TOWER OF BABEL
Tower of Babel is a children’s learning block set created to teach young children foreign languages in a fun and engaging way. While the brand can be applied to a variety of languages, the example here is of a Chinese and Japanese set. The illustration style is based on illustration types popular with children in the area. This allows the users of the blocks not only to learn the language printed on them, but get a glimpse into the culture as well.
Instructor:
Paul Sheriff
PROCESS
I wanted to use this project as an opportunity explore a cuter and more whimsical drawing style than I typically use. In thinking about the best way to do this, I was drawn to chibi illustrations and emojis. The natural extension of this to me was animals. Not only can they be stylized in an adorable way, but they are also a common vehicle for teaching children language. The illustrations and color palette came together quickly, but the logo took a lot of work. Originally I took a much more childish approach before settling on the refined look of the final version.
Early logo explorations
Initial box concept along with the original illustration explorations
All of the illustrations created for the blocks
The box alongside three of the blocks
A close up detail of two blocks
A small stack of various blocks