Hoki ki ngā tūāpapa – Back to basics animation campaign series

Northland District Health Board

A campaign animation series focused on health and wellbeing practices for people and their whānau based in Northland

We created a new social media campaign for Northland DHB. It focused on health and wellbeing practices for people and their whānau in Northland.

Framed by the COVID-19 health response, this campaign focuses on actions people can take to keep themselves and their whānau well. It included six 30 second animations. Each animation has a focus on a specific wellbeing message – from washing your hands, to staying home when you are sick.

Targeted at the Northland DHB’s active Facebook users, the animations use clear messaging and diverse characters to connect with the audience, and get messages across quickly and memorably. Bright colours help capture people’s attention on social media. Simple backgrounds allow the characters and actions to be the main focus. Communicating these messages on Facebook as animated videos, rather than static images, ensures they will generate more traffic and engagement. As a result, Northland DHB’s messages get to more people, more effectively. While targeted mainly at people in Northland, these messages are still applicable across all of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Expertise

Illustration
Information design

We created a beginning sequence using NDHB’s gifted Ngā Tātai Ihorangi branding to frame each message. Another familiar detail you’ll spot throughout these animations is the yellow COVID-19 branding. We used this as a transition device for the end sequence, ensuring people connect their broader wellbeing and the COVID-19 response.

The peppy voiceover and music track was repurposed from a recent radio campaign. It helps drive the animations along at a quick pace.

A selection of initial sketches for the storyboards

Character style concept design

For this project we also created fully illustrated storyboards to help the client visualise the animation

Northland District Health Board feedback:

“Throughout the process, the team at Gusto were excellent to work with, and they have done a great job. The design team members used their initiative and offered creative solutions, which has resulted in the production of six 30-sec animations for broadcast on digital platforms.”

Keen to chat?

Get in touch with our team or have a look at our work to see if we’d be a good fit.