Headspace. Rebranding meditation for the masses
Head of Design 2011-2018
From Headspace’s inception in 2011 I lead the brand’s creative vision as a designer, art director illustrator and creative director. I worked on all aspects of the brand from the logo, to the illustration language, developing the app UI over multiple iterations, photography style, iconography, animation direction, art directing advertising campaigns, and more. Here’s just a sample...
The mind is complex and can be challenging to navigate, making meditation valuable. We aimed to create a relatable style, using animation and illustration as key tenets. By employing characters and storytelling, we made a tough subject more accessible and presented it in a light-hearted yet sensitive manner.
Characters effectively convey the weirdness in our minds by being playful and memorable. The Headspace characters embody vulnerability; their curiosity leads to failures, but they always get back up. This spirit of hope and effort inspires us to tackle abstract challenges.
Quote Source
“It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business.”
Quote Source
“It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business.”
Quote Source
“It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business.”
The biggest challenge was creating a meditation brand that felt inclusive. Meditation is a valuable skill but difficult to explain, often burdened with clichés. We needed to rethink the traditional meditation aesthetic, simplify the concept for universal understanding, and make meditation feel as routine as brushing your teeth.
We tried to bring humour in wherever possible and appropriate so learning meditation doesn't feel like a chore. It’s completely in line with the meditation principle called ‘beginner’s mind’, which is all about a playful, almost childlike approach to meditation and life.
