Sitting at the southeast tip of Europe lies one of the continent's most important water systems: The Drin River Basin. This system runs through five countries and supports almost 1.6 million people. In turn, this poses a unique communication challenge for the countries who's economies rely on it. How do you unite governments, align thinking and improve communication to help protect this ecosystem?
Enter the Global Water Partnership (GWP). With over 60 countries under their wing, GWP know all about transboundary issues. But, when it came to communicating one of their most challenging projects to date, they opted for a tool they'd never previously used: animation.
Speaking to Senior Communications Officer, Maria Livanou, explains: “Animation was a completely new venture for us and a big challenge. We wanted something new, out of the box, that we’d never tried and a way to explain a very technical, scientific issue in a way that would be useful for everyone - both those who understand these issues, and for ordinary people who may not have the experience.
"We thought about using infographics, blogs, and texts paired with visuals. But we often find that, as our work is so technical, visualising makes them easier to understand without losing the content. We finally landed on animation as it makes things much more accessible to everyone and it’s closer to what we call infotainment.”
"Scriberia really listened, understood and went above and beyond. It was clear they weren’t just ticking the box but invested time and creativity in applying what I told them. We built a relationship of trust. After a while, I was consulting the designer more than my project manager for some things!"
Maria Livanou, GWP, Senior Communications Officer
Our team of animators set about researching the landscape and taking a virtual trip down river, to accurately capture its ecosystems. Creative Director, Amy Wolfe, notes: "We do a great deal of research whenever we create an animation and it was particularly lovely to spend time researching the geography for this project. We had a lot of really beautiful visual references to work from: things like the dams and lakes. It looks lovely and I now have Lake Ohrid down as a must visit location!”
We used this research to nail down a clear yet vibrant visual style: "this nodded towards geography textbooks, with a modern, exciting spin." Amy continues, "We also placed the map at the center of the animations. This provided a central image that we could cut away from to different scenes that live within the map, and always return to that central location as we follow the journey of the river. This created a sense of consistency across the videos."
Maria says: “Scriberia are such a creative team, and were so on top of who we are, what we wanted and how we wanted it said. We were able to establish a way of working that was exactly what we were hoping for. Scriberia really listened, understood and went above and beyond. It was clear they weren’t just ticking the box but invested time and creativity in applying what I told them. We built a relationship of trust. After a while, I was consulting the designer more than my project manager for some things!”
“The reactions in-house were really good. We have offices in different countries who all work with us to provide scientific information for the videos and when I showed them the final product, one of my colleagues who’s very difficult to please, said 'Excellent work, and that means something coming from me!'.
“We were most impressed with Scriberia’s creativity. The storyboards were groundbreaking and the final animations exceeded our expectations. We would definitely work with Scriberia again and would absolutely recommend them. It was such a worthwhile project in every aspect.”