Parents 1st UK and the Anglia Ruskin University’s (ARU), Cambridge School of Art have been working together this Autumn to create a set of short animations to spread the word about Parents 1st UK’s services across Essex.
At Parents 1st UK, we know that pregnancy and becoming a parent can feel overwhelming. We provide peer support in Essex, one-to-one and group sessions, to help expectant or new parents feel heard, connected and confident. Our peer support model has been shown to deliver positive wellbeing outcomes, reduce isolation and support stronger parent-baby relationships.
ARU’s BA (Hons) Illustration and Animation degree students are taught 2D/3D animation and motion graphics, and through the ARU ‘Live Brief’ scheme, they also have opportunities to work on real-world “briefs” as part of their coursework, collaborating with external organisations and gaining industry experience. The ARU ‘Live Brief’ project, invites organisations to bring challenges for students to work on. And, we can honestly say it’s been a wonderful experience that has produced fantastic results!
The project at a glance
Together, Parents 1st UK and ARU put together a “live brief” in which students would create short animated films that communicate key messages:
- What peer-support looks like and how it can help parents
- Parents 1st UK’s support, workshops and groups offer
- The value of building connections and community early in pregnancy, birth and parenthood
Under supervision, students on the Animation & Illustration course developed concept storyboards, visual styles and completed short animations designed for social media, and the web. They presented their ideas to us, took on board feedback and branding guide lines, and ultimately produced professional assets.
The benefits
- For Parents 1st UK, this is a fantastic opportunity to harness creative media to amplify our message, reach more parents and strengthen visibility of our services across Essex. We will be using the finished animations in a variety of ways – sharing directly with parents as an introduction to our organisation, across social media and our website, and with our network in Essex.
- For the students, it provides meaningful project experience: working with a real-life client, meeting deadlines, shaping content for real people, and adding to their portfolios.
- For the wider community, the animations will hopefully lower barriers to accessing support: delivering messages in an engaging, accessible format.
The final films
Reflections
This project has beautifully aligned with many of our core values: supporting positive transitions, amplifying our message that we are ‘always in your corner’ and working collaboratively to produce something useful and creative.
Partnerships between educational and charitable organisations are exactly the kind of innovation that brings impact-driven content into the community in fresh, engaging ways.
We’d like to thank the ARU students, their tutors, and everyone else who helped bring this project to life – we can’t wait to start using your amazing animations!