A small illustration project with an audience of one that grew into a worldwide platform of kindness and creativity.
The Challenge
Find a way to encourage creativity for my young daughter after a tragedy.
The Outcome
Lunch Note Sketch, an award-winning illustration project followed by people from around the world.
My Role
What started as simple sketches on sticky notes turned into something bigger. As the creator of Lunch Note Sketch, my responsibilities have included small business operations, marketing, advertising, social media strategy, community building, illustration, photography, copywriting, product creation, eCommerce management, shipping and billing, community outreach, and speaking engagements.
There is no playbook.
In 2014, my daughter entered preschool at the local elementary school. She immediately connected with her teacher who really encouraged her love of the arts and creativity. However, just a few months into the school year, my wife and I got a shocking call one weekend that her teacher had been killed. As parents, we were saddened and stunned. We had the challenge of breaking the news to our 4-year-old that someone she really admired would no longer be there.
My daughter was understandably devastated, but did not truly understand the permanence of death. As a result, I knew I had to do everything in my power to help her grieve and not let the situation change her love for doing creative things.
As she went back to school in her new normal, I wanted to help continue encouraging her creativity. So, I started drawing her little notes that went into her lunch box. Being in preschool, I knew words wouldn’t necessarily resonate because she couldn’t read, so I drew pictures to go with the words. My hope was that the picture would give her a reason to smile while also giving her an opportunity to build a relationship with her new teacher. After all, her teacher could read what the note said.
Illustration aimed at teachers starting their school year as virtual teachers.
Share it. Build it.
After a few short months of creating notes and sharing with friends and family, I took the advice of peers and mentors in the illustration space and started sharing these notes on Instagram. What followed was an effort to create at least one note every day for an entire year.
After only a couple of months, the community of followers grew. I was interacting with parents from around the world who wanted to show their kids some love, too. Before I knew it, I was being interviewed by the local news, HuffPost Parents, and even the Post-it Brand. What was supposed to end after 366 days ended up going for 1,004 consecutive days before I finally took a day off.
As the illustrations gained popularity, products were created to meet the demand of parents and teachers who wanted to share these fun notes with their kids and students. I worked closely with various teachers and principals to facilitate the printing of notes to share with their classrooms so students would be greeted with messages of hope, kindness, creativity, and love.
Now going on 7 years of illustrating, the community continues to grow and my audience—my 3 school-aged children—continues to request notes in their lunches. All three children are super creative and have even made notes for me.
