Amsterdam design and animation studio PlusOne crafts a series of swirling and vibrant hand-drawn vignettes to tackle the challenge of raising awareness about STDs and HIV among immigrants to the Netherlands from sub-Saharan Africa, Suriname, the Dutch Antilles and Aruba.

“Recent research has shown these groups to be at greater risk of infection due to cultural factors, which often result in them being less inclined to acknowledge the risk or seek help. This is not only bad for the health of the individuals concerned, but also the wider community. So there’s work to be done…

“To have an impact on this audience, we knew we’d have to develop an approach which would resonate culturally. The film needed to balance clarity with playfulness to open minds and engage with a very serious message.

“It had to be sensitive to boundaries, yet direct enough to provoke action. We therefore set about writing a script with an authentic and powerful tone-of-voice, which avoided being patronizing.

“Mostly inspired by African art we’ve crafted expressive hand-drawn graphics and fluent transitions to impart a personal touch and create a powerful visual language, which is easy to relate to for the target audience.

“In addition to the general campaign film we also created a piece intended for general practitioners. They’re on the front-line in recognizing and advising on this issue, so raising more awareness in this arena is important.

“Although very labour-intensive working frame by frame, we feel the resulting look has a charming handcrafted feel to it. It is accompanied by an evocative sound track which intertwines with the narrative, creating a piece that will hopefully resonate with its audience and be very memorable.”

Client: Soa Aids Nederland
Designed, directed and produced by PlusOne.
Creative Director: Martijn Hogenkamp
Producer: Marcel Vrieswijk
Design and animation: Christaan Vlok, Cas Prins, Guido van Gemerden, Ola Tandstad, Rob Wienk, Jeroen Peter, Martijn Hogenkamp, Marcel Vrieswijk, Geert Jansen
Copy: Miriam Young, Jessica Lehrer
Music and Sound Design: ParkStudio
Client: Wim Zuilhof, Rieneke de Man, Eva Meddens
Special thanks to: Van Kruijssen Casting, InterVoiceOver, Raymi Sambo, Farida van den Stoom
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