Inside the Biggest Little x Sundae Kids Collaboration: Playful Art Meets Innovative Packaging Design
In light of the launch of our new collection, our founder Stephanie sat down with Sundae Kids—aka Pratchaya Mahapauraya and Kavin Thienvutichai—for a conversation that’s been over a year in the making. Best known for their tender, comic-style storytelling that captures the emotional ups and downs of modern life, Sundae Kids has touched hearts around the world with their clean lines, relatable narratives, and warm humor. Their work spans comics, exhibitions, animations, and collaborations with global brands like Facebook, Valentino, Levi’s, and Ginza Magazine, to name a few.
For this collaboration, they brought their signature lightness and visual storytelling into the world of early childhood—drizzling just the right amount of whimsy and picture-book charm into our latest toy box design. The result is a vibrant, artful play experience featuring 4 new colors of b is for ball®.
I’ve always believed that fewer, better tools can spark deeper creativity in kids—and that art and design shape how they experience the world. From our very first conversation, this felt like such a natural fit: bringing your storytelling illustrations to reimagine the packaging—the part of a toy that kids love, but adults often overlook. Ever since that first chat, I’ve been so excited to see the final product come to life. I’d love to hear your side—what excited you most about this collaboration? What’s your inspiration for this collection?
What excites us most about this project is that, even though we are Sundae “Kids,” we’ve never collaborated on kid’s toys before. The inspiration for this collaboration began when you mentioned you would be redesigning the packaging and wanted the kids to be able to play with it as well. So, we designed with that idea in mind.
We thought back to when we were little and loved playing with trains and cars, so we incorporated that feeling into the design. When you open the box, it stretches out and the train looks longer too.
Yes. Because kids love boxes and packaging, making the packaging part of the play was a big part of my mission in this project—to add more layers to a child’s play experience and shine a playful light on sustainability. I wanted it to be something that not only makes people feel good, but also makes being more sustainable feel fun. I’m really happy with how it turned out.
This collection is bursting with life, color, and the kind of details that spark stories. There’s an ice cream flying out of a truck and landing, splat! on a farmer’s face, a love letter delivered by a tiny blue bird, face painting inside the bus and I noticed luggage popping up again and again. It feels like a picture book in motion. I could spend hours uncovering all the little surprises. Where do you draw inspiration for these whimsical scenes? Was creating those joyful, story-rich moments one of the most exciting parts of the project for you?
Yes, that part was really fun to work on. We wanted the packaging to tell a story and have little surprises for kids. When they play with it, they can discover different scenes and actions, which makes the experience more exciting each time.
And that’s what I love most—that the packaging isn’t just a container, it’s a stage. Every little scene invites a new story, and those stories can change every time a child plays. It’s such a simple way to spark their imagination, giving them something to rediscover over and over, and adding another dynamic layer to the whole play experience.
Beyond the playful packaging and storytelling illustrations, the colors in this collection really stood out to me. The palette feels so bold and fresh. In one of our meetings, you mentioned that Kevin is the color mastermind in the duo, and I have to say, your choices truly blew me away. Kevin, how did you go about building the palette for this collection? What inspired the mix?
The colors I chose reflect the mood and tone of both the illustration and the packaging. Since it’s full of fun actions, I picked bold and bright colors to match that energy.
They really do radiate that energy, and it’s another opportunity for kids to explore and learn about colors. Every side they turn reveals a different color, waiting to be discovered.
Your characters and illustrations have always captured the emotional nuances of love, relationships, and daily life in such a universal way. With this collaboration, you shifted your lens toward the world of childhood—play, wonder, and imagination. What changed in your creative approach when stepping into a child’s perspective? Or did it feel like a natural extension of what you already do?
The style of the illustrations may not differ much from our usual work, but the storytelling in this collaboration is more straightforward and simple, without too much deep meaning, keeping it kid-friendly.
I love that! it’s still so recognizably your style, but in a way that just clicks for kids. Keeping it simple makes it feel playful and approachable, and there’s still so much personality in every little detail.
How do the two of you typically collaborate creatively? Were there any moments during this project that were especially fun, surprising—or maybe even challenging?
Usually, we brainstorm the concept and main idea together. Then Pratchaya does the drawings, and Kavin handles the coloring. What we loved most about this project was the concept itself. We came up with many ideas before settling on this one, like designing the packaging as a fruit box with balls colored like different fruits, or creating face expression stickers for kids to stick on the balls.
The fruit box is adorable, and the face stickers would have been so much fun too. I’d love to bring every concept to life, but we have to choose just one. Ultimately, I think vehicles fascinate almost every baby at some point in their development, so I’m really glad we landed on this concept—it’s the perfect mix of storytelling, play, and surprise.
Do you remember what it was like drawing as kids yourselves? Were there things you found yourself doodling over and over? And was there someone in your life—a teacher, parent, friend—who helped nurture that creative spark early on?
I’ve loved drawing since I was a kid, especially people, characters from cartoons or even from my imagination. I still enjoy drawing people today. From the beginning, everyone, including my teachers and parents, encouraged me to keep going.
My dad is an architect, so I’ve watched him work since I was young. He’s been a big inspiration for me when it comes to drawing and design.
At Biggest Little, we want to be a force for bringing diverse art and functional design into early childhood. I’d love to hear your perspective—what was your exposure to art like when you were little, and how do you think it shaped your style today?
For me, since I was little, I loved reading comics, both Western and Eastern. They’ve influenced me a lot and helped shape my style today, which I’d say is a mix of both East and West.
If you could offer one piece of encouragement to inspire the next generation of little artists—or the grownups raising them—what would it be? What’s one thing you wish someone told you when you were just starting to explore your creativity?
My mom told me that everyone should have some kind of art in their life, whether it’s drawing, music, or anything creative, because it helps you grow into someone with imagination.
Just for fun… what did you each want to be when you were little?
I wanted to sell Ice cream
I always wanted to be an artist.
This has been such a joy to work on together. I love how this collection blends your whimsical storytelling with our mission to create thoughtful, lasting playthings. I think families are going to have so much fun discovering all the little details you’ve hidden inside, and I’m so grateful we got to bring this vision to life with you both.
