the design of kura

kura kura was a turtle-guided emotion journal for youth in Singapore; it closed in 2026.

Three mystery animal silhouettes with question marks, asking what kind of creature we would want to be more like

a few years ago during the covid period, we asked ourselves a simple question: our day to day life as Singaporeans never seems to slow down—what kind of creature would we actually want to be more like?

Baby, teen, and adult Kura growing from an egg into the turtle mascot

turtles came to mind almost instantly; animals that sleep up to 12 hours a day and somehow live for a hundred years, in no rush to get anywhere. "kura" – translating to turtle in malay, was born.

Kura facial expression studies and a spectrum of emotions from sad to happy

so we started imagining kura here in singapore. what would kura order at the hawker centre — ice kacang, obviously... what kind of jokes would kura crack about being soft and open with people? "just come out of your shell, lah."

Ice kacang journaling recipe card with emotion syrups and stamps of other habitat creatures — Exploration for other animals eventually made it into Kura as accessories and other creatures you could own in your habitat!

we've all heard how the story goes — slow and steady wins the race. that's kura in a nutshell (a shell?): our little mascot and quiet advocate for slowing down, and for checking in on yourself, and on each other.

as we sunset kura kura, our journaling app, we hope little pieces of kura can carry that philosophy forward — into your day, your desk, and/or your wardrobe.

check out kura merch

All proceeds go to Over The Rainbow (OTR), a Singapore non-profit supporting youth mental health.