Design for Wonder and Wellbeing by Sector
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Education
Creating engaging and inspiring learning environments that support the diverse needs of students Ultimately leads to increased motivation and better learning outcomes.
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Corporate
Provides unique solutions to promote employee wellbeing and relaxation, leading to increased productivity, creativity, and job satisfaction. Helping retain employees who value work-life balance.
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Leisure
Designs that engage all five senses and encourage exploration and curiosity improve overall well-being and quality of life. Additionally, they provide a sense of community,
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Healthcare
Creating more welcoming and supportive environments that promote relaxation can help reduce stress and anxiety, improving health outcomes.
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Non-Profit
Creating designs that build a sense of community and shared purpose. Empowering community engagement and inclusivity.
The Mission
Designing interior and exterior spaces that promote wonder and wellbeing for all is the guiding mission of Turtlewings Studio. Committed to inclusivity and sustainability, the company creates engaging experiences that inspire users of all ages, cultures, interests, and abilities. The design process considers all five senses and engages the whole body, mind, and spirit while prioritizing the use of reused materials to support environmental consciousness. Turtlewings Studio aims to design spaces that cater to a wide range of users while promoting inclusivity, sustainability, wonder and wellbeing..
What are you looking for?
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Creating engaging and inclusive interior spaces that empower creativity, engagement, and inclusivity. Experience working with a wide range of users, materials, and design tools, focusing on sustainability and user engagement. Work collaboratively to deliver designs that meet each client's unique needs and preferences.
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Creating unique green spaces that promote relaxation and wellbeing in urban environments. Develop detailed planting plans, creating sketches, models, and computer-aided designs to illustrate design concepts and proposals.
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Designing and implementing engaging spaces for everyone, regardless of age or ability. Work with artists, curators, and other stakeholders to ensure that the experience aligns with the themes and objectives. Create detailed plans and timelines, ensuring that all experiences are delivered on time and within budget.
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Engaging and interactive workshops and training sessions for diverse groups of learners, including design professionals, community organizations, and the general public. Experienced in facilitating principles of creative thinking, problem solving, visual thinking, and teambuilding, focusing on promoting wonder and wellbeing.
Hybrid Designer
As a Hybrid Designer, I love combining multiple design disciplines, such as graphic design, product design, and interior design, to create innovative solutions not limited to a single discipline. This type of design brings a unique perspective to every project and creates a much richer user experience. Collaborating with other professionals, such as engineers, artists, and educators, is also essential to develop holistic solutions that meet the needs of diverse audiences. You can see the mix of all of these disciplines in many past projects and more of the 2D work on my site www.julesgilleland.com.
Jules Gilleland
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Growing up on a farm in Iowa, I have always been drawn to nature, creative thinking, and their ability to transform any problem or idea. After completing my Master's degree in Finland, I moved to Brussels, where I raised three beautiful boys who follow in my creative footsteps.
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Since my early studies, I have been interested in designing for education, although I was far from a good student. This challenge pushed me to find solutions for more students like me.
I am committed to transforming the way we think about designing for education. By creating innovative learning environments that inspire creativity and curiosity, we can empower individuals to reach their full potential and positively impact the world.
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As I prepare to move to Wiltshire, England, to become the steward of a 1680 walled garden, I am excited to embark on a new chapter in my life and career. My unique blend of experience, expertise, and passion for creative thinking will enable me to continue positively impacting the world. Whether working with teachers, museum practitioners, business people, artists, parents, or children, I am committed to helping individuals and communities unlock their full potential through the power of design, nature and education.
Background
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I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree specialising in Graphic Design that was unlike any other. My European professors, including my mentor and role model, the renowned Polish Designer Roman Duszek shaped my US education. After graduation, Roman encouraged me to explore Europe; eventually, I pursued a master’s in Product and Strategic Design at Aalto University in Helsinki, Finland.
Thanks to my graphic design professors, I secured a place as one of only four foreign master’s students at Aalto University in the product and strategic design dept.
While there, I completed my master’s thesis in 2000, which focused on studying children between 18 and 36 months old and how they can inhabit and redesign their learning spaces. The outcome of my research and thesis, “I am the Space, where I am.” was a series of play screens I exhibited in Finland in November 2000 (see photo above).
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In 2007, I founded Turtlewings, a nonprofit centre in Brussels, Belgium, that welcomed educators, children, and families to explore design thinking with educational concepts. This innovative idea was inspired by my master’s thesis, which I completed in 2000 at Aalto University.
Although Turtlewings closed in 2014, I remained committed to transforming education through design.
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In 2014 a good friend and I won the Open Education Challenge with an idea developed at Turtlewings.
Think with Thing’s mission was to make a difference in education on a global level by bringing the concept of hands-on learning through play and thinking with found objects into the typically structured learning environments through an online platform and app.
Jumping from the nonprofit world of working with children and educators to being the CEO of one of the proposed best Edtech companies in Europe proved to be a more significant step than I realised, I will admit!
So, in 2016 I happily returned to earth and continued Think with Things face-to-face with educators, museums, and organisations to help them see the potential in thinking with found objects. It is still running strong today!
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My latest venture, Turtlewings UK, launched in early 2023. The idea is to build on my earlier Turtlewings work of designing learning environments and incorporating garden design and outdoor learning.
By creating engaging and interactive learning spaces that connect people with nature in an engaging way, Turtlewings UK aims to inspire the next generation of change-makers
What people are saying
“The world seen through the eyes of a child differs significantly from the world of adults. This is evidenced by the children’s drawings, which interpret the surroundings through a visual metaphor. It is essential that those who design for children remember this difference and that they focus on stimulating the imagination, leaving the form of expression to the young artists. This approach can be seen in the wonderful spaces for children created at Turtlewings, where Jules and her team design unique atmospheres for creativity.”
— Roman Duszek, Professor Emeritus | Art and Design Department | Missouri State University
“I observed an authentic environment designed for all, with freedom of movement, individuals enveloped in moments of great intensity, and very young children sharing mature words in collective moments. From encounters between shapes, colours, and textures. Creating stories to tell and listen to. Imagining and reading the world together, the one we see and the one we make or dream.”
— Michelle Uthurry, Coordinator ATL
Turtlewings then and now!
Turtlewings studio started in Brussels, Belgium, in 2007. It started with one goal, to create well-designed spaces that positively impact the lives of its users. We were committed to delivering unique, engaging, and functional designs that reflect our client’s diverse needs and interests.
In 2009 we opened our first physical urban design studio and welcomed families and educators. The two essential ideas we wanted to convey were inclusivity and sustainability. We prioritised using reused materials and environmentally-friendly tools to minimise our impact on the planet. Sustainable design is good for the environment and the health and wellbeing of users inhabiting our spaces.
After three years in our small 60m2 space, we took a giant leap to design a community design space of 650m2, continuing with our original mission and expanding on the ideas of diversity and creativity we cater to clients from all walks of life. We went even further with designs that characterised high user engagement, flexibility, adaptability and diversity.
In 2023, it is exciting to open a studio in the UK and further the focus on user engagement and sustainable and universal design while adding a twist of wonder and wellbeing. At Turtlewings UK, design solutions are geared towards enhancing users’ quality of life, whether it’s through empowering learning and exploration, promoting relaxation and stress reduction, improving productivity and creativity, or fostering a sense of community and connection.
