Artemis and Other Fantastical Things/ 2023-24

Artemis and Other Fantastical Things is a narrative design project developed with UVA Health Children's and the McRae family to support pediatric care environments. The project started with a core question: how storytelling could reduce anxiety and make waiting spaces feel more humane for children and families.

From the outset, the work was structured as a connected system rather than a standalone book. Story development, character design, spread sketches, mural integration studies, and activity concepts were designed to move across print and environment with one coherent voice. Book production and character drawing were led by Ben Ruff, Art Director at FREN.

The result was a unified package of narrative and spatial assets, including the book Artemis and Other Fantastical Things and a Pediatric Emergency Department mural concept. By translating the story into calm environmental graphics with gentle search-based interaction cues, the project created a flexible platform for future pediatric storytelling touchpoints.