Bolton Smiles

Community-focused audio trail tells a charming tale of a characterful town centre.

Capturing the essence

Celebrating a rich and diverse history of a beaming town centre, the idea was to mark the building of a new transport interchange through a playful diversion of charming audio tales, for both in-person and virtual visitors to explore. Responsible for creative direction, experience design and front-end build (HTML, CSS).

Commissioned by TfGM and Arts Council, working alongside community stakeholders from all backgrounds, a theme of connectivity was created, piecing together local knowledge and uncovering personalised walking routes.

Smiles all round

Delightful 'smiles' were placed in and around the town centre's well-known landmarks, uncovering tales from a diverse set of voices. Extra effort was made to standardise the experience on a wide range of device browsers.

Community spirit

Launch day generated an unmistakable buzz in the town centre with support from local media and radio. The app received around 6,000 views with an average listening session of around 5 minutes.