system for young visitors at MUNAF, over a photo of the museum hall.
Overview: opening Federico Patellani’s archive of 700,000 images to visitors aged 10 to 14, with a camera mascot in pen and ink.
What the system includes: composition keychain, mascot signs, Patellani globe, Camera Assembly and a light table.
The brief: design an intuitive, visually rich installation that guides young audiences from basic understanding to deeper exploration.
The challenge: archives are hard to get into for kids, so every tool gives them something to do first — curiosity, understanding, context.
Research: five museums where the visit is something you do, each giving one idea to carry into the project.
Concept: hands-on learning — discover, create together, keep it.
Visual identity: rubber-hose meets archive — 1930s cartoons, vintage labels and retro lettering in black ink on cream, with one red.
Why a mascot: memorability, equal ground, navigation and humanisation.
Composition keychain: a see-through photography rule you can hold up to the prints.
Three steps per rule: cards for the golden triangle, golden ratio and dynamic symmetry.
Mascot signs: life-size cut-outs that welcome and guide visitors at the entrance and lockers.
Two touch screens at the entrance to the Patellani archive, each with an illustrated panel explaining how to play.
Patellani globe: kids spin an ink-drawn globe and tap pins at the real locations of his reportages.
Federico tells his story in his own words, next to his photographs, one journey at a time.
Camera Assembly: rebuild a camera to unlock a photo, introduced by the keychain mascot.
From shadow to collection: pick, build, unlock and collect four cameras from the 1940s to the 2000s.
Light table: compose with slides and grids, then email the result home.
Visitor journey: two ways through the museum, the regular exhibitions and the Patellani archive.
Technology: comparing multi-touch screens built for crowds of kids.
Thank you slide: Hands-On Learning, a visitor system for MUNAF, Museo Nazionale di Fotografia.