In this series, WeWork’s director of digital community selects a WeWork member to get to know better, sharing her fun findings with the rest of the community.
Did you know there’s a new children’s book that teaches kids how to play chess? It’s called The Foolish King, and there’s even an interactive app for it too, thanks to the app development company Dynoden based in London’s WeWork Devonshire Square. I spoke with Kelly Brewer, Dynoden’s co-founder and chief operating officer, about the book’s author and illustrator, what inspired the creation of the app, and more.
Tell us a little bit about Dynoden.
We design and develop mobile apps on iOS and Android and build cloud applications either to work alongside the app or as a stand-alone system. We’ve had the opportunity to work on quite a variety of products ranging from prototypes/MVPs (Minimum Viable Products) to full system development for large employers. Some of our projects include a 4D experience app for an art exhibition in Hackney, London—that app actually got featured in Wired magazine as “app of the month”—and a digital advertising audience measuring software with reporting dashboard showing engagement statistics. So we’ve covered quite a bit of ground in our first year. We’re a small team with a lot of creativity, and we get very excited about our clients’ projects.
What inspired you to create The Foolish King to share storytelling magic with kids and teach them about chess?
The idea came from our client, Lord Mark Price, who wrote his first children’s book, The Foolish King, which is a magical story that teaches children to play chess. Wanting to go further than just the physical story book, he approached us with the idea of building the iPad app where children can play chess as well as learn about it. We loved the story, and we were really excited to bring it to life by enabling children (and parents) to play chess alongside The Foolish King book.
Children these days tend to have their own iPads or have access to one at home, so we figured it may be another way to get children playing chess. As opposed to just reading a book and learning, they can actually put their skills to practice. In the app, you can play chess, learn chess through tutorials, and you have access to the full book. We thought of it as an extension of the story written by Mark Price.
What were some of your artistic influences going into the app?
We had the pleasure of working with the illustrator from The Foolish King book: Martin Brown. He’s also the illustrator for the Horrible Histories books—I’m not sure about the U.S., but certainly in the U.K. these books are a huge success amongst children. Since the book had already been published by David Fickling Books and illustrations therefore finalized, it was our responsibility to ensure that the app design was a continuation of Martin’s great work. We took a lot of care in ensuring the app was simple and well suited for children to use. As an example of the detail we went to with Martin, the chess pieces in the game were hand-drawn onto a piece of paper, they were then scanned to us, digitized, colored, and added to the chess game.
How have people reacted thus far?
So far, the book and the app have gained lots of positive book and app reviews. Comments have confirmed that having the app available really enhanced The Foolish King experience—with the pleasing illustration and easy-to-use design they see it as a natural companion to the story book. When I have shown the app to others, they are always really impressed with the design and illustrations, which is great, especially as it is aimed at children. I think that people see the great value of the app. For £3.99, you get the book, chess game, and the tutorials too.
Photos: Oscar May