Family Economic Mobility is a 7-episode educational video series designed to provide lower-income families with resources to improve their financial situations. Created for the Office of Head Start, the series is part of the Family Economic Mobility Toolkit, a resource developed to support conversations around financial stability, goal setting, and economic well-being among families and the professionals who work with them.
It was awarded with 45th Annual Silver Telly Award.
The brief required a visual identity that was professional, relaxed, and not corporate, complementing the video's empowering tone without feeling overly serious or didactic.
Each episode featured a pre-existing cel-animated story characterized by a hand-drawn style and a desaturated color palette. The challenge was to design diverse graphic interventions for the expert's explanations, creating a visual bridge between the live-action footage and the animation while maintaining the series' overall tone.
I developed a mixed-media system built around four adaptable tools: title screens, text overlays, full-screen lists, and conceptual visualizations. I used analog elements like ripped paper, wood, and real-world objects—such as receipts and calculators—to make abstract financial concepts tangible and visually cohesive.
The educational scope of the series goes beyond basic budgeting, tackling systemic obstacles. A specific focus was required for segments addressing domestic violence and financial abuse as a method of power and control. For these moments, the visual language adapted: I stripped away the lighter elements to treat the subject matter with directness, while strictly avoiding graphic or violent imagery in favor of a purely conceptual and respectful approach.
To achieve the tactile feel of the mixed-media graphics, the workflow focused on blending digital animation with analog aesthetics. Real-world elements—such as paper textures, receipts, and objects—were sourced, isolated, and prepared. In After Effects, these assets were layered to create depth through the deliberate use of drop shadows and masking. The animations had to clearly follow the rhythm of the spoken dialogue. The motion was deliberately paced to keep the screen visually alive without rushing, allowing the graphics to unfold step by step and firmly support the expert's explanations while maintaining an organic, crafted quality.
Client: Head Start - Office of Childcare
Production: Pendragwn Productions
Producers: Jon Michael Shink, Michael Skinner
Audio Post Production: Spinn Creative
Mixed media Art direction and animation: Elisa De Fazio