EARLY CHILDHOOD LEARNING CENTER
Irvine Unified School District
the artists
Derrik is the Founder and an alumni of IUSD. He has a deep passion for servicing schools in his hometown.
Celebrating Identity and the Families Behind It
ECLC came to us with two distinct mural needs that would shape how students, families, and the surrounding community experience their campus. The first was a branding piece anchored by Coco the Bear, their cub mascot, surrounded by the other bear characters that represent each learning pod on campus - the CUBS identity that ties their whole school together.
For the first wall, we built Coco's mural as the campus' anchor branding piece, set in an outdoor learning scene where each pod's bear was designed so every CUB sees themselves represented. The piece reinforces ECLC's identity at a glance and gives students a daily visual cue that they belong to something bigger.
The second piece needed to honor their parent participation program, Learning Link, while celebrating the inclusivity that defines ECLC as the central preschool serving every child across IUSD. We leaned into the heart of the Learning Link program - illustrating families and children learning side-by-side in an imaginative landscape featuring children of varying abilities, backgrounds, and family structures. Both murals now anchor ECLC's identity and remind students and families that they belong here.
