What stayed the same
Despite the new artwork, interaction design, and technology, the central idea remains: a playful learning experience built around the familiar refrigerator metaphor.
A project history
From iCanRead to Three Spell
An app I first built in 2009, reimagined 17 years later.
2009 iCanReadiPhone 3 era · 3.5″ display
2026 Three SpelliPhone 17 · 6.9″ display
Welcome to iCanReadMain Menu
2009 iCanReadiPhone 3 era · 3.5″ display
2026 Three SpelliPhone 17 · 6.9″ display
Built on the same idea.
Then and now
Same idea. A completely new implementation.
What changed
The modern version gives that idea a new visual language and a more tactile way to explore it. This is where the story of its current implementation, artwork, and interaction design can grow.
A different starting point
The audience changed, too.
In 2009, the assumption was that a parent would set up an app, hand over their phone, and buy a little quiet time.
Today, children encounter touchscreens almost from the beginning. Three Spell is designed for pre-readers to explore more independently: visual, physical, and understandable before they can read a menu.
The refrigerator metaphor stayed. The relationship between child and interface changed.