2015 was an epic journey. FableVision visited (and created) amazing worlds this year, from the colorful hills of Zoombiniville to the idyllic town of Shady Acres to revisiting planet Braxos. To celebrate, we've crafted our FableVision Top 10 Moments of 2015. The year was filled with rewarding memories and signature FableVision fun!

1. New creative collaborations

FableVision made some new friends this year, including Make A Wish, Mindset Works, and McGraw-Hill Education. We love working with kindred spirits on media that inspires, educates, and moves people to action.

2. Continuing partnerships 

We're proud of our ongoing collaborations with innovative clients, including Maryland Public Television, PBS Kids, and Pearson, who inspire and encourage us to continue to push the envelope. 

3. Events and open houses 

We welcomed hundreds of creative minds to our studio this ye—hey, remember that one time Olympians Meryl Davis and Charlie White visited FableVision and we got to hold their gold medals? That was awesome. Miss Massachusetts 2014, one of five STEM scholarship recipients at the Miss America pageant, stopped by our Night Powered by STEAM Thinking event co-hosted with the Reynolds Center TLC. We also opened our doors for the Children’s Media Association’s GAME ON! event, which featured our own Bob Flynn on a panel talking about the creative gaming landscape in Boston. And for the third year in a row, Team FableVision raised funds (over $7,000 this year!) for Boston Children’s Hospital through Extra Life.

4. Another winning year!  

We were honored with some amazing industry recognition for some of our recent work this year. Here are some of the highlights:

  • 2015 Tech & Learning Magazine Awards of Excellence, New Products Award for After the Storm
  • 2015 International Serious Play Awards, Bronze Award for After the Storm
  • 2015 American Association of School Librarians, Best Apps for Teaching & Learning for Ripped Apart: A Civil War Mystery
  • 2015 Animation Block Party Summerfest for Good Thinking!: The Science of Teaching Science
  • 2015 Association of American Publishers (AAP) REVERE Award, Beyond the Classroom, Play category for Renegade Buggies
  • 2015 Excellence In Financial Literacy Education (EIFLE) Award, Instructional Game of the Year for Renegade Buggies

5. Thought leadership 

Our co-founders Paul and Peter H. Reynolds traveled the country this year, continuing to lead the charge in the STEAM education and Maker Movement. They unveiled the second book in their Sydney & Simon book series, entitled GO GREEN!, inspiring readers to take a closer look at protecting the environment by implementing small changes to make a big difference. Among dozens of other appearances, they stopped by the STEAM Carnival, keynoted the World Creativity Forum and CPSI. Throughout it all, they championed creativity as a superpower and called for action in creative problem solving.

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6. Marketing highlights

Our website turned one this year! Cake for everyone! We’re very, very proud of our league of creative FableVisionaries, and the world is taking note too. Creative super couple Keith and Renee Zulawnik are both alumni of Lesley University and met here at the studio. If you were paying attention in April, you might have seen our little rebranding project. Welcome, TableVision. And our FableFriday blog series continues to highlight a new FableVisionary on the first Friday of each month.

7. On the road with friends and fans

Did you hear that? That was the sound of a party horn, and it was going off in FableVision’s 2015 ISTE booth all conference long. We celebrated creative educators, and hosted fun, informative sessions with some of our partners. Earlier in the year we hopped a plane to Orlando for FETC, where Creative Director Leigh Hallisey joined a panel to discuss what creates an engaging learning game, and CEO Paul Reynolds and Dr. Peggy Healy Stearns dove into the world of 3D fabrication and the development of Fab@School Maker Studio.

8. Art highlights

We make this look good. (Did we just date ourselves with a Men in Black reference?) Our artists had a hand in some of our biggest projects this year, including the relaunch of classic math/logic game Zoombinis, a free animated professional development resource in Good Thinking! The Science of Teaching Science, Con ‘Em If You Can, a financial literacy games that teaches how to protect yourself from schemes and scams in the real world, and ParkPals: Kindness Rules teaches second and third graders the four qualities of kindness and how to be fair, kind, and helpful to others.

9. Technical highlights

Go on, spend some time outdoors. Just B is a small interactive musical toy produced by the FableVision Studios development team. Stop and smell the musical flowers. Then, practice your sustainable farming best practices with Top Crop: Farming for the Future. The game teaches the importance and responsibility of sustainable farming and how technology can be harnessed to aid their crops and revenue.

10. Incredible interns

The hope, with every intern, is that they learn as much from us as we learn from them. Our interns join us along their creative journey and do some great work while learning industry skills and gaining experience in their concentration of choice. Each intern has the opportunity to work on an independent project during the course of their time with us. Here are some highlights. You can learn more about our internship program here.

Make School Work is a podcast created by marketing intern Carl Haber. Click on the image to listen to the pilot episode.

Make School Work is a podcast created by marketing intern Carl Haber. Click on the image to listen to the pilot episode.

This is part of a larger piece called TableVision, with art done by art intern Paloma Diaz-Dickson. Click on the image to read the full post.

Cheers to a new year with new challenges, new projects, and new friends along the creative journey! What were some highlights from your year? 

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