visual essay

Bullies, opera and typography: Sounds like a job for Giant Ant

The Vancouver Opera and librettist Shane Koyczan invited Giant Ant to collaborate on “Stickboy”, a new opera that tackles the psychological effects of bullying. We had… Read more

Men’s Health “How a Bean Becomes a Fart”

Giant Ant strikes again for Men’s Health, this time explaining how a bean becomes a gaseous expulsion of malodorous intent (i.e. a fart). Check out… Read more

The Story of a Story

Brikk created this poetic encapsulation of the process behind creating an animation, from pitch to delivery. Credits Brikk Daniel Isedal Edward Moulder Calle Wachtmeister Dencity… Read more

It’s a Plastic World

This depressing but educational visual essay explains the ubiquity of plastic in our oceans using an interesting low-poly microverse contained in a cube. After you’ve… Read more

Pearson English: “One”

Although the script is a bit on the dry side, this explainer video from Territory kept my attention with its whimsical cel work and cheerful… Read more

Adobe CMO Stats

The bevy of elegant and sometimes surprising transitions that pepper this explainer video for Adobe never upstage the real star of the video: the red… Read more

Nvidia Grid VCA: “Wherever Life Takes You”

This buttery smooth explainer video for Nvidia gracefully oscillates between representational and abstract illustrations to communicate its highly technical material. Co-directed by Bureau Hardy Seiler… Read more

Elements of Design

Matt Greenwood’s buttery smooth “Elements of Design” is a high-speed buffet of some key concepts behind motion graphic design. I’d love to try it as… Read more

Gergely Wootsch: Penny Dreadful Portraits “Dracula”

To promote Showtime’s moody new drama/horror series, Penny Dreadful, Gergely Wootsch directed this evocative visual essay about the cultural significance of Bram Stoker’s Dracula as… Read more

Xiangjun Shi: Why Do I Study Physics?

Physics and animation are not often bedfellows, but in the hands of Xiangjun “Shixie” Shi, they seem as natural a pairing as space and time.… Read more

84000 “Words of the Buddha”

Giant Ant creates “Words of the Buddha,” an elegant 2D promo for non-profit 84,000. The non-profit, 84000, has an enormous task ahead of them: tackling… Read more

How Beer Goggles Work

Leftchannel busts out its traditional animation chops in “How Beer Goggles Work,” a chuckle-worthy visual essay for Men’s Health magazine.

Modern Love: Fight or Flight

As her relationship with her boyfriend was coming to an end, the writer Sarah L. Courteau grasped for a moment of tenderness between them in… Read more

Giant Ant: Men’s Health Magazine “How a Protein Becomes a Muscle”

Follow ingenious peptides through a visual essay explaining how muscle mass is created in the human body. Illustrations by the inimitable Mike McQuade, directed by… Read more

Fraser Davidson: A Guide To American Football

UK-based Fraser Davidson’s latest, “A Guide To American Football,” is a hilarious distillation of one of America’s most beloved pastimes. In the same spirit as… Read more

Animation for a Cause

Nicely timed with the giving season, Mexico City-based designer/animator Yaniv Fridman has launched Animation for a Cause, a nonprofit dedicated to creating short explanatory motion… Read more

beeple: Transparent Machines

beeple’s provocative short film, “Transparent Machines,” posits that if we want to blame anyone for lack of privacy online, we should start with ourselves.

Don’t Fail Idaho (Extended Version) by Buck

Over the last several years, Buck has made a point of creating elegantly clever PSAs for causes they believe in. For their latest visual essay,… Read more

Oil’d by Chris Harmon

Oil’d by Chris Harmon, a visual essay that reminds us of our dependence on black gold

Farming Futures Animation by Luke Marsh

Farming Futures Animation by Luke Marsh

The Story Of Cosmetics by Free Range Studio

The Story Of Cosmetics by Free Range Studio

Fantastic animated visual essay in this teaser for Waiting For Superman by Buck

Fantastic animated visual essay in this teaser for Waiting For Superman by Buck

Blacklist’s Pistachios: “The Story of Kakenya”

Top Blacklist director, Pistachios, has partnered with with co-director Aaron Kisner and the Vital Voices Global Partnership to bring us The Story of Kakenya. The… Read more