Animation for health education
We create medical and health care animations that educate, explain and engage
Bespoke animations for health education
From explaining complex medical procedures to raising awareness and promoting health campaigns, animations can be integral to training and communications toolkits.
By combining creative visuals with a carefully curated storyline and quality production, animated videos can enhance learning experiences and raise awareness. We make health education accessible, relatable and enjoyable for learners of all ages.
Why use animation in health education?
Widely used in health and medical professional training and patient education, medical explainer animations can simplify intricate medical procedures, describe drug mechanisms and aid surgical preparation using visuals and motion. Health education animations can cater to diverse learning styles, offering engaging visual content that enhances retention and understanding. They also encourage interactive learning, increase engagement and promote active participation.
Read about using animations to demonstrate healthcare procedures.
Animations in health awareness campaigns
Animations are great for healthcare awareness campaigns because visual storytelling enhances comprehension, increases engagement, and is versatile for conveying diverse healthcare subjects and issues. All this makes animations for health campaigns an ideal tool to educate and inform the public about health-related issues.
Read about maximising your storytelling opportunities through animation.
Why choose AV Studios?
At our London-based animation studios, our team has over twenty years of experience in producing custom animations and digital learning tools for healthcare, exploring subjects such as malaria, Ebola, COVID-19, antimicrobial resistance, mental health and wellbeing, sexual health, obstetric ultrasound, dental procedures and maternal and newborn health.
We work with our clients to get to the heart of the project brief. We then apply our creativity and technical expertise to develop bespoke animations that engage and educate audiences.
Take a look at some of our animated videos for health.
Where to start?
Every project starts with a clear animation creative brief. Begin with the basics. It might seem obvious, but think about:
- The purpose of the healthcare animation – what are its aims?
- Its target audience – is it aimed at professionals, patients, or specific communities?
- Where will it be used?
- Will it need translations for different audiences?
- How long do you want it to be?
- When’s the deadline?
- What’s your budget?
We’ve put together a handy guide to how to write a brief for an animation.
How animations are brought to life
Every project is unique, but the steps to creating a healthcare animation are based on eight key stages. You can read about how we bring animations to life, but in summary, here are the key steps and a rough idea of the timescales for developing a 3-4-minute animation:
Script
The script is one of the most important components of your animation. It creates a clear story structure while directing character interactions and dialogue.
You’ll know the procedure you need to explain, the story you want to tell and the messages you want your animation to convey, but it can be tricky to know where to begin when writing your script. No problem; we can work with you to draw out the key points you want to convey and how to articulate them.
1-2 weeks
Illustration style
With the story outlined in your script, we’ll then create illustrations of the key characters and one of the scenes in a style that fits with your message.
We don’t have a house illustration style, but our characters and scenes always include strong and flat colours, patterns and detailed elements. Combining these recognisable scenes with graphical elements, we create a visual language that resonates with your audience.
If you have brand guidelines you need us to stick to, we can create an illustration style that works with your brand identity.
1 week
Voiceover
With the script finalised, you now need the right voice, or voices, to explain the process or tell your story. As well as complimenting the illustrations, the voiceover plays a significant role in delivering your message, adding personality and capturing your audience’s attention.
There’s a lot to consider when choosing a voiceover artist—for example, the tone of your message and the characters’ genders, accents or languages. We’ve got access to a range of voices, accents and languages, and we’re experienced at offering guidance on what works best.
For some medical procedures, you may decide a voiceover isn’t necessary and opt for on-screen instructions instead. We can add some sound effects to retain the viewer’s engagement, as we did in these NHS Dentist education animations.
1 day
Storyboard
When the script and the illustration style example have been signed off, we’ll create a static storyboard. Lines from the script will be added to the illustrations so it’s clear which image goes with what text to tell your story.
1-2 weeks
Animatic
When the storyboard has been approved, we’ll time the static illustrations to the voiceover and add some basic music and sound effects, which we’ll share for feedback.
1 week
Animation production
With the animatic agreed, we can work on the final stage of your animation. Here’s where the magic happens. As well as animating the film we’ll add music and sound effects to really bring your animation to life. Find out more about the tools we use to create your animation.
2-3 weeks
Final film
When we have a completed version of the film, we’ll share it with you using Vimeo Review so you can add any final comments and suggest minor tweaks. Any more significant updates, such as changes to the previously agreed action, may delay the schedule and add to the costs.
1 week
Final delivery and clips for social
When all your stakeholders are happy with the film, the HD MP4 animation will be shared via WeTransfer or Vimeo. We can also deliver animation 15, 20 and 30 second clips in different aspect ratios for use on social media platforms.
Clients
What do our clients say?
‘Alternative View Studios really understand our audiences. Their skill is in powerful but simple, beautifully created storytelling.’
Catherine McCarthy, CEO, Medical Aid Films
‘I highly recommend Alternative View Studios for making educational animations. They provided a very high level of design and service and we were highly impressed on how they were so adeptly able to adapt or re-create their designs appropriately to the varying cultural contexts that our project demanded.’
Susana Scott, Assistant professor in Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
FAQS
What is an explainer animation?
An explainer animation is a short, visually engaging animated video that simplifies complex concepts or processes. These animations are often used in education because imagery, narration and storytelling can make even the most complicated subjects easier for learners to grasp. Explainer animations can also accommodate diverse learning styles to enhance viewers’ understanding and encourage knowledge retention.
How much will a bespoke health animation cost?
There are many aspects to creating a custom animation: detailed scriptwriting, storyboarding, design, voiceover, music selection and sound effects incorporation. The result is impactful content that explains your procedure or tells your story.
As a guide, a bespoke animation (excluding voiceover costs) will cost £1,000 (+VAT) per minute. We always agree on a fixed price at the beginning of a project – once the scope has been finalised. This avoids any unexpected bills when you receive your final animation.
Can you create animations in languages other than English?
We’ve created animations in a huge number of languages including Spanish, French, Russian, Arabic and Chinese; African languages including Kiswahili, Hausa, Sierra Leone Krio, Shona, Ndebele and Somali; Indian languages such as Punjabi, Urdu, Gujarati and Bengali – so the answer is definitely yes!
What subject matters have you covered in your health animations?
Over the last twenty years, we’ve created healthcare and medical animations exploring a range of subjects such as malaria, Ebola, COVID-19, antimicrobial resistance, mental health and wellbeing, sexual health, obstetric ultrasound, dental procedures and maternal and newborn health.
What styles of animation do you create?
We don’t have a house illustration style, but our characters and scenes always include strong flat colours, patterns and detailed elements. Combining these recognisable scenes with graphical devices we create a visual language that resonates with your audience.
COVID 19 vaccine when pregnant
Recently, we’ve been experimenting with a collage style that combines photographs, textures and more illustrative elements to create a faux stop-motion animation style. Combining this 2D animation with 3D elements adds depth to the scenes and enhances visual appeal.
What are the benefits of animations to tell healthcare stories?
If you’ve ever shot a live-action video, you probably know it’s a complicated and sometimes frustrating process. You have to worry about the location, actors, props, equipment, and sets, and that’s not even considering the weather!
With an animated video, you’re not constrained by any of these factors. You can switch backgrounds, add or remove characters, and even change audio elements to adapt to different languages.
Read about using animation to promote a cause
Want to find out more?
We’ve been doing this for over 20 years, working with international clients including BBC, Cambridge University Press & Assessment, News UK, Medical Aid Films and Friend. Your creative projects will be in good hands with Alternative View Studios.
Call us on 020 8374 4760 or email on hello@avstudios.com