A collaboration with the Met Office and GIPHY to bring some character to the UKs national weather and climate service.
Challenge
Following the successful launch of the Met Office’s GIPHY channel last year we teamed up to create a super fun set of weather-themed animations. The set is led by a lovable cloud character - Christopher Cumulonimbus, and visualises a range of weathers and related moods.
Development
We tested a number of cool and quirky characters to see which felt right. The character had to likeable and relatable, so people would use them on sicla channels. They also needed to represent not only the weather conditions, but the human emotions connected with them.
The duck was very nearly the chosen one, but he just lost out to our hero Christopher Cumulonimbus in the end!
Final Designs
The final set of character designs are fun and accessible, appealing to a new and younger audience whilst not alienating the existing one. Each weather scenario is visualised with a tongue-in-cheek sense of humour and a cheeky and colourful design style.
Characterful Clouds
Using illustration and animation in their band communications is a new direction for the Met Office, and the character we created has become an unofficial brand mascot for the organisation. As his popularity and fame grows we're hoping to develop this character for use in more fun ways, including educational content for younger audiences.
The result
From gloomy rainy days and pining for sunshine, to the excitement of fresh snowfall, our cloud character is here to celebrate the full range of UK weather! The exclusive sticker and GIF pack, now available on the Met Office’s GIPHY channel, features nine weather-based scenarios, perfect for adding a playful twist to us Brits favourite topic of conversation - the weather!
"We are delighted to have been working closely with the amazing team at Flow to launch an exclusive animated sticker pack, made in collaboration with GIPHY, for launch on our ever-expanding channel. The bright, colourful set feature a loveable cloud character designed to make you laugh, smile and share in those moments when weather impacts how you feel."
"Collaborating with the Met Office on the Christopher Cumulonimbus GIF pack was a dream come true! Users come to GIPHY to express themselves and often our users are reacting to weather patterns and events. For this campaign, we worked with the Met Office to reflect user search data in a fun, playful and eye-catching way. I can't wait to see users reacting to the weather with Christopher Cumulonimbus."
Contributors & Credits
- Creative Director: Karl Doran
- Illustration: Winston Tsang
- Art Director: Winston Tsang
- Production Management: Brett Speers, Clare O'Mahoney
- Animation: Winston Tsang, Rosa Kennedy, Jim Kuwamura
