Creative Direction
Illustration
Information Design
Interactive Design
Production Artwork
CONTRIBUTORS:
Industrial Design: Design Anthology
How do you help communities understand one of the most complex systems they rely on every day? Hunter Water’s answer was the H₂O Hub, a mobile education trailer designed to help communities understand where their water comes from, how it’s treated, and why it matters.
Working alongside Design Anthology, KO Studio was engaged to develop the educational graphics and creative experience for the custom-built H₂O Hub trailer, using storytelling, illustration and interactive design to transform the space into an engaging, hands-on learning environment.
The project became an opportunity to explore how information design, illustration and interactive storytelling could transform complex infrastructure into an engaging public education experience.
The Challenge
How do you make invisible infrastructure visible? How do you transform complex systems like the Urban Water Cycle and water treatment processes into something people can physically explore, understand and remember?
The H₂O Hub needed to be engaging for primary school students, informative for adults, visually aligned with Hunter Water’s brand, and robust enough to support years of community engagement.
The challenge wasn’t simply communicating technical information. It was transforming a complex infrastructure story into an intuitive experience that could inspire curiosity, encourage learning and leave visitors with a deeper appreciation for one of our region’s most precious resources.
Our Approach
Through open conversations with Hunter Water and Design Anthology, we challenged assumptions, explored multiple creative directions and continually refined the concept until every graphic served a clear educational purpose.
The result was an experience built around curiosity, interaction and discovery. Rather than relying on digital technology, visitors are encouraged to engage through tactile, mechanical interactions that invite exploration at their own pace.
Every illustration, icon, information panel and interactive element was designed to simplify complex ideas without oversimplifying the science, making technical information accessible, memorable and engaging for audiences of all ages.
Design Highlights
Each element was designed to feel playful enough for children while maintaining the clarity, credibility and quality expected of a government organisation.
The Outcome
The finished H₂O Hub evolved into a travelling educational experience capable of supporting Hunter Water’s community engagement strategy for years to come.
The collaborative process allowed the project to continually improve as ideas were tested, challenged and refined, resulting in an outcome that exceeded initial expectations and established a stronger creative benchmark for future engagement initiatives.
The success of the project wasn’t driven by design alone. It came from the willingness of everyone involved to remain open, collaborative and committed to finding the strongest solution. Instead of settling for the first workable concept, the team continually questioned, refined and improved the experience until it genuinely achieved its educational purpose.
It’s a perfect example of what happens when creative trust allows strategy and design to work hand in hand, creating an experience that doesn’t just explain how water moves through our region, but helps people understand why it matters.
Your contribution was such an important part of bringing this project to life. The visual identity and storytelling helped transform it from a functional asset into an experience that people genuinely want to engage with. Thank you for your creativity, collaboration and persistence through every stage of the journey. It was a pleasure working alongside you on this one.
– Josh Jeffress, Design Anthology
