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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention protect against national health threats through research, education, and outreach. Among today’s top threats is type 2 diabetes, and it’s taking a heavy toll on American Indian and Alaska Native communities.

The Challenge

We teamed up with the CDC and partner agency, ICF Next, to promote their type 2 diabetes management and prevention programs. Designed in partnership with tribal communities, they offer participants lifestyle coaching and a support group of people with similar goals and challenges.

Yet, recognizing the hurdles and culturally unaware care they likely experienced in the past, we knew our audience would be reluctant at best.

The Solution

We needed to share real stories to build trust and ease doubts. Testimonials have their place but are so commonly used, they can easily be tuned out. A creative approach was vital. Through previously recorded interviews, we got to know program participants and coaches. One-by-one, we shaped their personal experiences into short, animated stories.

We quickly identified a common theme – the realization they weren’t facing this alone. We reinforced that message with recurring characters and settings in each episode. Characters were hand-drawn, loosely inspired by each participant, and design elements were influenced by traditional Native art using a warm, welcoming color palette. The color palette was built around just a few base colors and incorporated in each character design for a unified look across all seven animations.

Storyboards married the narrative to the visuals, identifying clever transitions to keep the viewers’ attention.

The backgrounds draw from the same color palette as the character designs. We chose a monochromatic palette for each animation, to further unify them as a set and help the characters pop out.

Each animation was brought to life through frame-by-frame, 2D animation. We used Toon Boom Harmony for rough, cleanup, and color animation, as well as compositing for the shadows and highlights.

When possible, we recorded participants narrating their story for a raw and personal account that would have been difficult to achieve with professional voice talent. Consistent music and sound effects capped each episode, for a cohesive and memorable series.   

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425 N 5th St., Ste 300

Bismarck, ND 58501

425 N 5th St., Ste 300

Bismarck, ND 58501

425 N 5th St., Ste 300

Bismarck, ND 58501