Behind the Scenes

What started as a university project in 2020, is now a fully-developed tool dedicated to creating safe spaces for genuine conversation and reflection. More than Words is designed and illustrated by Sabrina David, and co-developed by the most wonderful team of people dedicated to bettering the mental wellbeing of our people.

How it started

Outside my final year of university, my Friday mornings were dedicated to assisting some good friends; a team of social workers at a local Intermediate school. We ran a weekly programme that was dedicated to guiding young people towards positive personal development.

Our small group sessions provided our young people with a safe space for conversation. However, we always found our students ‘passing’ on their turn to speak. This made our opportunity to learn and understand how we can better support them, difficult.

This was until my co-worker and friend, Brooke, introduced a set of homemade, laminated cards– each with a generic, everyday symbol: ocean wave, money, eyes. Whilst sitting in a circle, she spread out a few cards in the middle of the floor for our tamariki to see. She asked the students to pick a card to describe how their week was.

I was stunned by the sudden change. Conversations flowed, and a sense of energy and willingness to participate grew. While a few students remained hesitant to speak, they still managed to pick a card that let us into what they were thinking and feeling. The cards provided a direct route to better understand what we can do to further support and guide them.

I was moved by how visual imagery motivated a shy and reserved group to bring down their barriers and allow open communication with each other. Through further test and play, we recognised the need for these image cards to be further developed to reach young audiences more effectively.

Brooke had mentioned it could be something I could further develop for local social workers; it became clear from there that this was something I needed to do. A mere set of laminated cards transformed into my final graduation project. After months of consultation, in-depth research and development, ‘More than Words’ came to fruition.

The development of More than Words was built on the input of youth workers, children’s workers, social workers, counsellors, teachers, group mentors, and students studying in similar fields. This incredible team provided me insight into their work and how this resource could better support them and their people. Their combined passion for their communities had hugely driven this project and has in turn encouraged me to ensure the final product is something that could truly be a valuable resource in Aotearoa. 

After nearly two years of further development, user-testing and improvement from the original design, More than Words launches commercially in 2022.