Meet Sara Armstead | Graphic Designer & Author

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sara Armstead and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sara, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?
Kids on the Wise inspires children to learn, think, and love themselves as well as the world around them. I created a brand that encourages children to live life at a high level—culturally, socially, personally, and spiritually. Our products are designed to help children recognize nobility, brilliance, strength, and authenticity within themselves, while also understanding the importance of inspiring those around them to do the same. This is how Kids on the Wise uplifts the community from within.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a German graphic designer and author with Afro-Cuban roots. I hold German college degrees in media design and media management. Creating and designing have always been part of who I am. When I was nine years old, I created my first magazine along with an imaginary publishing company. However, it wasn’t until I became a mom and moved to America that I considered founding my own creative business.
With my creative eyes always open, I noticed something missing in the landscape of children’s products—something that is educational, inspirational, and speaks to children of color. The idea to create and publish a science calendar book for kids that explores nature’s way of saying ‘Black is beautiful’ was born and inspired further ideas for posters, wall art designs, and an inspirational graphic t-shirt line.

I loved the idea and began building Kids on the Wise, a children’s brand that develops and designs science and nature learning resources themed around African American history and culture, enriched with kid-sized wisdom and inspiration. We are the first brand on the market with this concept, and with our high-end visual quality, Kids on the Wise products can easily stand up to those of established media companies and publishers.

It took me a moment to realize how all the pieces of my life led me toward launching this brand: my imaginary childhood creative business, my choice of college education, becoming a mother and even coming to America. Still, Kids on the Wise is bigger than me. It is love—love for children, for knowledge, for freedom, for progress, and for the visual arts.

With this love, I put knowledge and big ideas into a visually striking book interiors and wall art that speak to children. I am most excited when I see my inner vision of the design coming to life on my screen—watching how the ideal typography becomes a perfect union with the right images and colors. Designing artwork for children also allows me to incorporate a lot of hand-drawn elements, organic shapes, natural, sketchy textures, and watercolor, which are my favorite artistic techniques.

Today’s creative minds have all the tools they need at their fingertips—professional and affordable video and photo editing apps, self-publishing platforms, online marketplaces, online shop apps, print-on-demand services, and of course, AI. All the obstacles to making and offering a creative product have melted away. However, I quickly learned that building and sustaining a business or a brand requires more; the hard part is reaching and building a loyal customer base. There are no shortcuts to that—you need consistency, patience, and marketing know-how. That is at the moment my greatest challenge and I am determent to master them all!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My guest would be my sister from Germany, and I would make sure she gets a good impression of the beauty of the Sonoran Desert, life in the Southwest, and African American culture.

We would start the weekend with a morning hot air balloon ride, followed by dinner at The West Hut, an African restaurant on N Central Ave. In the afternoon, we would go shopping at Tanger Outlets, and in the evening, we would watch a Phoenix Suns game, with an after-party at the Boom Boom Room. On Sunday, we would visit the Japanese Friendship Garden, then hang out at the Afrisoul Marketplace and the Grassrootz bookstore and juice bar in East Lake. After that, we would go Salt River Tubing and end the night with a stand-up comedy show at StandUpLive.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My dear friend and neighbor, the author D.M. Miller. She wrote the novels Religion of the Heart, Agony of the Heart, Secret of the Heart, Mexican Summer and introduced me to self-publishing.

Website: https://www.kidsonthewise.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kidsonthewise/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-armstead-a4465725b/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kidsonthewise

Image Credits
Sara Armstead