How do you get to know someone who can't talk?

Jazz Pharmaceuticals

Art Direction

Experience Design

Overview

Inspired by a child who couldn't speak, Unspoken Symphony transforms artwork into original melodies, enabling non-verbal expression and deeper connection. Initially designed for a small epilepsy community segment, its impact quickly expanded to a global audience.

Role

I originated the project concept through ideation, prototyping, and pitching, resulting in a full campaign rollout. My partner and I maintained final say over creative direction and all touchpoints, while also managing vendor and client relationships.

Scope

Experience & Brand Strategy

Creative Technology

User Research

Web Design

CRM Strategy

360 Campaign

Video Shoot

Process

Prototype

Experience & Brand Strategy

Campaign

Reception & Life

Reflections

Recognition 🏆

Cannes Lions

1x Shortlist

Clio Awards

2x Silver

1x Bronze

1x Shortlist

London International Awards

2x Shortlists

The Creative Floor

2x Best of Category

1x Best Young Talent

PM Society

1x Gold

Prototype

Ideation | Paper Prototyping | Pitching

“It's not easy to get to know someone who can't talk. It teaches you to pay a lot more attention to little things.”

Tim, Riley’s dad

We heard this while editing long-form videos into social media clips. His words struck a chord about a world we found unimaginable. We kept wondering: How could we make a difference?

What we noticed

We noticed that while these kids could not talk, they did express themselves through art. Every line, every color is a choice they made.

Connecting the dots

A couple years earlier I had explored turning photos of pedestrians with umbrellas on the streets into music sheets after thinking they looked like music notes.

So we started thinking

“What if we could turn her drawings into melodies?”

We rapidly prototyped and pitched the concept to Jazz Pharmaceuticals (formerly Greenwich Biosciences), an expert client in this area. Recognizing its potential, Jazz Pharmaceuticals immediately committed to development, with my partner and I leading the project.

What families said of the concept

“This would be really neat for my son and my daughter to do together. Maybe it could also help with familial bonds with siblings.”

“I appreciate you guys thinking outside the box too. This isn't what the average person would come up with... I think it's fantastic.”

“You work so hard to connect with your special kid... you're creating a sound of your child that never would have existed... what an amazing gift for a parent.”

Experience & Brand Strategy

Web Strategy | CRM | Branding

Brand guidelines

We established a simple brand experience: a shared family activity visually inspired by the kids' art.

Web experience

We iteratively refined the web flow based on stakeholder input and user feedback.

CRM flow

We convinced the client to avoid drug advertising entirely, prioritizing a shared moment over healthcare disclaimers.

“The families should walk away with something” we thought. So we developed an output for our software that would let user download the music sheet and video of the melody generated from their art. We heard some families framed these which warmed our hearts.

Campaign

Launch Plan | Assets | Video Shoot

Advocacy collaborations

We collaborated with category influencers, advocacy groups, and media to develop a comprehensive launch plan maximizing project visibility.

Touchpoints

We developed various online and physical assets, including coloring books and branded markers for events, and social media posts for sharing.

Video shoot

During the pandemic, we collaborated with production partners to film a video at Tim & Riley's house, using specialized equipment.

We also created promotional videos about the melody maker's functionality and its inspiration

How unspoken works

We wanted to pull the curtain behind how unspoken generates music from art, so we crafted an explainer video that sat on the website.

Case study video

To show off the concept we also built a case study video that goes into a little more detail.

Reception & Life

Tears | Features | Gallery Shows

Launched in 2020, Unspoken Symphony gained widespread community acclaim. The website's art gallery, initially open to all, quickly became exclusive to epilepsy community members due to over 8,000 submissions soon after launch. Since then, It's been used in education, featured on a college website, and shown in a Fall 2024 NYC art exhibit.

We're continually humbled and grateful for the community's love and support for unspoken. There's an endless stream of ideas, tears, gratitude, and kind words. It's truly a heartwarming experience. Try it out yourself!

Live site

My reflections on what I learned with this project and areas I feel could be improved:

Learnings

Unspoken taught me to proactively pursue and realize ideas. Driven by empathy for a family's need, we initiated Unspoken. The initial pitch became easier by aligning it with the client's business goals, making it compelling to approve.

Projects benefit from small teams to stay fast and true to the original vision. Our Executive Creative Director's three-person core team, tasked as idea 'guardians,' accomplished a great deal.

In retrospect, I should have sought more support. As my first major project, Unspoken placed near-total responsibility on my partner and me. Lacking PR, branding, and ad campaign experience, I should have requested more resources to focus on the overall experience and design review.

Areas of Opportunity

The final music algorithm didn't fully realize my vision, lacking the variety of the paper prototype. While the musical range was broad, I would have advocated for even greater variety.

User feedback frequently requested features like direct drawing and more instruments. My transition to other accounts and departments prevented further development of Unspoken, limiting these opportunities, otherwise the opportunities to keep pushing would have been there.

Due to time constraints and feasibility concerns, the UI didn't fully satisfy me. Juggling multiple project aspects and accounts, I, as a UX designer with limited UI experience, struggled to translate the vision into effective visuals and interactions.

Special Shout-outs:

Copywriter

Andrea Branchini

Account Lead

Brittany Vella

Experience Lead

Leesa Wytock

UX Designer

Karen Wong

ECD

Frank Mazzola

Client Lead

Kelly Watkins

There are obviously many more people who helped out. While I may not have the space here, thank you 👏

What interesting problems could we solve together?

Let's chat

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