Design and content
I developed the concept, selected the traditions, and shaped the content structure, interactions, and visual presentation.
Where Dragons Dwell
An interactive atlas exploring dragon and serpent traditions around the world.
Interactive Atlas · Mythology Curation · AI Oracle · Side-by-side Comparison · Portfolio Project
- Problem
- Grouping dragon-like beings under one familiar image can leave out what they mean within their own traditions. The Chinese long that brings rain and the Norse serpent that circles the world end up drawn as the same winged, fire-breathing creature. Meaningful comparisons need cultural context and sources that visitors can check.
- Process
- I selected 14 traditions and designed how visitors would explore and compare them. Codex and Claude Code helped implement the site. A source review after release corrected several entries and brought the reference collection to 46 sources.
- Result
- The published atlas lets visitors explore traditions in English and Traditional Chinese, compare two entries side by side, and follow their references. It also includes an AI Oracle for follow-up questions and a printable daily card. The project received third place in the 2026 Handshake × OpenAI Codex Creator Challenge.
Project Summary
Developing the idea
Dragons are familiar almost everywhere, but most people know the one from their own tradition. In East Asia the dragon is an auspicious creature and a symbol of the emperor. In Western films it breathes fire, guards treasure, and is often a threat. The shapes differ and the meanings differ, which made them a good subject for a side-by-side atlas. I also wanted the atlas to be interactive and collectible, not a reference list.
Limiting the atlas to 14 traditions gave me room to describe their symbolic meanings and geographic connections while keeping comparisons manageable.
The atlas includes Long, Ryu, Yong / Imugi, Naga, Quetzalcoatl, Boiuna, Horned Serpent, European Dragon, Jormungandr, Zmey, Apep, Aži Dahāka, Rainbow Serpent, and Taniwha.
The antique-style map established the exhibition feel I wanted, with room for visitors to explore at their own pace.
Exploring the Atlas
Exploring and comparing the atlas
Visitors select a location on the map to read about a being’s cultural context and role, with references for further reading.
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01
Read an entry
A shared content structure makes roles and symbolism easier to locate while leaving room for details specific to each tradition.
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02
Choose a timeline lens
The timeline offers five lenses: Ancient, Classical, Medieval, Living Tradition, and Layered Time. Including Living Tradition and Layered Time allowed the atlas to acknowledge traditions that continue today or draw on several historical periods.
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03
Compare two traditions
I chose side-by-side comparison so visitors could keep any two entries in view. They can examine how a shared association, such as water, takes on different meanings without moving between pages.
The map carries relatively little text. Longer explanations belong in the entries and comparison view, so visitors can choose how deeply they want to explore.
My Role
My role and AI collaboration
This project was built in collaboration with AI; the design decisions, content, and direction are mine. The implementation came from the tools below; the curation, the structure, and the interface decisions were mine.
Implementation
I discussed the idea with ChatGPT first, and Claude set up the initial structure. All later polish and iteration came from Codex, which the challenge required. I reviewed their work as the site developed.
Dragon illustrations
AI tools generated the dragon illustrations; I curated and edited them for the project.
Map artwork
The map background combines generated and composited artwork. The repository documents its provenance.
Further Exploration
The Oracle and daily card
Asking follow-up questions
The AI Oracle supports questions about the featured traditions, including comparisons and symbolic patterns, and can suggest an entry to explore next.
Its prompt includes a summary generated from the same data files used to display the atlas, along with selected source references. It is instructed to base its answers on that material and to say when a question falls outside what the atlas supports. A topic filter also checks questions before they reach the model.
Taking a card away
The daily card offers one printable draw per day, giving visitors a keepsake and a starting point when they have no particular region in mind.
I chose the daily limit to encourage a slower look at the selected tradition.
Content Review
Reviewing the content
After release, I took the atlas through a review of all 14 entries and 46 references. The sources included primary texts, scholarship, and museum resources; checks against available URLs or published editions led to several changes:
- The Persian entry was renamed Aži Dahāka to identify the specific figure from Avestan tradition.
- The Taniwha entry was attributed specifically to Māori tradition.
- The Horned Serpent entry was revised to name beings associated with particular Indigenous nations.
Some of the featured traditions remain part of living communities. The reference collection includes community-authored accounts where available, and the repository invites corrections.
Open Source
Publishing the project
The atlas was my entry for the 2026 Handshake × OpenAI Codex Creator Challenge, where it placed third among more than 1,500 submissions. It is publicly available, and its repository includes the application code and structured atlas content.
- The code is released under the MIT License.
- The project’s atlas text, reference data, and imagery are published under CC BY 4.0, with provenance notes explaining how the images were made.
Licensing details and checks
The content license applies to the project’s materials; the cultural traditions themselves belong to their communities.
The repository also includes automated checks for linting, type checking, and production builds.
Reflection
What I learned
Source review became part of my interaction design process. To make the comparison view useful, I had to consider each entry’s structure, name, and cultural attribution alongside the interface.
Explore Where Dragons Dwell
Explore the map and compare the entries, or visit the repository to read the source material and implementation.