A packaging brief that needed
to become something more.
Box for Monkeys exists for a reason. Kids spend more and more time on screens, so the team wanted to give them something different: a monthly box of hands-on activities that keeps kids learning and busy.
They already had a brand and a clear mission. What they needed was a box that could go through the post. It had to be tough enough to survive the trip and roomy enough for gifts that changed every month. It also had to make a kid's face light up the moment they spotted it on the doorstep.
On top of that, it had to be made from recycled materials and cheap to produce. Most of all, kids had to want to play with the box itself once the gifts were out.
It needed a life beyond delivery. Project brief · Box for Monkeys
We leaned into Charlie and let him stretch.
From our first chat, it was clear Box for Monkeys was a passion project for the people behind it. So we started with what they already had: Charlie, their cheeky monkey character. Instead of adding new visual elements, we made Charlie the thread that tied everything together, and asked how far he could stretch.
We tested the ideas with kids, too. A few cheeky little monkeys of our own put our concepts through their paces and gave us the kind of honest feedback only a child can give.
A box that does
more than hold things.
In the finished design, Charlie's face does two jobs. It's the brand, and it's something for kids to draw on from the moment the box arrives. We printed in one colour of vegetable dye on recycled, uncoated cardboard. That kept costs down and was easier on the environment. But we mostly left it uncoated because of how kids would use it.
A child needs to be able to grab a pencil, crayon or texta and draw right on it. A coated finish would have made that much harder.
A packaging brief became a product strategy, and a full in-house range replaced the kits they used to buy in.
Designed to be drawn on, reused, and kept.
The Charlie work grew into a full range of activity books, reusable pencil cases and other kids' products. They all centre on child wellbeing and caring for the environment.
Kids colour in the box and reuse it, so it stays in the house longer and less ends up in the bin. In the end, the new range replaced the ready-made activity kits Box for Monkeys had been buying from outside suppliers. So our work changed what they sell, as well as how the brand looks.
What I value most is her ability to take a very rough brief - often just ideas in my head - and turn it into something clear, thoughtful and genuinely beautiful. She just gets it, every single time. I've worked with other graphic designers before Jackie, but I haven't needed to look elsewhere since. Sarah Donges · Founder, Box For Monkeys
- Brand identity & strategy
- Brand storytelling
- Visual communication
- Packaging design
- Product development