Orbit & Oak
Big questions, small hands. Tactile STEM subscription for curious explorers.
A monthly subscription box that pairs backyard space exploration with woodland crafts. Built for kids aged 6 to 11 to foster screen-free wonder, and for parents who want enrichment grounded in real materials: build a wooden rocket, grow a sprout under a moon lamp, and discover the stars.
Hands-on discovery for curious minds.
Most STEM kits either feel like homework or rely heavily on companion apps. Orbit & Oak creates an analog sanctuary where wood textures, cardboard unboxings, and character animation make science feel like a storybook adventure.
Tactile discovery over screens
Every project is crafted from real wood, paper, and soil. Designed to pull kids aged 6 to 11 away from tablets and into hands-on exploration.
Nutmeg: A pantomime guide
Nutmeg, a tiny acorn-astronaut mascot, guides every step without words. Expressive squash-and-stretch and chirps communicate curiosity and triumph.
The signature marigold spark
When an experiment works—a rocket clicks together, a seed sprouts—a warm marigold bloom unfurls to reward the child's focus.
The treehouse launch.
A 30-second unboxing and launch spot timed to 120 bpm in G major. From a shuddering wooden box to an arc flight through paper-cut stars, every cut, click, and bounce lands on a musical beat.
The Box Shudder
Cardboard rattle and lid pop. Nutmeg tumbles out with playful squash and stretch.
Tactile Assembly
Four wooden clicks: nozzle, fins, body, nose. Each click steps one musical note higher.
The Proud Beat
A serene, screen-free moment of pride, followed by a stillness hold on the launchpad.
Spark Lift-Off
Rising strings culminate in the signature three-note chime as the rocket trails marigold stars.
Step-by-step experiment storytelling.
The 50-second educational explainer shows how instructions can feel as playful as a cartoon without compromising scientific clarity. Alongside, the character turnaround showcases Nutmeg’s weight, expressions, and squash-and-stretch rig.
Visualizing Patience
Rather than jumping abruptly to the result, the explainer cycles day and night outside a round observatory window while Nutmeg yawns—teaching children the natural rhythm of plant growth.
Nutmeg’s Design Logic
Nutmeg’s eyes carry 100% of the emotion. The wooden acorn cap acts as an astronaut helmet with a 4-to-6 frame secondary delay on head tilts to communicate physical momentum.
Authored for the vertical feed.
Rather than cropping 16:9 widescreen footage into an awkward centre cut, the 9:16 vertical loop was natively animated from scratch. Key typography and Nutmeg’s actions are strictly contained outside the upper 250px and lower 350px mobile interface zones.
Designed so platform UI—status bars, account headers, like buttons, and caption drawers—never overlaps crucial illustrative elements.
The rocket’s starry arc exits the top frame precisely as the next launchpad sequence settles, yielding a seamless, hypnosis-free discovery cycle.
Warm earth tones and physical weight.
The design language combines organic wood tones with a celestial twilight palette. Motion curves avoid mathematical ease-ins, instead prioritizing squash-and-stretch and tactile spring dynamics.
Color System
Core Motion Tokens
| Move / Action | Timing | Physics & Curve Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Pop-in | 12 frames | Overshoot to scale 1.08, settling smoothly to 1.0 over 10 frames. |
| Part Click | 8 frames | Snappy slide followed by 4f contact squash (x 1.05, y 0.95). |
| Rocket Crouch | 12f in, 18f hold | Anticipatory pre-launch compress (y 0.92, x 1.06) held in stillness. |
| Spark Bloom | 12f in, 6f hold, 18f out | Radial marigold burst with gentle 15° ray rotation; zero harsh flicker. |
| Follow-Through | 4 to 6 frames late | Nutmeg’s acorn helmet and trailing paper scraps follow secondary physics. |
Typography Stack
Wordmarks, hero callouts, and story titles
Clear, accessible step instructions and metadata labels
Acoustic Sound Architecture
Credits & disclosures.
Orbit & Oak is a fictional subscription brand created as a motion design, character animation, and educational storytelling case study.
Brand narrative, character rigging, motion design, and sound composition: Orvilyn.
Built in Diffusion Studio. Executed using 2D layered vector artwork, custom character rigs, organic paper and wood textures, hand-timed squash-and-stretch curves, and synchronized acoustic foley and chimes. Zero generative AI video models or stock footage clips were used.
Display typography set in Fredoka, body set in Nunito Sans (both Open Font Licensed). All deliverables rendered at constant 30 fps H.264 High profile with faststart streaming.