Animation

You may recognise yourself in one of these:

Animation makes complicated things feel clear, human and memorable. It explains what a camera cannot reach, shows what would be intrusive to film, and holds a consistent visual voice across campaigns, platforms and audiences.

Where a flagship narrative shows you something real, animation shows you something true that has no footage.

We work from simple line drawn explainers through to mixed media, kinetic type and full 2D character work. What varies between projects is how much of the visual world is built from scratch, and that is what drives both cost and timeline.

You might call it an explainer video, a motion graphics film, a whiteboard animation or an animated video. We call it animation because what it does matters more than what it is called.

Sometimes filming is the right answer, and we will tell you when it is.

Animation earns its place in three situations. When the thing does not exist yet, or is microscopic, or is a process rather than an object. When filming real people would be intrusive, unsafe or impossible to consent properly, which covers most clinical and safeguarding contexts. And when the content has to survive change.

That last one is the argument most people miss.

A film with a member of staff in it has a lifespan tied to that person. When they leave, the film starts to look wrong. Animation does not have that problem. A figure can be updated, a logo swapped, a language added, a scene re-versioned for a new campaign, without going back to a shoot.

Over three years that difference is usually larger than the difference in what it cost to make.

Every animation engagement delivers a complete package:

The hero animation. Built to the agreed style and length, finished to broadcast standard.

The approval trail. Script, styleframes and an animatic, each signed off before the next stage begins. This is what keeps cost and timeline predictable.

Accessibility as standard. Subtitled masters on every delivery, not as an extra.

Formats for the places it needs to work. Web, presentations, social and internal use, in the aspect ratios you actually publish in.

Depending on the shape of the project, engagements often also include social cutdowns and alternate aspect ratios, voiceover sourcing and recording, foreign language subtitles or voice versions, still frames and key art drawn from the animation, and a reusable illustration or icon library your team can use elsewhere.

Final deliverables are confirmed once scope and style are locked.

A note on how the range works:

Each tier is a range rather than a fixed figure because style complexity, the number of scenes and characters, and voiceover and licensing needs are not fully known until the animatic is locked. We agree the range up front so there is delivery flexibility, and we confirm the final figure once style and scope are locked. You will never receive an invoice above the range you approved.

What moves a project within its range:

How much original design is required versus using existing brand assets. Complexity of movement, transitions, and the number of characters and scenes. Illustration detail in characters and environments. Voiceover, casting and music licensing, including usage and region. The number of formats and versions required.

Animation has no shoot, so there are no weather or location risks. What it does have is a heavier front end, and the timeline holds only if approvals land on time at script, styleframe and animatic.

Most flagship films run ten to sixteen weeks from signed engagement to final delivery.

Working to a launch, a conference or a campaign date? Say so on the call. We plan backwards from your date and tell you honestly whether it is achievable before you commit anything.

Animation has a different shape to live action. The work is frontloaded into development so that story, structure and style are agreed before we invest time in detailed animation.

One: Discovery & Definition

We agree intent, audience, message and success criteria. You get a creative summary, key messages, references, the usage formats you need, and defined scope boundaries.

Two: Script & Narrative

We lock the story before design and animation time begins. Script and character, voiceover plan, timing and structure, and any on screen text plan.

Three: Style & Design

We define the look so every frame is consistent and scalable. Moodboard, styleframes, design system components, character or icon design set, illustration approach, and an animatic with music options, timing and temporary voiceover. Key design and transition sign off happens here.

Four: Animation & Build

We produce the film at the agreed craft level. Scene builds, animation passes, sound design direction, music approach and version control.

Five: Review, Approval & Delivery

A polished first draft through our online review system, consolidated feedback from your side, a named approver for sign off, clear timeframes per round, and delivery through secure download. Three review rounds are included in every tier.

In live action, a change late in the process usually means a different edit of material you already have.

In animation, there is no material. Every frame is built. Changing a scene after the build has started does not mean re-cutting it, it means making it again.

That is why we stop three times and ask you to approve. Script, then styleframes, then animatic. Each one is a cheap decision. Every one of them becomes an expensive decision if it is deferred.

The animatic stage is the one people are tempted to rush. It looks unfinished, because it is, and it is easy to say yes to something rough on the assumption that the polish will fix it. It will not. The animatic is the film. Everything after it is craft applied to decisions already made.

So we will push you to look at it properly, involve whoever needs to see it, and be honest at that point rather than at draft two. It is not a formality and it is the single biggest thing that keeps an animation on budget.

Animation we have made for organisations across science and innovation, health, public services, education and social impact.

For an animation to land properly, a few things need to be true on your side:

• A single point of contact with authority to approve and consolidate feedback
• Brand guidelines and existing assets, including fonts, colours and any illustration style you already use
• Approval delivered on time at script, styleframe and animatic
• A named subject matter expert where technical or clinical accuracy matters, available at script stage rather than at first draft
• Realistic review windows, particularly where multiple stakeholders are involved

The subject matter expert point is worth emphasising. In medical, scientific and technical work, an accuracy correction at script stage costs nothing. The same correction after the build has started can mean rebuilding scenes.

If any of these are difficult in your organisation, tell us on the call. They are all solvable. They are much harder to solve halfway through a build.