2d Animation & Motion Graphic | Hoolet Explorathon 2025

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In our most recent work, we’ve been collaborating with Hoolet to create a promotional 2D animation / motion graphic for Explorathon 2025.

Explorathon is a Scotland-wide festival run by a partnership of Scottish universities that celebrates the research happening in our universities through a dynamic programme of free public events focusing on ‘Making Research Real’ as well as an exciting series of activities in local schools. Explorathon sees researchers from across Scotland take to the streets, visit local schools, pop-up at shopping centres, museums and cinemas, to showcase the latest research. It’s an opportunity to get up close to cutting-edge research, find out who works in universities, what they do and the impact their research has on every-day life.

Project Capabilities Illustration: Adobe Illustrator Motion Graphics: Adobe After Effects

Brief:

The aim is to demonstrate the diversity of the research community, emphasising that research is open to all. The mission is to show that no matter who you are – regardless of age, gender, or ethnicity – you can be a researcher and change people’s lives for the better. In short, our activities and researchers “Make Research Real!”

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Process:

We wanted to create something that was fun for adults as well as kids, but to still be educational showing a bit of science, with a little weirdness. We thought, let’s create some pairings of characters and objects that would never go together, to show science in action, like a dinosaur on a skateboard, powering itself along by wind, its own wind. “Yeah and we could have a spaceman on a pogo stick” (if anyone actually remembers a pogo stick in 2025), and what about a jelly playing a symphony of trumpets? The illustrations were created in illustrator, and used existing brand guidelines and illustrations to define a colour palette and style to base the new illustrations on. Characters were then taken into after effects to rig and create movement to bring them to life. Sounds and music were added to create a more immersive experience. Explor(athon) for yourself.