Children watching a performance with animated dragons and fantasy elements overlaid in the foreground.

CREATIVE DIRECTION

Since graduating college in 2019, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to grow my career at Seattle Children’s Theatre—starting as a Junior Designer and working my way up to Creative Director, a role I’ve proudly held for the past two years.

Seattle Children’s Theatre is nationally respected for pushing the boundaries of what youth theatre can be—tackling complex themes, developing original plays, and fostering a lifelong appreciation for the arts.

I grew up attending shows at Seattle Children’s Theatre, and what always stuck with me was how each performance felt like stepping through a portal into another world—something only live theatre can truly achieve. A friend once shared a memory that perfectly captures this magic: they recalled seeing The Neverending Story at SCT and being completely awed by a giant, flying dragon. Years later, they looked back at photos and realized that the "dragon" they remembered was actually a man in a beautifully made costume—clearly a man in a costume, yet so real in the moment. That’s what children’s theatre does best—it blends silliness and wonder in a way that lingers for a lifetime.

As Creative Director, my focus has been on amplifying that sense of wonder through thoughtful design and storytelling. I led a full rebrand of SCT (pictured below), developed a new illustration style, art directed photoshoots, and blended photography with illustration to create key art that deepens the connection between story and audience. This work really came together in out 2025 season launch image featuring illustrations from the show art (pictured above) and our “Find Your Story” campaign (pictured below)

Because SCT is a non-profit, I serve as both the Creative Director and the sole designer on the team. That means I wear many hats—handling everything from video editing and illustration to email marketing, social media graphics, animation, and print design.

Thanks for taking a look—I hope you enjoy the work!

An iMac monitor displaying a webpage for Seattle Children's Theatre with children watching a performance, colorful cartoon dragons overlayed, and a yellow 'Buy Now' button.

OUR REBRAND

During SCT’s 50th Season, we began a rebrand in collaboration with Betti Fujikado and Designer/Creative Director Arlene Mitsui. Arlene and I worked closely together on the initial concepts, and I later carried the work through to completion—refining the system and rolling it out across the entire organization.

For me, the heart of this rebrand was about transforming SCT’s visual identity from something rigid and blocky into something more organic, whimsical, and truly reflective of the spirit of children’s theatre.

We introduced star motifs as a symbol of the magic and inspiration that both kids and adults experience when encountering live theatre for the first time. We also evolved the color palette—from a saturated, comic-book-style rainbow to a more refined set of blues and magentas. This shift helped elevate our core colors (pink, white, black, and yellow) while creating a more cohesive, mission-aligned look and feel.

This year, for the first time in a long time, every piece of design—from marketing to education materials—has felt unified, intentional, and deeply connected to SCT’s mission.

Below are some highlights from the rebrand.

Banner displaying the text "Seattlle childdren's theatre" alongside a close-up of a smiling young girl with red hair against a blue sky background.
Multiple black circular stickers with the white letters 'S' and 'T' and a pink crescent design, scattered on a light blue background. One pink sticker with white text reading 'Good humans made here' is among them, casting a shadow.
Color palette chart with primary, secondary, and font style details. Primary colors: pink, black, white, yellow. Secondary colors: blue, light blue, purple, pink. Font styles: Calibre Bold and Calibre Medium with sample alphabet.
Abstract geometric pattern with navy blue shapes outlined in pink against a purple background.
A large purple circle and pink star-like shapes on a dark blue background.
Abstract digital illustration with dark purple and pink wavy lines
Stylized mountain range with purple peaks against a dark blue starry sky.

FIND YOUR STORY

As part of an organization-wide effort to strengthen our brand and connect more deeply with our audience, I created "Find Your Story"—an awareness campaign for Seattle Children’s Theatre that highlights the immersive power of live theatre and its potential to inspire personal connection.

At SCT, we often see young audiences that connect deeply with the performances they experience. It’s not uncommon for children to meet the actors after a show and fully believe they’ve met the characters themselves. That sense of magic and connection is at the heart of what we do.

For our older youth audiences, representation becomes just as important as imagination. Through inclusive, thoughtfully cast productions, we aim to ensure that every young person who walks through our doors can see a reflection of themselves on stage—whether in identity, experience, or spirit.

The "Find Your Story" campaign is built around that idea. By blending animated characters from our beloved shows and real kids in the audience we express that connection between the the real and imagined world that live theatre exists in.

SEASON ART

2025 marks my fourth season illustrating the key art for Seattle Children’s Theatre, and this year’s collection is my favorite yet.

This season featured productions that skewed older than previous years, which gave me the opportunity to evolve both the characters and the overall tone of the illustrations—especially for shows like Robin Hood and Young Dragon. I adjusted the mood, composition, and character design to better reflect the emotional complexity and adventurous spirit of these stories, while still maintaining the sense of wonder that defines SCT.

One of the most exciting aspects of working at SCT has always been the creative freedom to develop a distinct illustration style specifically for the organization. Each designer before me brought their own unique visual language to the season artwork, and continuing that legacy has been both a joy and a creative challenge.

SCT produces professional theatre for young audiences, but it’s not just for kids—our shows are crafted to resonate with audiences of all ages. That broader audience perspective has deeply influenced the illustration style I’ve developed. I wanted the art to feel accessible to children, teens, and adults alike—playful but not childish, magical but emotionally grounded.

If the art were aimed solely at very young children (ages 3–5), I might lean into bold, blocky shapes and exaggerated proportions. On the other hand, for a teen-only audience, I’d likely focus on moodier palettes, detailed textures, and subtler emotional cues. For SCT, the sweet spot lives somewhere in between.

In crafting this style, I drew inspiration from visual storytelling that appeals across age groups—like book series such as Percy Jackson, and most notably, Studio Ghibli. Ghibli’s work masterfully balances expressive characters and immersive environments—zoomed in enough to capture emotion, and zoomed out enough to reveal a full world of imagination and detail. That balance has been my guiding light as I continue to shape SCT’s visual identity through illustration.

As always, my goal is to create artwork that reflects the magic, emotion, and whimsy that live at the heart of children's theatre.

Animated digital illustration for "A Bruce Lee Story: Young Dragon" featuring a young boy in martial arts pose on a bridge, with a large glowing dragon and a traditional East Asian gate in the background, surrounded by glowing lanterns and night sky elements.
A person jogging on a waterfront at night with city skyline and tall buildings in the background, illuminated by streaks of light.
Black and white sketch of three people with city skyline in background, involving overlapping figures with a dreamy or surreal quality.
A person crouches on the ground reaching out as a starry constellation figure of a woman, holding a lion, appears in the night sky with swirling lines and stars, with a city skyline in the background.
Animated illustration of four characters from Robin Hood in a rural setting with a large tree and a castle in the background at sunset. One character is aiming a bow and arrow towards the castle.
Bright, colorful illustration for the musical 'Chicka Boom Chicka Boom'. It features a tropical scene with a large palm tree leaning over a sandy beach near the ocean. The tree has alphabet characters with eyes and mouths climbing on the trunk, singing and making musical notes. The background is a gradient of orange to pink. The title 'Chicka Boom Chicka Boom' is in large yellow and pink letters, with 'The Musical' below in smaller yellow text.
An illustrated book cover showing three goats walking on a stone bridge with a large pink moon in the background. The scene is framed by dark purple trees and foliage, with the title 'Billy Goats Gruff and Other Tales' written in pink text at the top.
Girls and boys in science lab gear riding a pencil rocket with water trails, with a blue background featuring scientific and mathematical diagrams, and the text 'Ada Twist, Scientist and Friends'.

PHOTO ART DIRECTION

In 2024, Seattle Children’s Theatre began transitioning from fully illustrated show art to photography-based promotional materials in the final weeks leading up to opening night. This shift allowed us to showcase our performers and costumes more directly, while still keeping a visual connection to our brand's illustration-forward identity.

Because our show design teams typically begin their contracts about two months before opening, we schedule photoshoots as soon as costumes are show-ready—often just in time to meet our advertising deadlines.

The Snow Queen

Our first photoshoot of the season was for The Snow Queen. This was my first time creative directing a photoshoot and producing this type of asset from start to finish. We had only two weeks to concept, execute, and deliver final materials for marketing.

To maintain visual continuity with our illustrated show art, I decided to blend a portrait of the lead actress with illustrated elements from our existing brand assets. The idea was to create a stylistic bridge between the hand-drawn magic of our illustrations and the real-world energy of live performance.

Due to timing, we didn’t have the ideal backdrop color available on shoot day. This meant I had to do extensive photo editing and compositing—far more than I’d ever done before—to remove the background, adjust lighting, and integrate the photo with the illustrated design. The photographer was fantastic, and despite the last-minute hustle, I’m incredibly proud of how magical and cohesive the final piece turned out.

The Hula-Hoopin’ Queen

Our second shoot, for The Hula-Hoopin’ Queen, had a bit more breathing room. We were able to source the correct backdrop color in advance, and our photographer came prepared with extra lighting gear, allowing for more dynamic and playful setups.

We spent a couple of hours capturing both group and solo poses, drawing inspiration from the original book cover (photo 1), as well as creating fun, candid-style “best friend” shots. We blasted The Cheetah Girls soundtrack during the shoot, which made for a joyful and energized atmosphere that came through in the photos.

This shoot was not only smoother from a production standpoint, but also a total blast creatively. I absolutely love how the final images capture the spirit of the show—bright, bold, and full of personality.

A young woman in a yellow top and orange skirt holding a lantern, standing beside a large deer with antlers, accompanied by a black bird, in front of a snowy landscape with a icy mountain and a castle at the top, as part of a promotional or storybook illustration titled "The Snow Queen."

Oroginal Snow Queen Illustration

Person in colorful, patterned clothing with fur trim, wearing red boots, pink leggings, and holding a staff, standing against a black background.

Original Photo Shoot Photo

A woman dressed in colorful winter clothing stands among illustrated fantasy creatures, including a deer, a bird, and a ghostly castle in the background, with snow falling around her.

Edited Photo Shoot Photo

Promotional poster for a theatrical production titled 'The Snow Queen' by SCT's, featuring a woman in a colorful costume holding a stick, flanked by a cartoon reindeer and a black bird, with a faint image of a snow queen in the background and the dates November 27 to January 5.

Final Design

Illustration of a young girl wearing a crown and playing hula hoop, with an urban neighborhood in the background. Other children and an elderly woman are also seen, some playing with hula hoops, under a green sky with yellow light.

Original Hula Hoopin’ Queen Illustration

A woman smiling and posing playfully in front of a photography backdrop, wearing a rainbow-striped t-shirt, denim overalls, and colorful accessories.

Original Photo Shoot Photo

A woman dressed in rainbow-striped shirt and denim overalls, wearing colorful bracelets and a heart necklace, smiling and posing with one arm raised, surrounded by vibrant comic-style illustrations of a cityscape, a yellow crown, and swirling lines, promoting "The Hula Hoopin' Queen" event from February 12 to March 23.

Final Design

Three women standing against a white backdrop, holding colorful hoops, dressed in vibrant, casual clothing.

Original Photo

Promotional poster for an event called 'The Hula-Hoops Queen' from February 12 to March 23, featuring three women holding colorful hula hoops with a cityscape background.

Final Designs

A woman wearing a colorful striped t-shirt, denim overalls, and a green beaded necklace, smiling and holding a circular frame. There is a cartoon girl dressed similarly with a bubble around her, and a background featuring a city street scene with buildings and street signs. The frame has a yellow crown and the word "WAKEMA" is written vertically on the right side.
A young woman with curly hair smiling outdoors, holding a purple circle, with a cartoon girl about to jump through the circle and wearing a blue dress. The background features a city street scene and a yellow crown above her head, with the words 'PORTAL A' on the right side.
A girl with curly black hair, wearing a colorful tie-dye T-shirt and ripped jeans, standing in front of a vibrant green background with the name 'JAVARRA' written vertically on the right side. She is holding a large green circular frame with a yellow crown on top, and there is an animated illustration of herself in casual clothes on the left side, overlapping part of her body. The background features cartoon-style buildings and street signs.

Individual Actor Illustrations for Social

Thanks For Reading!