Creativity in Learning
Client: Apple Education (2021–2022)
Collaborators: Motiio Media
• data storytelling • data visualization • storyboarding • project management • visual strategy • animation •
Discover
We weren’t actually sure what the end product would be at the start of this project, but we had a starting point. An 80+ page Gallup Report detailed a number of enhanced learning outcomes when teachers challenged their students to use technology in creative ways.
THis project started with an 80-Page Gallup REport, which we Pored over to identify salient data points
Storyboarding
Once we understood the data, the key audiences, and the formats that would best communicate the data, we began shaping the story into a narrative arc, with loose ideas of the visual forms we might use.
We performed our own visual analysis to explore possible visual forms
And We mapped out several different options for narrative arcs
The first round of storyboards mapped out a simple data story— a single chart would anchor and data would appear with a voiceover. We reviewed this idea and visual form with various stakeholder groups, and the feedback was resounding: our visuals were still too complicated, sterile, and cold. The narrative was impersonal and wouldn’t inspire action. We suspected this would be the case, but this exploration helped us unlock our magical missing piece: a crystallized design brief, a newly formed animation style guide, and a creative direction support team… BOOM!
Concepting
We worked with our animation partners to draft a script, which Guided the detailed story shaping
we scrutinized every view, paying close attention to how to simplify the data points and bring them to life through the characters
We explored DOZENS of angles and visual forms to bring this story to life in the most compelling, clear, and cute way. We drew inspiration from other Apple Ed animations, Apple products, and teachers we know personally who have inspired us.
Once we identified our Characters, we spent a lot of time imagining how they would interact with the data
Develop & deliver
Our final video spent a year featured on the Apple Education website, and was localized for 5 different languages and global geographies. The Motiio animation team put in monumental effort and attention to detail into every single millisecond of this video, and I couldn’t be prouder of the final result!
Dream
This project was such a labor of love. The dream stage of this project entails imagining new datasets to visualize, new stories to bring to life, and new ways to support teachers in the classroom. The Apple Education team has an amazing library of resources available to educators, which you can check out here.