Magic Canvas: Helping kids to express themselves

For children who’ve had a traumatic start to life, finding the words to describe how they feel can be difficult. Using Art Therapy techniques, Magic Canvas help children to unlock and understand the emotions of their past. And by coming to terms with their early experiences, take their first steps towards a brighter future. Strategy Child psychotherapy is an adult world, littered with academic descriptions and earnest headshots. Too often, it strikes fear into the same minds it’s trying to reach. Our strategy was to challenge the preconception of psychotherapy being clinical and inaccessible. We started with a simple idea – just draw how you feel – and created a brand that encourages children to make a mess. With a palette of crayola colours and expressive illustrations, unpretentious typography and a warm tone of voice, we created an age-appropriate brand that sets the tone for productive, open sessions. Encouraging children to open up, interact, and express themselves. Beyond the visual, we built a complete therapy toolkit. With rubber stamps, workbooks and interactive card games to encourage discussion in sessions. And downloadable resources to keep the conversation going after. Performance From the outset, Magic Canvas didn’t have KPIs or ambitious commercial objectives. The aim was to challenge industry norms, and take some of the fear out of therapy – making a daunting experience more accessible and friendly. Balancing play with professionalism to appear fun for kids, whilst inspiring trust in their primary carers. Since launch the practice has run at full capacity, not just changing the lives of children it treats, but the families around them.