Explainer Animation for Social Justice and Community Education
Finding ways to make complex subjects understandable and relatable, especially where nuance and empathy-building are required, is a challenge for anyone seeking to build a more equitable and inclusive society. Thankfully, animation is a powerful tool for engaging curiosity and building the kind of emotional resonance required to sustain interest through challenging subject matter!
Case studies
Here are some recent collaborations I’ve participated in to explain complex topics, build empathy and awareness.
INFLUENCE POLICY
Policymakers often have limited time and divided attention, making it difficult to convey the importance of research findings in a way that prompts action. Animation can summarise complex ideas and provide a memorable visual representation of the findings, making it easier to capture and hold the attention of policymakers and promote change.
Drive Change
By making research findings accessible and engaging to a wider audience, animation can help to drive awareness and promote positive change. For example, animations can be used to explain the causes and effects of social issues, such as poverty or inequality, and to promote understanding of the role that research can play in addressing these challenges.
ACCESS & ENGAGEMENT
By breaking down complex social or political concepts into simple visual representations, animations can help to increase public understanding of invisible forces that drive social interaction. This can be especially useful for communicating social theory to people who may not have a background in academia, and also can give your work a longer life as a tool in educational settings.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN RESEARCH
By making research findings accessible and engaging, animations can help to build trust and encourage active participation in research projects. For example, animations can be used to explain research methods and findings to communities, promote understanding of the potential benefits and risks of participating in research, and encourage people to get involved in research initiatives.
Promote diversity, equality & inclusion
By making research accessible and engaging to a diverse range of people, animations can help to promote a more inclusive research culture and ensure that research findings reflect the experiences and perspectives of all members of society. This can help to promote a more equitable distribution of the benefits of research and ensure that the research is relevant and meaningful to the communities it serves.
collaboration & representation
Animation can incorporate not just the thoughts and experiences of research participants, but their own hands, artwork, voices and ideas. Animation lends itself to iteration, giving ample opportunity for feedback and revision that incorporate participants ideas and offer them agency in their representation. And participants can even take part in the animation process themselves by creating artwork or attending animation workshops.
