A Hand-Crafted Mixtape Creator
for Parents and Their Kids
No songs yet.
A grown-up can hold the paint dot in the corner to add some.
7 + 6
Up to 15 songs. They’re copied onto this phone and never leave it.
Hand-drawn illustrations by Charlie Shifflett
App design by Charlie Shifflett with help from Claude
Visit The Little Island to see more of my work. Or subscribe to my Substack.
My first children’s book, A Breakfast for Little Bear, is available now.
As a writer, illustrator and musician, the arrival of AI scared the bejesus out of me. But as a professional, I knew I had to at least attempt to evolve within the workplace.
Making this simple web app — sort of a mixtape for kids — has been a perfect exercise for embracing the good of AI while not outsourcing the human-helmed act of creating and drawing and designing.
I needed a simple, offline app for an old iPhone so my kids could listen to a few hand-picked music tracks and audio storytelling files.
No subscriptions.
No sign-ins.
No complicated UI.
No streaming algorithms.
No internet.
Just a simple screen that kids can tap to jump through their favorite songs and stories of the moment.
The problem? I couldn’t find one that met all of those requirements.
That realization began a weeks-long process of me talking with Claude about feasible app designs and drawing lots of pictures with a black brush pen.
Then came the back and forth of me working with Claude to refine the interface and make it something truly easy for kids to use and simple for parents to set and forget (at least until the next killer song catches your kids’ ears).
I hope you and your family enjoy using LA LA LA. It has been a joy to design this free mixtape platform for your kids and for mine.
Hand-drawn illustrations and artwork by Charlie Shifflett
App design by Charlie Shifflett with help from Claude