Xylem: Let’s Solve Water

Xylem
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Xylem - Let's Solve Water

Animated Explainers of Xylem's Products & Services

Challenge

Xylem is a leading water technology company committed to “solving water” by creating innovative and smart technology solutions to meet the world’s water, wastewater and energy needs.

They approached The Like Minded to ask for our help in creating animated explainers of their service and product offering that could be used: online, in presentations, at conferences and on social media

Solution

We created one overall animation that explains the complete Xylem solution using a modern and scientific approach to the illustration style to accurately represent this highly innovative global company.

The animation was designed so that can easily be divided into smaller individual product and service areas.

The animations were designed to work in mute play without voiceover.

Xylem Let's Solve Water: Solution Illustration
Xylem Let's Solve Water: Modern and Scientific Illustration

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International Criminal Court: Explainer Series

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International Criminal Court

Animated Explainer Series

The ICC is a permanent international court established to investigate, prosecute and try individuals accused of committing the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole: the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.

Background

The primary mission of the ICC is to help put an end to impunity for the perpetrators of such crimes and contribute to their prevention. Working with partners and the ICC we created a visual language to articulate the role of the ICC for the international community. We had to factor the complexity of responsibilities of an independent body such as the international criminal court faces. 

Challenge

We developed a series of animated explainers to clearly walk through the role of the ICC, the process by which people are brought to trial in a courtroom, the victims of crime and a specific case around membership of the ICC. The series aims to drive continued awareness of the vital role that the ICC plays on the world stage.

More in the Series

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Comments from the team...

"Finding a design that suited a somber series like for the International Criminal Court required a few trial runs. We knew from the start that it was going to be fairly graphic heavy and needed to convey a lot of individual facts. The Information itself can be quite hard to hear, as a result,  this had to be represented appropriately in the style."
Tom - Illustrator & Animator at the Like Minded

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Marshalls: Relaunch

Featured image for Marshalls showing family enjoying
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Marshalls Relaunch

Bringing Together 3 Best Loved Brands to Usher in a New Generation

Challenge

To streamline their offerings, Westland Horticulture set about consolidating 3 of their best loved brands (Marshalls, Bird & Bees and Unwins) under the umbrella of Marshalls and required an animation to accompany this transition. With a brand new website to explain the merger in more detail, the animation requirements were centred around creating buzz and excitement, rather than explaining the company’s new structure.

The focus of the animation was to showcase the variety of gardens and gardeners across the UK.

Solution

We wanted to bring a sense of togetherness and community to the animation so it was important to have lots of characters interacting. Variety in this piece was king – from the characters, to the spaces themselves to the way in which these spaces are enjoyed. It was important to display spaces that could be from across the country, from suburban gardens, to city balconies to allotments. The goal was to get people excited about gardens, no matter what their situation or interests.

Concept Style 01 for animation with family in garden
Concept Style 02 for animation with family in garden
Concept Style 03 for animation with family in garden
Concept Style 04 for animation with family in garden

Style Development

The characters were originally more stylised with a quaint, retro flaire. This process was iterative and the design was refined to be more realistic and contemporary, with a softer palette and texture. This created more believable scenes that viewers could envisage themselves in.

Another element we had to consider was composition to ensure the locations felt genuine. It was important that the locations were recognisably British and that there was clear differentiation between a garden in a town and garden in the country. Styles of buildings needed to refelect their settings and alluding to cities or hills in the background helped to ground each scene.

Designing a Seamless Shot

The tricky, paradoxical issue we faced was to create loactions that felt varied and unique that were stitched together seamlessly in one sweeping pan. We acheived this by varying the speed of the camera while making sure the camera never remained stationary. Slowing down and lingering on the full garden scenes allows the viewer to take in the details, while accelerating between scenes helped to maintain a smooth flow.  Strategically placed foliage further masks the seams between each scene.

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RCGP & Marie Curie: Improving End of Life Care

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RCGP & Marie Curie

Learning Content to Improve End of Life Care

Challenge

To create learning content for GP’s and healthcare practitioners across the UK so that they can improve their end of life care for patients.

The main video needed to be engaging for an interested but very busy audience. It also needed to help embed key ideas and practises.

This was further enhanced with additional materials to help extend and scaffold learning.

Solution

We developed an illustration style that drew attention to the foreground characters and objects by contrasting a bright colour palette with clean white space and limited backgrounds.

We used characters to interact with charts and processed to ensure that the learning remained anchored with people.

We believe that the learning content will have a lasting impact and we were delighted to receive positive feedback from our client.

“Fantastic working with you – always friendly, quick to respond and nothing was ever too much trouble”.

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NHS: Maternity Options

NHS
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NHS North West London CCG

Maternity Options

maternity options

Challenge

Working with the North West London CCG, we were tasked with creating an inclusive animation to explain the maternity options for new and existing mothers. The animation needed to work in multiple languages so subtitled versions were created for languages including Gujarati, Punjabi, Arabic and Polish.

Solution

We developed a simple illustration style that focuses on the three key options for birth and uses limited backgrounds so the focus of attention is on the expectant mother and their choice of birth setting.

We used a mix of characters and developed an uncluttered approachable style for each character.

We have had positive feedback on the animations and hope they continue to be useful across outpatient clinics across the NHS to further raise awareness of the maternity options available for our communities.

Maternity Options

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SGN

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SGN

The Fuel Poverty Scheme

Challenge

SGN approached us to make two animations highlighting the extension of the fuel poverty scheme. A longer animation targeting the industry and media and a shorter animation for social media targeting those most in need of the grants available to help them out of fuel poverty.  

Solution

The animation style and colour palette chosen ensured that it worked for all of the gas networks. The illustration style was designed to be friendly and accessible to ensure the animations did not feel to technical or corporate. 

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SGN gas heating
SNG heating
SNG heater

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Autistica: World Autism Awareness

The Like Minded Immersive Animation for Autism
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Autistica

Immersive Animation for World Autism Awareness Week

Shortlist: Film Craft
Animation International

The Kinsale Shark Awards

Best Video Campaign Finalist

The Drum Social Purpose Awards

Challenge

The Like Minded was tasked by Autistica to create an immersive animation that allows viewers to gain insight into the everyday challenges faced by Autistic people. The animation needed to be highly shareable and acted as the centrepiece for Autistica’s  ‘World Autism Awareness Week 2019’ campaign. The campaign needed to reflect both the issues faced by Autistic people, as well as the value they can bring to society.

Solution

In order to create an animation that would accurately depict the experiences of an autistic person, we worked closely with Autistica and their supporters.

Together we conducted surveys and a focus group of autistic children, adults and the parents of profoundly autistic children to provide specific guidance and insight.

This insight formed the spine of our concept and informed our choices across the entire creative process, from lighting to sound design.

We received continued feedback from the group throughout the animation process to ensure that the final output was highly accurate. The animation itself was lent further authenticity with a voiceover provided by the autistic actor Jules Robertson, star of Holby City.

Check out our ‘Making of’ video below

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Testimonial

"It was an absolute pleasure to work with The Like Minded on our immersive animation for World Autism Awareness Week 2019. They worked brilliantly with our insight group of autistic people and family members to ensure that the film was authentic, sensitive and engaging for the public. We had amazingly positive feedback on the film and would recommend the agency to any charity wanting to create a community-led, accessible film."
Dynamic Texture

Dynamic Texture

To create an immersive, sensory experience for the viewer, we combined a range of audio and visual techniques. Driven by insights provided by our research, one such technique was the use of dynamic textures; moving scribbles and patterns.

During moments of heightened tension for the protagonist, the textures and scribbles accelerate and swell, reinforcing the emotions of the protagonist and helping to build a visceral understanding of their world.

During the calmers sections, the textures reduced in numbers and complexity and were replaced with softer patterns and moved in a much calmer fashion.

Immersive Soundscape

As mentioned by our focus group, autism results in heightened senses. As a result, employing strong audio to the immersive, sensory environments was a crucial factor. Creating a tapestry of layered, uncomfortable and chaotic sounds while utilising crescendos and tempo changes helped dictate the flow of the animation.

Rather than relying on a constant musical score throughout, we chose to instead pepper the animation with light musical flourishes. This helps to convey calm in the areas where the protagonist was relaxed, whilst dropping out completely to allow the obtrusive sound effects to take centre stage in the more chaotic scenes.

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