In 2013, Food & Water Watch needed a promotional companion piece to its report, Superweeds. The item would need to explain the relationship between genetically modified crops and herbicide-resistant weeds —and their impact on the environment — in a way that might engage activists more than the report alone. With limited resources, the options were few, but the communicatons team ultimately decided on creating a short slideshow-style video that would provide an illustrated overview of the problem.
After developing the overall concept and working with the food research team and communications staff to develop a narrative script, I created a storyboard comprised of 13 scenes that would accompany the narration. I then provided art direction and content oversight for professional illustrator Meghan Boehman, who created custom illustrations for each of the slides in the storyboard. The result was a simple, effective overview of the problem detailed in the report, giving Food & Water Watch’s communications and outreach teams a new tool to engage activists and the general public in an issue that impacts everyone, but can be difficult to explain and understand.
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As of October 2019, the final video has more than 21,000 views on YouTube.