Animation conveys complex or emotive subjects with thoughtful impact. It invites the audience to feel, reflect, and connect.
From the very first frame, elements like colour palette, graphical style, and movement work together to set the tone, build emotional resonance, and guide understanding. And because animation is so versatile, it can be shaped to suit your message - making it a powerful tool for learning.
Desq: Dignity at Work for Specsavers
Why animation connects
One of animation’s greatest strengths is its ability to be less literal. Through symbolism, shapes, and patterns, we can explore heavy topics in ways that feel safe, accessible, and thought-provoking. This abstract approach allows learners to step back just enough to process difficult content without feeling directly exposed or defensive.
The power of a visual metaphor
A towering figure or shape can represent power and pressure, while a small one can suggest vulnerability, exclusion, or fear. Shifting from dark, desaturated tones to brighter hues can represent a journey from isolation to clarity or conflict to resolution. These visual shorthands communicate emotions instantly and effectively.
"Sinking Feeling" by PAPYRUSCharity (YouTube, 2021)
Animation as a window into other lives
Animation can help learners see the world from someone else’s perspective. Character centred stories combined with visual techniques like symbolism, pacing, and sound allow us to experience a character’s emotions – something especially powerful when exploring topics like bias and inclusion
The Breathtaking Courage of Harriet Tubman places the viewer right alongside the protagonist, feeling tension, hope, and fear through vivid and abstract animation.
"The breathtaking courage of Harriet Tubman - Janell Hobson"
by Ted ED (YouTube, 2018)
Universal stories and deeper connection
Yet the strength of animation can also lie in its simplicity. Characters can be stylised to protect identity, avoiding assumptions about race, gender, age, or role. This makes the story feel more universal, especially when there’s no obvious setting like an office or store. By stripping away literal details, animation invites learners to project themselves into the story and personally connect with the content.
"Lonliness" by Kurzgesagt (YouTube, 2019)
Building emotion with sound and pace
But it’s not just what you see – it’s what you hear and feel too. Carefully considered sound effects lift content so it hits us on an even more visceral level. Pace is the rhythm of the story: fast pacing creates urgency, tension, or confusion – mirroring feelings of stress and pressure. Slower pacing, on the other hand, gives space to breathe, absorb, and reflect, ideal when dealing with emotionally heavy or nuanced subjects.
Real-world examples
Nexus Studios created a campaign for Gamble Aware that tells the human experience of gambling addiction, using silhouetted 2D visuals to represent the difficult emotions and stigma that surrounds gambling.
At the end of the animation, the two-colour hand-drawn scene transitions to a real person, reminding us that these are the experiences of real people. This is a clever way to bring in an element of reality without relying entirely on film.
"GambleAware Stigma Campaign - Magnets 30" by GambleAware (YouTube, 2023)
The Against Young Suicide – Papyrus campaign has no voiceover, no script - just powerful visual storytelling; a stunning example of how animation can communicate complex emotions with care and clarity.
"Sinking Feeling" by PAPYRUSCharity (YouTube, 2021)
It doesn’t spell everything out
Unlike film, which tends to show every detail literally, animation often leaves intentional gaps – a space for the audience to imagine, interpret, and reflect. This isn’t a flaw; it’s a feature. When learners are invited to fill in the blanks, they’re not just watching a story unfold – they’re actively engaging with it.
As animator James Isgrove puts it:
“With upsetting and delicate scenes…sometimes it is better to leave some of the details to the viewer’s imagination. The idea is to lead the story down a path and let the viewer’s mind fill in the blanks”.
Ground stories in truth
The power of animation lies in its ability to transcend the literal - evoking emotion through symbolism, abstraction, and visual metaphor.
But they can also be an effective way to fictionalise and universalise real stories from within an organisation.
A scalable, global solution
And there are other perks for learning too – animation avoids tying the content to a geographical location or workplace setting. And it’s adaptable, so if content needs localising later, it's easily translated without re-filming. Great for global audiences.
Want to see it in action?
We brought all this thinking to life in our recent work with Specsavers on their Dignity at Work programme - an eLearning solution focused on bullying and harassment.
To make the content resonate, we needed more than just policy. We needed people. So we gave each of the three modules a powerful hook: short, animated stories based on realistic scenarios. These animations brought emotion, empathy, and impact - turning policy into something personal.
Desq: Dignity at Work for Specsavers
“Although it was a new approach for us, the animation plays a crucial role in highlighting the importance of preventing harm to our people. By illustrating the real consequences of what might be considered ‘harmless banter,’ we took the right first step in explaining the policies and processes designed to protect everyone here at Specsavers.”
Barry Davison, Head of Learning & Development at Specsavers
Want help designing more engaging digital learning? Drop us a line.
