How learning spaces impact students' wellbeing
Brain diagrams as friendly and clear as Ana's writing.
Breaking out of the box: learning spaces that invite movement, curiosity, and calm.
Project overview
My role: Concept illustration, illustration system design
Focus: Creating an accessible visual language for complex wellbeing research
Client: Kidzink Design
Deliverables: Book illustrations, icon set, illustration system, and starter kit assets for the Kidzink team
Collaborators: Ana Mombiedro (author, architect & neuropsychologist), Adam James (Brand Director), Kidzink Design Team
Tools: Procreate, Adobe Illustrator
Focus: Creating an accessible visual language for complex wellbeing research
Client: Kidzink Design
Deliverables: Book illustrations, icon set, illustration system, and starter kit assets for the Kidzink team
Collaborators: Ana Mombiedro (author, architect & neuropsychologist), Adam James (Brand Director), Kidzink Design Team
Tools: Procreate, Adobe Illustrator
Challenge
'Beyond the Box' is a book by Kidzink Design and Ana Mombiedro about how learning spaces shape the way kids think and feel. The challenge: how do you make abstract neuroscience — brain function, learning, emotion — feel relatable and playful, without dumbing it down or losing what makes it true?
My job was to bridge three things: the author, Ana's, neuroscience-backed content; Kindzink's brand director, Adam's, intuitive design direction; and my own UX-informed, learner-centred visual storytelling.
A wellbeing model brought to life through warm, human illustration.
The student as superhero: sensors built in like a power, not a probe.
A modular system that gives the Kidzink team the tools to build new illustrations, characters, and scenes in the same style.
Outcome
I designed the brand illustration system — characters, icons, diagrams, and a colour-and-shape language for the four core wellbeing factors — then packaged it into a starter kit so the team could keep creating in the same style.
It's since grown well beyond the book, into workshop cards, social media posts, and across Kidzink's website.
Four core wellbeing factors — each one with its own character, colour and shape — to make the research feel more human, approachable and easy to connect with.
Workshop card deck: a shared language for applying the research to real educational spaces.
The system in the wild: Kidzink's team using the illustrated cards in a live design workshop.
"She didn't simply draw; she immersed herself in the concepts until she understood them from the inside. She's a rare blend of talent, rigour, and genuine artistic intuition."
— Ana Mombiedro
Architect & Neuropsychologist, Applied Research Director, Author of 'Beyond the Box'
Architect & Neuropsychologist, Applied Research Director, Author of 'Beyond the Box'
Huge thanks to the brilliant folk at Kidzink:
Charlotte Borghesi (Founder) for trusting me with the project
Ana Mombiedro (Author, Architect & Neuropsychologist, Applied Research Director)
Adam James (Brand Director)
Charlotte Borghesi (Founder) for trusting me with the project
Ana Mombiedro (Author, Architect & Neuropsychologist, Applied Research Director)
Adam James (Brand Director)
Book and workshop photography courtesy of Kidzink.
