Some time ago I had the opportunity to create illustrations for WWF Polska as part of the campaign for the seal season 2023. My task was to create illustrations (and animations based on them) that were to expand people's awareness. At the turn of February and March, on the beaches you can meet young seals lounging, whose peace is disturbed by unaware people. The campaign aimed to humorously present five types of beach anti-heroes in the form of funny illustrations and animations.
I started my work with brainstorming in a sketchbook. I came up with a few suggestions for each character, of which I chose couple that were presented to the client.
After picking out a few ideas, I transferred the sketches to Photoshop and started clearing up the illustrations there.
Ideas for illustrating the characters were the starting point for short animations. Each begins with a short introduction with the name of the beach anti-hero and ends with the slogan "Don't be like [name of anti-hero]. Don't be an anti-hero on your beach."
Here are all of the anti-heros:
Unfulfilled paparazzi
This is a person who can't resist taking pictures of a seal lying on the beach. He often gets very close and uses a mobile phone for photos, with a loud shutter sound and flash, which is extremely stressful for a wild seal.
Omniscient self
It's a person who cares about the welfare of the animal, unfortunately, due to lack of knowledge, he usually only harms it. He tries to feed her, throw her back into the water or provide unprofessional (and often unnecessary) help.
Laid back owner
A laid-back walker is a person who goes for a walk on the beach with a pet that is let loose, without a leash. A curious dog comes close to the seal, which may attack if it feels threatened. This is a stressful and dangerous situation for both animals.
A relentless athlete
A laid-back walker is a person who goes for a walk on the beach with a pet that is let loose, without a leash. A curious dog comes close to the seal, which may attack if it feels threatened. This is a stressful and dangerous situation for both animals.
Hurdler jumper
This is a person who, due to lack of awareness, indifference, and sometimes out of curiosity, crosses a specially separated space for a seal. Sometimes he jumps over it, other times he goes under it, often destroying the fence.
Illustrations and animations made in Photoshop. And this is what all the animations look like:
Animation illustrations: Hania Kmieć
Project Manager: Halszka Gronek
Client: WWF
