Raise Awareness
Using animation to tell expansive and ambitious stories
39.5k Twitter impressions
63.5k Linkedin impressions
5,625 page views
University of Manchester wanted to use a poem it had commissioned as the centerpiece of a film to mark the 50th anniversary of the Alliance Manchester Business School.
The poem covered a lot of ground, from the industrial revolution to the Manchester Velodrome and everything in between. Although the client was initially keen to use a live-action treatment, our proposal was to create an animation as we this would distinguish the Business School, and help with covering the diverse subjects name-checked in each verse. We also felt that further value could be extracted by using the illustrated assets from the animation across other media.
The University of Manchester’s History
We wanted to create something that native Mancunians would be proud of and did justice to the poem’s scope and vision. We wanted to bring out the colour of the city, using all the cool details of architecture, people, place, whilst jumping back and forth in time.
We commissioned a Manchester based artist, Barney Ibbotson to work alongside our Creative Director and animation team to bring the story to life and give it a uniquely Mancunian twist. Particular thought was given to the way we created a visual thread in the way we move from scene to scene.
Aside from the below stats which quantify the success of the film, illustrations from the animation have become a sub-brand of the Business School, and have been used subsequently on everything from building site hoardings and prospectuses to Christmas cards and branded apparel. We have also created a number of spin-off animations using the same illustrative style.