Animation Stills

About the Project

Envision is a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)-funded Doctoral Training Partnership bringing together leading UK universities and research institutes to train the next generation of environmental scientists. A core part of Envision's mission is equity, diversity and inclusion — widening participation and ensuring that environmental science careers are visible and appealing to young people from all backgrounds.

This animation was commissioned to support that mission directly. The brief called for something that would cut through in a classroom or on a screen: fast-paced, relatable, and clear. Rather than presenting environmental science as a narrow or intimidating specialism, the video opens it up — showing the cobweb in the corner of the room, the drooping plant on the windowsill, the solar panels on the roof — and connecting everyday observations to scientific careers.

The animation closes by signposting multiple entry routes: apprenticeships, university, and training programmes, alongside the Envision website, reinforcing that there is no single pathway into the field.

Audience and Purpose

Environmental science faces a well-documented diversity gap. Animated outreach content — particularly in a vertical, social-ready format — is increasingly used by universities and doctoral training programmes to reach young audiences on the platforms and in the contexts where they actually spend time.

This video was designed to be used across websites, presentations, and schools outreach materials, providing a reusable, human-made asset that communicates both the breadth of environmental science and the values of a research programme committed to inclusive recruitment.

About Envision DTP

The Envision Doctoral Training Partnership is a NERC-funded programme supporting PhD researchers across environmental science disciplines. For more information, visit envision-dtp.org.

Production Highlights

Format: 1080×1920p vertical video (social and presentation optimised), delivered as h.264 HD .mp4

Style: Fun, humorous, and visually snappy — designed to hold the attention of a 14-year-old audience while communicating genuine scientific content.

Illustration: All assets illustrated in Adobe Illustrator.

Animation: Produced in Adobe After Effects.

Outputs: Animated video with English voiceover, hardcoded subtitle version, and a folder of JPEG stills.

Production Process

Script & style concept

The script was co-written with the client, then visuals were imagined to accompany each beat of the narration. A style concept with fun characters was designed to give an idea of how the final animation would look, and revised based on client feedback before moving forward.

Sketched Storyboards and Animatic Video

A storyboard was sketched out based on the script in Photoshop then uploaded to Boords. The storyboard images were put into a video sequence with a draft voiceover recording to test the timings and ensure the script and visuals made sense when played together. Script and image revisions were made at this point before moving to the next stage.

Illustration of Animation Assets

Once the sketched storyboards were signed off, each scene was illustrated in the agreed style. All illustrations were created in Adobe Illustrator, with revisions made before moving onto the animation phase.

Animation

The animation phase began by preparing all illustrations for movement — separating artwork onto named layers ready for import. Illustrator files were brought into Adobe After Effects and animated scene by scene. A professional voiceover artist recorded the script, and the audio track was mixed and edited before the animation was timed to it.

What the client said