With rising cases of diseases like whooping cough and measles, the Oxford Vaccine Group, part of the University of Oxford, launched a public health campaign to turn the tide on declining vaccination levels in the UK.
To help deliver the campaign, the group’s Vaccine Knowledge Project team asked us to help them bring their message to life with an animation that would explain vaccines in a way anyone could understand. Their goal was to educate the public and shift attitudes toward vaccination.
To illustrate the complex (and invisible) idea of vaccine protection, we used a simple ‘umbrella’ analogy: when most individuals raise their umbrellas, they collectively form a shield against the rain, ensuring that even those unable to use umbrellas - such as young babies - remain dry. This shows how vaccines protect communities, especially the most vulnerable.
But when fewer people use their umbrellas, more gaps appear, and the rain starts to get through, leaving people unprotected. This imagery helped to show the importance of maintaining high vaccine uptake to bolster community immunity and keep everyone protected.
“We have recently seen drops in vaccination levels for various diseases. Whether that be drops in whooping cough vaccines in pregnant people leading to deaths in babies or an increase in cases of measles," says Charlie Firth, Vaccine knowledge and Public Engagement Manager at the Oxford Vaccine Group. “Many of the diseases we are trying to protect against have not been seen in a long time, and so the perception within the general public of the importance of vaccination seems to have dropped.”
He adds: “We want to emphasise the message that vaccines only work for the vulnerable if we all use them. By getting vaccinated, you are protecting yourself, but you are also protecting your friends, you are protecting your family, and you are protecting the most vulnerable in our community who cannot get vaccinated themselves.”
To enhance the animation's impact, we included characters of various cultures, ages, and backgrounds, to ensure it resonated with a broad demographic.
Rosa Fisher, animator at Scriberia, says: “It was so amazing to work on an animation with such an important message. We decided to tell the story with a bold, graphic visual language to emphasise the umbrella metaphor, and to allow the overall message to clearly shine through. We played with dark and light to highlight certain areas and create strong visual contrasts. We didn’t want the animation to be fear mongering but for it to feel caring and reassuring for people to know that their actions can make a difference to others.”
The resulting animation transformed a complex and sensitive topic into an engaging narrative, equipping the Oxford Vaccine Group with a powerful tool to enhance awareness and reshape public perceptions of vaccination.
It has been widely shared across the group’s website, social media channels, and at events, attracting attention from outlets such as Good Morning Britain, Sky News, The Independent, and The Evening Standard.
And the project team were extremely happy with the result. “A huge thank you for your support, as always. Scriberia always creates incredible work, and I can’t wait to work with you again!” adds Charlie.
You can see the full animation below: