CleverCents is a financial literacy brand that teaches kids to earn, save, spend, invest and give through story. Founder and author K.D. Salters came to Pixeldust with a mission and a character. We built the world around her: the cast, the town of Cleverton, three illustrated books, the brand website and a mobile game where kids live the lessons for themselves.
Creative Director: Ricardo Andrade
Game Producer: Emily Vitek
3D Lead: Andrew Hencken
Illustrations: Elizabeth Garza
DeliveredBrand & CastCharacter design, turnarounds and the world of Cleverton
Delivered3 BooksThe fully illustrated Lia Brightwood series
In developmentMobile GameA life sim set in Cleverton for iOS and Android
The Concept
Money lessons kids actually want to read
Financial literacy is usually taught too late and too abstractly. CleverCents starts early, and it starts with a story. Lia Brightwood is a curious girl in the town of Cleverton who runs into the same money moments every kid does: a birthday gift, a trip to the store, a lemonade stand idea, and the playground trend everyone else seems to have.
Our job was to make those moments feel warm, specific and worth returning to. Every scene had to carry a lesson without ever feeling like one.
Spending, Saving, Investing. Now, Soon, Later. The core idea of the series in a single picture.
A 360 Production
From one character to a whole town
Pixeldust has created educational content for more than 20 years, working with partners like National Geographic Education and Discovery Education to explain important, complex ideas to young audiences. CleverCents let us do all of it under one roof. Each stage fed the next, so the girl on the cover of Book 1 is the same girl kids will guide through Cleverton in the game.
Story & WorldShaping Cleverton, its places and the money lessons each one teaches
Character DesignConcepts, turnarounds and expression sheets for Lia and the cast
Book IllustrationFully rendered scenes for all three titles in the series
WebsiteA home for families, educators and partner institutions
GameCleverton as a playable world where the lessons become choices
Logo Development
A brand that feels like a storybook
The CleverCents mark needed to work on a book cover, a website header and a game splash screen. Chunky, hand-lettered type in sunny yellow with a bold green outline keeps it friendly and readable for young eyes. The dollar sign tucked into "Cent$" gives the money theme a wink, and the blue ribbon gives the name the feel of a prize worth earning.
Worldbuilding
Welcome to Cleverton
Before any lesson could land, kids needed somewhere to be. Cleverton is a warm, walkable small town with brick storefronts, lamp-lit streets and a domed town hall on the water. It feels like a place you could actually visit. Every storefront has a purpose. The bank, the grocery, the toy shop, the home store and the fashion boutique on Main Street are the same places kids visit in the books and the game, so the town itself teaches what money does.
Main Street: the bank, the grocery, the shops and the community kids will explore
The waterfront and town hall
A town with values on its banners
The details carry the message. Banners read Live, Learn, Grow and You Belong Here. A chalkboard reminds everyone that kindness makes Cleverton shine. Kids of every background and ability share the sidewalks, so every reader can find themselves in the town.
These environments set the visual standard for everything that followed, from book spreads to website banners to the game's playable map.
Character Development
Finding Lia Brightwood
Lia had to be someone every kid could see themselves in: curious, a little stubborn, quick to laugh and thoughtful when it counts. Her first concept was bright and playful, with copper pennies for suspender buttons. From there we locked her proportions and wardrobe in a full turnaround, giving her the yellow sweater, denim and work boots that became her signature, along with an expression range from puzzled to delighted. The final look carries that design into fully rendered, cinematic book art.
ConceptFirst pass: penny-button suspenders→TurnaroundModel sheet: views and expressions→FinalFinal book rendering
The Cast of Cleverton
A town full of guides
Every lesson needs someone to deliver it. We designed a supporting cast that gives Cleverton its personality: a coin mascot who points the way, a fluffy companion, a community banker who makes the bank feel welcoming, and the neighbors who run the town's shops, labs and gardens. Each one got turnarounds and expressions so they hold together across books, web and animation.
The CleverCents coin mascot: turnaround and posesCompanion explorations: views and expressions
From sketch to community banker
The banker started on paper: a loose pencil sketch to find her pose and personality, with a friendly wave and easy confidence. Color brought her to life in a rose blazer and gold hoops. In the books she becomes Bella, the community banker who sits down with Lia and her coin guide to build a savings plan. A bank visit turns into a conversation, which is exactly how the series wants kids to see one.
SketchPose and personality in pencil→ConceptColor, wardrobe and attitude→FinalBella meets Lia in the book
The Scientist
Cleverton's resident inventor
The Gardener
Keeper of the Giving Garden
The Grocer
Where needs and wants meet a shopping list
The Books
The Lia Brightwood series
Written by K.D. Salters and illustrated by Pixeldust, three books follow Lia through everyday decisions about earning, saving, spending, budgeting, investing, generosity and peer pressure. The illustrations do more than decorate the text. They put young readers inside Cleverton, so they can see the choice, feel what's at stake and notice the details that reward a second and third read.
Book 1
Lia Brightwood and the Cleverton Budget Quest
The foundations: telling needs from wants, making thoughtful spending decisions, saving, and why a budget matters.
Money, confidence and peer pressure. You don't need to buy the trend to feel valued or accepted.
Peer pressureConfidenceBelonging
A birthday breakfast opens the conversation about gifts, money and choices.Wanting what everyone else has.The class market fair sets up a plan.Belonging without buying in.An idea worth saving for.
Website
clever-cents.com
The website is the front door to Cleverton. Its headline sets the promise right away: kids don't just learn about money, they live it. Lia, the coin guide and Bella welcome visitors in front of the town square, and the page walks families, educators and partners from the five core skills to the books, the game and the organizations backing the program.
The site comes in two moods. Light mode is bright and open, like a sunny afternoon on Main Street. Dark mode moves Cleverton into a lamp-lit evening in deep purple and puts the book series front and center. Both use the same characters and the same town, with clear paths to get the books, download the game or become a partner.
The full homepage in both modes. Scroll inside each frame.
clever-cents.com
Light mode hero
clever-cents.com
Dark mode hero
Five core skills: Earn, Save, Spend, Invest, ShareWelcome to Cleverton, with links to the gameThe book series, in dark modeBooks and game, built for families, educators and communities
Children
Stories that ask them to weigh choices and see consequences, building real confidence instead of memorized terms.
Parents
Activities in every book turn grocery runs and allowance days into conversations. No finance degree required.
Educators
Content informed by the National Standards for Personal Financial Education from the Council for Economic Education and the Jump$tart Coalition.
Institutions
A ready-made program for banks and credit unions investing in community financial literacy, including CRA initiatives.
App, Game & UI Development
Life in Cleverton
The books teach the lessons. The game lets kids practice them. Now in development for mobile, the CleverCents game drops players into Cleverton to live, work, earn and spend, and to discover what happens when they save, invest and give. Every day brings new tasks. Every week brings new challenges. And every choice shows up in the world around them.
Game TrailerVideo coming soon
Wake up at homeEach morning starts at the desk, where NOVA, your digital assistant, lays out the day's tasks and the week's challenges.
Run the lemonade standYour own business in the park. Earn money, reinvest in upgrades and take on more complexity as you grow.
Visit the bankDeposit, save and invest. Watch money in savings earn more over time, and learn why waiting can pay.
Shop the mallNeeds or wants? Buy clothing, home upgrades and stand improvements, and live with the trade-offs.
Tend the Giving GardenHelp clean the garden and give at the fountain. Generosity visibly makes the park more beautiful.
Home & NOVA
Every day starts with a plan
The player's bedroom is home base. At the desk, NOVA checks in with the day's tasks, weekly challenges and reminders, so kids learn to plan before they spend. Home can be upgraded too, turning savings into something kids can see.
Morning check-in with NOVA
The Bank
Save today, choices tomorrow
The Cleverton Bank is designed to feel friendly. Players walk up to Save and Withdraw stations, talk with the teller and choose how much to put away, from a small step to "Save Half." Coins in savings earn bonus coins over time, turning compound growth into something kids can watch happen.
Bank interior: isometric gameplay view
Lesson: InvestingAnimated lesson coming soon
The Mall
Needs, wants and the price of both
The mall is where earning meets temptation. Players shop for clothes, home décor and stand upgrades, and every purchase asks a simple question first: do I need this, or do I want it? Spending is allowed. Thinking about it first is the lesson.
Gameplay: The MallVideo coming soon
The Giving Garden
Generosity you can see grow
Next to the lemonade stand in the park is the Giving Garden. Players help clean it up and give at the fountain, and the garden blooms in response. It is the game's lesson in altruism: money is also a tool for helping others, and a community gets better when people contribute to it.
The gardener who tends the Giving Garden
Progress Dashboard
Learning you can measure
Every choice a player makes in Cleverton leaves a trail. The dashboard turns that trail into a clear picture of growth. Wallet, savings and rewards sit side by side, so a child sees in real time what their decisions add up to, and the adults around them can see it too.
That makes the game more than entertainment. Parents, schools and partner organizations get a window into how each child is learning, how well they grow their savings, and how motivated they are to work, earn and improve their virtual life.
Wallet, savings and rewards at a glance, with save options from a small step to Save Half
Learning Progress
Which lessons a child has completed across earning, saving, spending, investing and giving, and where they are ready for the next step.
Savings Growth
How savings build over time, how often a child chooses to save, and how they respond as interest and rewards start to add up.
Drive to Improve
Tasks completed, lemonade stand upgrades and home improvements that show a child's willingness to work toward goals.
For Parents
A shared view that sparks conversations at home about choices, patience and goals.
For Schools
Classroom insight that pairs with the books and the national financial education standards.
For Organizations
Evidence of impact for banks, credit unions and nonprofits funding financial literacy in their communities.
For Kids
Visible progress that rewards good habits and makes saving feel like winning.
Financial confidence isn't about knowing the terms. It's about feeling ready to make the choice.
Why We Love This Project
Educational storytelling has been at the heart of Pixeldust since we opened our doors more than 20 years ago. We've helped National Geographic Education and Discovery Education turn complex subjects into experiences young audiences remember. CleverCents brought everything we do together in one brand: character design, illustration, web and game development, all pointed at a lesson that will matter for the rest of a child's life.
Lia started as one sketch. Today she has a family, a town, three books, a website and a world kids can step into. That's the kind of progression we built Pixeldust to deliver.
