Two smartphones displaying educational apps, one shows a cartoon dog with the word 'aub' and the other shows the word 'ZOO!' with the tagline 'Learn with fun shapes!'.

Zoosi

Zoosi is an educational app that helps users learn animal names through interactive, game-based learning and vibrant geometric artwork. It features multiple play modes, supports several languages, and includes accessibility options to make learning inclusive and engaging for all ages.

The Story

Zoosi started with a personal problem. Tou was looking for an educational gift for his nieces and nephews, something culturally relevant and beautifully made. Nothing existed that met both criteria. So he made it himself — a set of flashcards teaching animal names in Hmong, his native language. What started as a personal project became a fully designed app.

Tablet displaying an educational flashcard with a colorful geometric illustration of a tiger and the words "tsov txaj" in the center. Surrounding the tablet are small containers of paint in red, yellow, green, and blue, a yellow paper pinwheel, and a multicolored paper-mâché horse on a wooden surface.
Two digital tablets on a table displaying a children's educational app called 'ZOOSI' with the tagline 'Learn with fun shapes!' One tablet shows the app's opening screen, and the other displays a gallery of colorful, geometric animal illustrations. There are green succulents near the tablets.

The Challenge

With the original flashcard app as a foundation, the goal was to imagine a more ambitious version of Zoosi: one with multiple game modes, multilingual support, and a visual system that could sustain animation and scale across devices without losing its warmth.

Three digital tablets displaying various colorful children's games on a green background. The first tablet shows a matching game with animals and labels, the second shows a memory card game with animal images, and the third shows a puzzle game of a c
Three tablets display a language learning app interface with options for flashcards, memory games, spelling bees, matching games, puzzles, coloring books, alphabet, and find it. The middle tablet shows a language selection menu with options like Engl
Two smartphones on a wooden table displaying digital games, with colored markers, a fabric notebook, a colorful fabric elephant, and small white flowers nearby.

The Solution

The evolved concept introduced new game modes to move learners beyond passive recognition into active play. The art direction shifted to flat vector illustration, making assets lighter and more animation-ready. Multilingual support was built in from the start, and the experience was optimized to work equally well on iPhone and iPad.

A collection of colorful, geometric-style illustrations of animals, including a lion, butterfly, chameleon, owl, snake, monkey, pigeon, owl, hamster, rhinoceros, dragon, peacock, zebra, lion, robin, anteater, rooster, peacock, and many others, with a