As a graphic designer my work involves taking complex pieces of company legislation and simplifying it through creative design. The implementation of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act has been my focus over the last few months, and producing an animation to help companies identify their people with significant control (PSC) is my latest piece of work. This blog will explain the design process and provide insight into how I achieved the end result.
From 6 April all companies need to start keeping a register of people who control their company and to help complete this there are conditions to check against to see if an individual is a PSC. As part of the wider communication plan it was decided that a short animation would be one of the most effective ways to reach customers, providing simple examples of the PSC conditions.
Once the script was produced, my task was to visualise how this might look as an animation, aiming to create a video that would be engaging and easy to understand.
My first idea was based on a cartoon street, with several buildings and people all made out of paper, superimposed on a cartoon background. However, given the tight deadline, this would take too long to produce and perhaps wasn't the right theme for this type of message. The communication needed to be simple, allowing the user to digest the information without being distracted, so I decided on simple shapes and bold colours as a concept for the animation.
The next stage was recording a voiceover. After the recording it was off to the editing suite to remove pauses, sounds of turning pages and the inevitable out-takes. The amended audio was then exported to the animation suite and I began work on illustrating each example using my concept. The hardest part was getting the timings exactly right so each element would run smoothly with the voiceover.
My first attempt was then sent for review and, as is often the case, it came back with amendments, including additional lines that needed to be recorded and included. Although this meant adjusting all of the timings, as the bulk of the work had been done, I was able to turn it around quickly and achieve my creative brief.
Initial feedback has been really positive, with customers commenting that it’s really helped to simplify the PSC requirements in a bright and easy to digest format. Keep an eye out for future animations!
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3 comments
Comment by George Davies posted on
Very Interesting. may I ask which tool you are using to produce the animation?
Comment by Esme Turner posted on
Hi George, thanks for your feedback. The animation was created using Adobe After Effects.
Comment by Yasmine Naylor posted on
Thank you, nice explanation or the requirements. Simple and clean.