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what kids carry
Our collaboration with Nationwide Children’s Hospital began in 2018 with the launch of On Our Sleeves, a campaign that quickly became one of the most recognizable efforts in pediatric mental health advocacy. Concepted by NCH, the idea was deceptively simple and emotionally sharp: make children’s internal struggles visible by turning their emotions into bold, illustrated imagery literally worn on their sleeves.
Spacejunk partnered closely with the NCH team to evolve and execute the concept, handling all video production from start to finish. We helped deepen the visual language, bringing a stark black-and-white photographic world to life and layering in hand-drawn, expressive illustrations that represented anxiety, sadness, confusion, hope, and resilience. The contrast was intentional: grounded, honest portraits paired with childlike visual metaphors that made complex emotions instantly legible and impossible to ignore.
From set builds and art direction through live-action production, compositing, animation, editing, color, and finishing, our focus was always on restraint and clarity. The work never talked down to its audience and never softened the reality. It invited adults to look closer, ask better questions, and take children’s emotional lives seriously.
The impact was real. On Our Sleeves grew into a national, award-winning platform that has reached more than 11 million adults across all 50 states, supported by nearly 500 expert-backed mental health resources. What started as a campaign became a movement, helping normalize conversations around youth mental health and encouraging early intervention at a national scale.
For Spacejunk, this project exemplified the kind of work we strive for: emotionally resonant, visually disciplined, and purpose-built to make a genuine difference.