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Vans x Crayola Coloring Book

Overview
When Vans partnered with Crayola, the opportunity wasn’t just to release co-branded product. It was to bring the spirit of Crayola into the Vans Customs platform in a way that felt participatory.

Rather than offering static prints from the collaboration, we transformed the experience into a digital coloring book. Users could take official Vans x Crayola artwork and color it themselves using interactive digital Crayola crayons directly inside the customizer.

The goal was to move from passive consumption to active creation.

My Role
I led the concept and product design for the digital coloring experience as an extension of the Vans Customs platform. I worked across UX, visual design, engineering, and external development partners to ensure the tool felt playful, intuitive, and seamlessly integrated into the existing 3D customization workflow.

The Approach
We focused on three key ideas:

• Translate Crayola’s tactile, analog joy into a digital interaction
• Preserve simplicity so anyone could participate
• Build the tool within the modular Customs architecture so it could evolve over time

Users selected artwork from the collaboration and used a palette of digital crayons to color within predefined line art. Their customized artwork then wrapped directly onto their shoes in real time within the 3D environment.

Because it was built as a layer within the existing customization system, the experience extended the platform rather than functioning as a one-off campaign.

Impact
• Double-digit increase in time spent within the Vans Customs experience
• Higher engagement across collaboration SKUs
• Demonstrated how the Customs platform could flex to support brand partnerships without rebuilding core infrastructure