The Idea

What does it look like to truly thrive — not just survive? That was the question at the heart of Flourishing, a four-week series exploring relational, physical, financial, and purposeful dimensions of a good life — drawing from both Scripture and Harvard University's Human Flourishing Program research. The content was rich and layered, spanning everything from relationships to money to mental health. The design challenge was finding a visual language warm and inviting enough to make people genuinely lean in rather than tune out.

The answer was a popup book. Something that captured the sense of discovery and wonder the series was trying to evoke — the idea that a flourishing life isn't flat, it unfolds. Layer by layer, page by page.

The Build

The entire illustration system was built from scratch in Adobe Illustrator — a layered, dimensional world of mountains, waterfalls, hot air balloons, and lush landscape elements designed to feel like they were physically popping off the page. Every element was constructed with depth in mind, because this wasn't just going to live on a screen.

It went physical first — I fabricated an actual popup book using cardstock, tape, and glue, engineering the paper mechanics so the landscape would spring to life when opened. Then it went digital — I animated the whole thing in Adobe After Effects, building a motion version of the popup book opening sequence that played on screens before each service. The same concept, experienced three different ways: as a still illustration, as a physical object you could hold, and as a motion piece that played out in real time in front of a live audience.

The Output

The visual system extended across the full campaign — social media graphics at multiple aspect ratios, widescreen message title slides and backgrounds for live production, podcast artwork, weekly promo social cards for all four series topics, print posters and bathroom flyers, and the physical popup book itself. Every deliverable was built from the same illustrated world, adapted for its context while maintaining the layered, dimensional feel of the original concept.