Moodymals – Teaching kids that all emotions have their place
Communication Design Project by:
Guro Helgesen, Margit Stasyuk, Mona Vuglar
Advisors Concept & Prototyping:
Prof. Henrik Rieß, Felix Müller, M.A.,
Advisors Graphic Design
Anc Ciechanowicz, M.A., Illia Boyko, B.A.
Research Question:
How can animal characters in children's games communicate that all emotions – including anger – are valid and have their place without moral judgment?
Design Process // Pop-Up Book
Design Process // Plushy Characters
Design Process // Book and Character Packaging
'Moodymals' is an educational toy for learning to communicate feelings. It consists of an interactive pop-up book and 6 animal plushies representing 6 human core emotions.
Children in the 3–5 age group tend to have trouble verbalizing how they feel. Instead, it’s easier for them to describe a character.
The Moodymals plushies can help them with communicating. The additional pop-up book wraps the different emotions into a cozy camping story, teaching kids about how they arise and how to deal with them. It shines light on the value of a support system, as all the animals are friends and no one's feelings are judged: Every emotion has its place.
Furthermore, Moodymals create an interactive experience for the adults and kids – as the adult reads the story, the child can use the pop-up book as a stage to play with the plushies.
'Moodymals' will exhibited at Berlin Design Week 2026.
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Contact:
Prof. Henrik Rieß
Interaction Design and Visual Communication
Berlin International
University of Applied Sciences
Salzufer 6, 10587 Berlin, Germany
Tel: +49 30 81 05 80 80
E-Mail: riess[🎈]berlin-international.de
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