Talu Tales Summary

⚠️ Problem

Gender inequality exists, and it starts in the playroom.

Right now, only one fifth of best selling children's books feature Female leads and science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) toys are three times more likely to be targeted at boys than girls.

✨ Solution

Talu Tales is a series of books and games that feature women in the lead- adventures, explorers and innovators. This fantasy series is designed to engage more young girls in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and leadership. 

☄️ Impact

Launched in 2019, the series took out the Frankie Magazine Good Stuff design awards, and a gold Good Design award. Today, Talu Tales is sold worldwide, and stocked in stores across Australia including Dymocks, Harry Hartogs and Berkelouw books. In 2020 the first picture book in the Talu Tales range was successfully funded on Kickstarter and is due to launch in September 2020.

💖 Why it matters

The stories we hear as children are important and influence self-beliefs which begin to form at an early age. By age 5, girls are less likely than boys to believe their gender is ‘really really smart’, and two thirds of children aged nine to eleven draw a man when asked to draw a scientist. Today women make up only 27% of the STEM workforce.

Talu Tales Behind The Scenes

Our Approach

We made the decision early on to publish for purpose. This means we only produce new books, games, and toys that help to close the gender gap and allow more children to play and read books that break outdated stereotypes.

By taking the traditional route, pitching to publishers, we were concerned that our mission would be diluted in a catalog of books all working to do different things. So we set up Studio Talu as the publisher behind Talu Tales.

Our Process

Research → We start by identifying a problem then dig a little deeper. Each product begins with rounds of user research interviewing 10-20 families per sprint. Summarised in decks; we list out our riskiest assumptions, build hypothesis, conduct interviews with our target audience and frame problem statements.

Ideation → During co-design with kids we identified design elements that young girls wanted to see in stories- elements such as faces, female characters, sparkles, magic, and social stories. We blend these elements with science facts and exciting adventures usually seen in ‘books for boys’.

Prototyping → Stories take shape as words first, before Deb sprinkles it with her visual magic. As an author/illustrator duo we bounce back and forth throughout the entire process with copy informing visual design, and visual design informing copy.

For the cards we tried a few different packaging designs before trialling a custom box that looks like a faux book (with a surprisingly satisfying magnetic closure *click!*).

Print v Digital: Early on we spent 2 months prototyping three different digitally led storytelling products with Rupert Parry, however these ideas were benched due to high production costs: an augmented audio dice, a responsive generative SFX soundtrack and NFC audio cards.

Testing and iterating → We put stories in front of kids as soon as we have black/white sketches. For the storytelling cards cards it took months to get the instructions right, and almost all of the illustrations changed for the cards to make them more dynamic and scene based.

MVP → Once we are happy with prototypes we start working with manufacturers to define the nitty gritty specs and give the prototype a good polish.

Launch → Building an ecommerce website, cold-calling stores, writing wholesale agreements, attending markets and trade shows, organic and paid social marketing, photoshoots, EDM strategy, pitching press releases, delivering events and workshops.

Iterating … again → After launch we loop back into research. For our cards we found that creating stories from scratch was GREAT for a niche audience, but for most parents who were tired after a long day, the gameplay was a lot of effort. We re-prioritised books over cards based on these insights. In year 2, we found that Little Literature Co. was fumbly to say, so rebranded as Talu Tales/Studio Talu.

Our Product Line

🍝 Space, Spaghetti and Aliens is a set of creative storytelling cards that make it fun and easy for kids (and adults) to make up their own stories from scratch. Educators use these cards for narrative lessons and creative ways to talk about space/science. Speech pathologists use them as flashcards and therapeutic resources. Sometimes kids use them as frisbee’s.

👩‍🚀 Diary of an Astronaut is a fun and colourful friendship story that introduces kids to all the planets in the solar system. Featuring Luna, our fearless space explorer, this picture book empowers young girls to see themselves as future astronauts, and inspires them to reach for the stars/

+ stickers, posters, merchandise and teachers resources

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