A packaging brief that needed
to become something more.
Box for Monkeys is a brand with purpose at its core. In a world where children are increasingly drawn to screens, they set out to create something different — a monthly experience that would educate, stimulate, and genuinely engage children through hands-on activity.
They already had a brand — and a clear mission. What they needed was a post-suitable box: sturdy enough to survive the journey, practical enough to hold variable monthly gifts, and designed to light up a child's face the moment they spotted it on the doorstep.
The box had to be made from recycled materials, affordable to produce, and — crucially — kids had to want to engage with the box itself, not just what was inside it. It needed a life beyond delivery.
It needed a life beyond delivery. — Project brief · Box for Monkeys
We leaned into Charlie — and let him stretch.
From the first conversation, it was clear that Box for Monkeys wasn't just a product business — it was a passion project. We started with what they already had: Charlie, their cheeky monkey character. Rather than introducing new visual elements, we leaned into Charlie as the connective thread — asking how far that character could stretch.
And we didn't just design for kids — we tested with them. A few cheeky little monkeys of our own put our concepts through their paces, giving us the kind of honest feedback that only a child can provide.
A box that does
more than hold things.
The finished design used Charlie's recognisable face as both brand asset and interactive canvas — giving children something to engage with from the moment they received it. Single-colour vegetable dye printing on recycled uncoated cardboard was chosen for two reasons: it kept costs down and reduced environmental impact, but more importantly, uncoated was a usability decision.
A child needs to pick it up with a pencil, a crayon, or a texta and make it their own. Coating would have taken that away. The box had to be a canvas, not just a container.
A packaging brief became a product strategy — replacing externally sourced kits with a fully designed in-house product range.
Designed to be drawn on, reused, and kept.
The character work sparked a natural extension into a full range of activity books, reusable pencil cases, and children's products all grounded in child wellbeing and environmental themes. What began as a packaging brief became a product ecosystem.
Children can colour, personalise, and reuse the box — reducing waste and extending the product's life in the home. The range ultimately replaced the pre-manufactured activity kits Box for Monkeys had been sourcing externally — TTC's design work didn't just improve the brand. It changed the product entirely.
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