C H I N E A S Y
I L L U S T R A T I O N & P R I N T
Chineasy was born from a simple but powerful idea: make learning Chinese accessible to the world by pairing each character with a illustrative visual representation of its meaning. The challenge was to build a compelling product ecosystem, book, flashcards, and digital apps and launch it to the world through a Kickstarter campaign that could prove both the concept and the appetite for this unique way of learning a language.
Brought onboard on a contract basis, I worked directly alongside the CEO and world-renowned illustrator Noma Bar to help direct and curate a library of over 250 bespoke illustrations, ensuring every piece of artwork was both visually distinctive and educationally purposeful. From there, I translated this visual language across the full product suite, contributing and steering design across the book, flashcards, and supporting materials, while managing a small multidisciplinary team of photographers and illustrators to bring it all to life.
The Kickstarter campaign became a phenomenon in its own right, raising £197,626 from 5,475 backers and exceeding its funding target by more than 250%. The book went on to become a bestseller, the iOS and Android apps earned widespread acclaim, and the project was recognised with a D&AD Wooden Pencil, one of the most respected awards in the design industry for excellence across the book, website, and mobile applications.
The foundations laid by this initial launch proved just the beginning. Chineasy has since grown into a global learning platform, expanding its product range by translating its content into multiple languages, introducing engaging child friendly products, and evolving its digital offering to include ubscription services - reaching audiences far beyond the original Kickstarter community.
