How to doodle your feelings through art: Lessons from bobo design studio & Rebel Girls

You’ll learn:

• How journaling helps express emotions
• Why doodling is an important creative tool
• How artists turn ideas into books and journals
• Tips for starting a creative journaling practice

You’ll also get to watch Angie guide interviewer Ina through a quick and easy doodling exercise. Follow along and try it yourself, or turn it into a creative project for teens and kids.

Angie explains how something as approachable as a quick doodle or a single inspiring word can kick off an even bigger creative storytelling project—perhaps your own DIY journal ideas or a travel photo book.

Women's History Month with Rebel Girls

With a mission to empower and inspire Gen Alpha girls to thrive, the global brand Rebel Girls is built on the belief that “confident girls will radically transform the world.” Such a remarkable boost in confidence can come from helping kids and teens express themselves through journaling, storytelling, and creativity. That’s why Rebel Girls’ recent collaboration with Angie Chua—the artist, illustrator, and entrepreneur behind bobo design studio—is a fantastic fit.

This Women’s History Month, Rebel Girls’ “How to Rebel” video series is highlighting women creators who use creativity and storytelling to inspire the next generation. In a just-launched Rebel Girls x bobo design studio episode, Ina and Angie discuss journaling, the power of getting things down on paper, and how it all starts with doodling!

Watch the episode for tips on how to start a journal, creative journaling ideas for kids and teens, and inspiration for other meaningful storytelling projects.

Meet Angie Chua of bobo design studio

Angie Chua, the founder of bobo design studio, is an artist, illustrator, and entrepreneur. She designs journals, illustrated books, and photo book templates, and also runs the bobo design studio flagship stationery store in Palm Springs, California.

Angie’s inspiration

Angie believes that creativity is the most powerful way to express emotions. Her work is built on the idea that the analog processes of journaling, drawing, and doodling help people build deeper connections to their experiences. Documenting your experiences in a tangible, personal way, with no rules and no pressure, rewards you with “living heirlooms,” not just paper goods.

In the Rebel Girls interview, Angie explains how doodling can help express feelings when words are difficult.

“I find that I'm not great with words sometimes, and I struggle to find words to express myself and my feelings, and doodling has always been an extension of me being able to express myself and get a lot of those feelings and emotions out,” says Angie.

Creative work often begins with simple concepts like words, colors, or quick sketches—things that anyone, at any age and skill level, can achieve. From this starting point, the practice of journaling further allows people to connect and share personal stories.

The bobo design studio aesthetic

The journals, illustrated books, photo book themes, and other products Angie designs for bobo design studio embrace a distinct aesthetic, largely inspired by the concept of wanderlust. Her whimsical designs are bursting with bright color, retro vibes, and bold typography. Common themes include national park landscapes, flowers and succulents, rainbows, cute creatures, and punny wordplay.

Watch the full “Rebel Girls x bobo design studio” Women’s History Month interview

For Women’s History Month, Rebel Girls’ “How to Rebel” interview series is celebrating women creators. Watch the full interview with Angie Chua of bobo design studio below:

What young creators can learn from Angie Chua

Along with showcasing an inspiring woman creator for Women’s History Month, Rebel Girls’ interview with Angie Chua offers some actionable, empowering lessons for young viewers. Here are the top takeaways:

1. Creativity can help you express your feelings

As interviewer Ina says, when you sit down to start journaling or another creative project, “The big empty paper feels kinda intimidating.” It can be difficult to express your feelings in either words or drawings, posing a major barrier to creativity.

Angie suggests starting with something small and low-stakes, like doodling or writing just a single word and playing with the lettering. Doing just this small step can trigger other elements of design or ideas, such as color, character, and mood.

2. Imperfection is part of creativity

Angie guides Ina through an easy doodling exercise to show that creativity doesn't have to be perfect to be meaningful. Be “a little chaotic… in creating and embracing imperfection,” Angie says.

You can do the same exercise—a 10-second self-portrait or picture from memory without looking at the paper or lifting the pen—or just give yourself permission to doodle something silly.

3. Inspiration is everywhere

Angie explains how she creates her photo book theme designs for Mixbook. She starts with a color scheme, which defines the mood, then creates a mood board or vision board of images found online. This inspires a collection of thumbnail sketches, which she refines from rough sketches to full-color illustrations (see a timelapse video of the process in the interview footage above).

She also reminds viewers that inspiration is everywhere—you just have to look for it!

“I think the most important thing is if you are thinking about creating artwork around a destination or a place… all you have to do is… kind of open your eyes,” says Angie Chua.

Wherever you are, whether it’s a park, at school, or your own neighborhood, mindfully observe your surroundings while you sit and sketch. You’ll see things you wouldn’t normally notice, and a spark of artistic inspiration is sure to appear.

4. Your story is worth sharing

Angie believes creative tools help people share their own experiences and memories. Use journaling prompts for creativity—they’re like an invitation to “show and tell” on the page.

bobo design studios journals and photo book themes are inspired by travel. But your DIY journal ideas can be anything you like, from your deepest feelings and dreams of the future to everyday experiences and sillier stuff. There is no wrong approach to doodling for creativity!

Explore bobo design studio Mixbook themes

Mixbook is thrilled to offer a collection of photo book themes and cards created by bobo design studio. Take a look at the full collection of bobo design studio x Mixbook themes.

Angie Chua’s designs all express her deep sense of wanderlust along with a distinct aesthetic. Each bobo design studio theme is unique, but defined by vibrant colors, sketchy doodles, cheerfully illustrated scenes, and creative typography. Customize these books for your own personal travel-inspired storytelling.

Just a few best-sellers include:

• Mexico by bobo design studio: Open to a beautifully illustrated map of the country with its iconic flora and fauna in exuberant colors. Follow prompts like “the destinations we visited” and accent your vacation photos with illustrated stickers and backgrounds of papel picado, cacti, guitars, and tropical birds.
• Africa by bobo design studio: This theme is designed for a safari adventure and features the continent’s iconic animals, plants, landmarks, and patterns.
• Wanderlust by bobo design studio: Angie’s love of doodles shines in this versatile photo book theme. Black and white sketchy stickers feature travel motifs like airplanes, suitcases, and sunglasses, plus handwriting-style typography.
• National Park Adventures by bobo design studio: This earth-toned theme opens to a fun feature—a two-page spread of illustrated icons representing all the US national parks. You can check off the ones you’ve visited and showcase photos of camping, hiking, and stargazing adventures.

The beauty of these photo book themes is how they help Mixbookers tell their own stories through photos and memories. Angie says, “I try and make it in a way where it gives them enough room to share their personal stories, but I also get to inject some of my own personality and some of the things that I love, to help get them to a place where they're comfortable sharing.”

Journal prompts offer just a little guidance and the designs add tons of visual appeal. But, the storytelling is all your own.

Download a free creative zine activity!

To encourage creative activities for kids, we have a free downloadable activity: A DIY Zine Template!

A zine (short for magazine) is a small, self-published mini magazine or journal that you can share with others. The content is totally customizable. It could include drawings, photos, stickers, and writing about literally any subject you like. Treat it like a personal journal, use it to share your ideas or memories, create your own comic or storybook, or dedicate the zine to a hobby or fandom.

You just need a sheet of regular printer paper. Download and print the PDF, then follow the easy instructions to fold and cut the print-out into a zine format. Fill in each page, design a cool cover, and share your zine with friends. A few ways for kids and teens to fill the pages include:

• Doodle your feelings
• Choose a single word or phrase and play with lettering
• Add photos or drawings
• Write thoughts or reflections
• Create your own mini-book

How about a fun challenge with your friends? Set a timer for 60 seconds per page and challenge each other to complete a page before the timer goes off. Share your zines at the end.

How to start your own creative journal

For teens who want to start their own journal, or parents or educators looking for meaningful, creative activities for kids, consider Angie Chua’s top tips:

• Start with a word that describes how you feel
• Use doodles and drawings to express emotions
• Experiment with color palettes and mood boards
• Collect inspiration from places you visit
• Turn your memories into a photo book or journal

Creative confidence starts here

Ready to start your own creative journal or photo book? Be sure to watch the Rebel Girls interview, download the zine template, and explore bobo design studio’s Mixbook themes.

We’ll leave you with these words of wisdom from Angie Chua:

“I think being a creative rebel, to me, means unapologetically creating things that I believe in. We mentioned earlier that what you create might not be for everyone, and that's okay. You just gotta have conviction in what you're doing, believe in what you're doing.”