Shillington Manifesto

Shillington’s brief was deceptively simple: bring their manifesto to life through animation. But this wasn’t a typical script-driven explainer. It was more like a rallying cry and spoken word that demanded energy, rhythm, and a certain rawness. We knew we couldn’t just pair the words with pretty visuals and call it a day. The animation needed to move with the voice, to punch when it punched, and to pause when it paused. Every second had to carry the same urgency and conviction as the manifesto itself.

We considered the target audience closely: students seeing an institution offering them the best skills, which would lead to the best opportunities. With these needs in mind, we led the project from concept to completion, crafting a dynamic script, vibrant visuals, and immersive sound design that would resonate with young adults looking to study design. The visual design narrative focused on embracing and implementing principles of design and using them to their fullest extent throughout the video, aligning the product with the offering seamlessly throughout its application.

From the outset, we decided typography had to be the hero. We explored hundreds of type treatments, transitions, and compositions, constantly looking for ways to keep the viewer hooked without overwhelming the message.

The film uses a bold, colour palette, shapes and design software elements mixed with typography, resulting in a dynamic end result. The visuals bursts, flip, stretch, and collides in sync with the narration, creating a rhythm that’s impossible to ignore.

Behind the scenes, this meant meticulously timing every frame to the voiceover, crafting transitions that felt seamless but never repetitive. We built a flexible animation system that allowed us to experiment and iterate quickly because, with a manifesto this punchy, the visuals needed to keep up.

Animating typography at this scale isn’t just about aesthetic choices—it’s about control. We developed a workflow in After Effects that allowed us to micro-time every word and syllable while staying flexible enough to adjust pacing as the voiceover evolved. This balance between precision and adaptability was key to keeping the film dynamic without losing clarity. Shillington needed to be able to accommodate diverse platforms in the rollout of their marketing communications. So we decided to design the animation using modular components. This enabled us to seamlessly adapt the video to various aspect ratios without compromising the visual integrity of the piece.

The final deliverables included the film as well as a 30" and 15" cutdown along with some cutdowns for social media. These outputs became a cornerstone of Shillington’s brand messaging, shared across their global campuses and social channels as a rallying call for aspiring designers. It’s bold, unapologetic, and designed to stick in your head long after you’ve watched it. And this is exactly what Shillington wanted.

Our favourite projects are when we can work closely with our clients. Shillington put a lot of trust in us to lead this one and loved the result. That's the best feeling.