Refugee Council Animation

This animated explainer film was written and commissioned by the Refugee Council to help refugees navigate the UK housing market and London's transport system. It is made for people living in asylum hotels - those waiting for a decision or who need to move after getting refugee status. The video gives simple, clear advice about what happens next. I designed and animated the film for Screen 3 productions in late summer 2025. Being a Londoner it was a priviledge to work on a meaningful project about a young refugee living in London, deciding on his future.

Managing Housing Expectations for Refugees - Animated Explainer Film for the UK Refugee Council
THE DESIGN PROCESS
This was a long form animation compared to my usual motion graphics gigs, so here I will detail my design process, from pitch to the final cut. 
THE PITCH
Andy Oxley, the director of Screen 3 Productions sent me a script from the Refugee Council and asked me if I wanted to pitch for it. I read the script and read through the visual ideas they had for each scene, adding my own notes. I then put together a visual moodboard based around illustrated images of diversity, London settings and travel. I came up with a suggested colour palette: blue and red (Union Jack British colours), and two earth colours to represent refugees from the Middle East. Later, on seeing the Refugee Council's brand guidelines I had a fixed colour palette to work with, which I extended. Fortunately their colours included a similar red and 2 shades of blue.
The effort I put in did the trick, and based on our final presentation and work samples we won the pitch!  
moodboard explainer video graphics uk animation
Animation stills: Asylum hotel scenes
asylum hotels refugee council animation
Animation stills: London scenes, the rental market and the cost of living 
life in the uk refugee council film
Animation stills: Modes of transport in London
london transport icons refugee council animation
Animation stills: The difficulty of obtaining council housing, renting in London, and option of supported housing
uk housing refugee council video
Animation still: A refugee is encouraged to consider the option of living in a shared rental house
shared home for refugees in the uk
Deleted airport scene! I was very fond of this Heathrow arrival scene where our refugee is greeted by his wife and child. Sadly, due to a sudden change in UK policy, family reunion applications were suspended so the scene was cut. 
refugee family reunion london airport
Client: Refugee Council UK
Script: Gavriella Morris and Natasha Chatterjee
Narration: Jamie Coward
Agency: Screen 3 Productions (video)
Design and Animation: Matt Wasser
V/O translations: Clearvoice
Funder: Bridges Outcomes Partnerships
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