Doing design with kids

NOTE!
BOOK WILL BE AVAILABLE THROUGH SET MARGINS' AROUND END AUGUST / EARLY SEPTEMBER 2026, IN SHOPS LATER

A joyful and educative, provocative and humorous book filled with graphic activities by graphic designers, to do with kids, at the kitchen table, in the park, during train rides and beyond!

Looking out for nice things to do with her children, both visually engaging and close to the way she already thinks and works as a designer, designer Loredana Bontempi thought up graphic activities with her kids. Excited by this, she wandered: what if designers shared what they actually draw and make with children in their everyday life? Not as polished workshops or educational tools, but as small, direct experiences. Drawing together, cutting shapes, repeating gestures, or adjusting something slightly until it starts to work, at the kitchen table, on the floor, during a quiet afternoon or a long train ride…

The graphic activities to do with kids, brought by the many parent graphic designers in this book, often depart from a simple constraint, a change in scale, or a different way of framing the task can already redirect attention and influence how the work develops. The intention is not to make things more complex, but to make them more precise, holding together both perspectives: the child’s curiosity and a more attentive eye.

These activities tend to focus on expression or storytelling, while aspects such as form, composition, rhythm or visual balance remain in the background or are treated as secondary. It sparks creativity, joy, humor and so much more!

Edited and introduced by Loredana Bontempi, Featuring Interviews by Loredana Bontempi to Luciano Perondi and Felix Salut.

The contributors are Andrea Bergamini, Emanuele Bonetti, Lorenzo Bravi, Bram van Bree, Silvia Carollo, Nick Deakin, Marion Deuchars, Simone Dresens, Alessio D’Ellena, Loes van Esch, Jannice Guilloux, Martin Kerschbaumer, Freja Kir, Ken Kirton, Jacqueline Kumer, Ellen Lupton, Claude Marzotto, Luisa Milani and Walter Molteni, Ilenia Notarangelo and Luca Gonnelli, Katrijn Oelbrandt, Luciano Perondi, Radim Peško, Michelle Phillips, Luke Powell and Kate Rogers, Olivier Querné, César Rogers, Victoria Rosselli, Felix Salut, Maia Sambonet, Bruno Setola