About
For our IDBM Industry Project, we partnered with StartSOLE. They briefed us to create an interface to “pull students into Social-Emotional Learning”. Currently, they offer a solution solely targeted at teachers. Since StartSOLE is an app-based service, the final deliverable was expected to be a graphical user interface.
Early on in the process, we established key success factors with StartSOLE: simple, credible, and transformational.
ABOUT THE VISUAL STYLE
As the project progressed, I took illustration as my main area of responsibility. From the get-go, I set myself a goal to create a custom style. My aim was to depict emotions in a way that appeals to kids ages 8-11 (our target group), without being too childish, kitschy, or corny. I mixed digital and analog techniques to add texture and depth to the images.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/45a0740c-575a-407e-824d-03a5c4ad3ae6/5c62a4f3-9522-47b8-b590-c7ce127045f6_rw_1920.png?h=c520e33872f7956c697e0e6967adc712)
Illustration for StrenghtenJunior: Hateful.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/45a0740c-575a-407e-824d-03a5c4ad3ae6/4ba5b068-9b09-4098-a779-cababfffd68f_rw_1920.png?h=3c1c1d59fab38aa100bb784b939dc30e)
The evolution of the emotion hateful. I moved from Adobe Illustrator to mixing analog and digital techniques.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/45a0740c-575a-407e-824d-03a5c4ad3ae6/67afea93-192f-41a7-8b60-5234e8c7d558_rw_1200.png?h=c064d041eb93affc5bfd386089968bc8)
Tryouts for the emotion loved. I achieved the overprint effect by using a printer. This tryout didn't require any digital intervention.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/45a0740c-575a-407e-824d-03a5c4ad3ae6/4356983f-7b85-4018-aeb7-a36a8683600e_rw_1200.png?h=f2220e3648ff8bdcaab4f76286703bb1)
The final illustration of the emotion loved.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/45a0740c-575a-407e-824d-03a5c4ad3ae6/a92786bc-c538-47aa-9048-295e15a3ca02_rw_600.jpg?h=ebb39a8b401c366a144ddf632f630b45)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/45a0740c-575a-407e-824d-03a5c4ad3ae6/66fc05fa-2b44-41cd-9e46-5234e9accb30_rw_1200.png?h=7b5266cfa7ca4ec2b8082b6e602102c8)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/45a0740c-575a-407e-824d-03a5c4ad3ae6/c88b145e-f39c-4bd1-a027-aaed23a57310_rw_1200.png?h=720f5b6bd89d6d0507a02798386bfeaa)
Final illustration for StrenghtenJunior: Kind.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/45a0740c-575a-407e-824d-03a5c4ad3ae6/796ff163-e4d3-48c0-8240-a5418208dac1_rw_1200.png?h=1ad4bb4805dcd66a9e95b8ebc767b0dc)
Tryout for the emotion sadness.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/45a0740c-575a-407e-824d-03a5c4ad3ae6/3dc300bd-1a81-4c49-ab41-ae476bc85fbe_rw_1200.png?h=6ac061cc62f2ad40fee7a74a4126ae59)
Final illustration for StrenghtenJunior: Sadness.
TOOLS AND METHODS USED
For the illustrations, I combined digital and analog tools. Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator, a scanner, and a printer were in heavy use. In my opinion, interesting results are often a result of mixing different techniques. Creating the illustrations was an iterative process, and took multiple revisions to create the final versions.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/45a0740c-575a-407e-824d-03a5c4ad3ae6/6598d4d4-edd1-496b-9d27-e5df0c69f5d1_rw_1920.jpg?h=cfd11282b1e1cd79f780bdf166c969ed)
Sharpies are great for sketching.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/45a0740c-575a-407e-824d-03a5c4ad3ae6/26d0a37e-9ad8-4eb3-8731-296ae1474955_rw_1920.jpg?h=9a79cc9e3d3683c390ec43676fdf6fd4)
For the final illustrations, I was inspired by these oil pastels.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/45a0740c-575a-407e-824d-03a5c4ad3ae6/861089e2-2564-4183-adf0-564224846625_rw_3840.jpg?h=3e84efcb422cdcb5b304e890bc9015f7)
Textures made with oil pastels. I scanned and opened it in Photoshop where the file was cleaned up and converted into bitmaps. Finally, I imported sketches into Illustrator.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/45a0740c-575a-407e-824d-03a5c4ad3ae6/d7c76778-bee7-4bba-b0de-46e0956a44d2_rw_1920.jpg?h=4ff3a282ef124acf521536b8be376600)
I drew clouds with oil pastels, scanned them, and imported them into Photoshop for clean-up.
ABOUT OUR CLIENT
Founded in 2015, StartSOLE's mission is to make SOLE (Self-Organised Learning Environment) accessible around the world. The StartSOLE team consists of teachers, experts, developers, and students. They're based in Cleveland, Ohio.
Team StartSOLE
Jeff McClellan, Founder & CEO
Justin Duffy, Director of Technology
Shaun Yoder, Managing Partner
Steffen Jakob, Software Engineer
Frans Bouwmeester, Software Engineer
Team StartSOLE/Aalto University
Sofia Nissilä, Design & Illustration, Workshop Facilitation
Nicole Hußmann, Research, UX/UI Design & Client Management
Lara Render, Research & Product Development
Oula Airiola, Research & Product Development
Want to know more about this project?
Contact Sofia Nissilä, sofia.j.nissila@aalto.fi