We all know that a picture paints a thousand words. So, if you were to create a short on-line presentation that dealt with an important issue such as poverty and were trying to not only inform the viewer but also to make a profound emotional connection, it would make sense to use images of the problem — photographs of the actual people in need of help. You need words to inform and express much of the story, but you need pictures to really capture people's attention and make the message stick, right? Not necessarily. Kinetic type, or animated or moving text, is a powerful and creative way to add emotion, create mood, add emphasis, etc. in a way that can amplify a narrative in a very visual way by using nothing more than type and motion (and often layering, transparency effects, etc.).

In future I'll explore Kinetic typography here a bit more, but for now I bring up the topic so that I can point you to a very cool short presentation which tells a compelling story using nothing but dynamic type and a musical soundtrack that is very much in the background. Watch the YouTube version below, or go The Girl Effect website to see a full screen version of the video presentation.

The Girl Effect

 

Girls at the crossroads
The unexpected use of dynamic text rather than emotional images is very effective and a powerful juxtaposition with the short video presentations featuring actual real-life stories. The first presentation draws you in, then the interviews go deeper with real examples in a more traditional documentary style. Here's one below featuring Sanchita in Bangladesh.



Learn more about The Girl Effect
• Girl Effect website
• More video presentations from their website
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H/T to all the people who sent me The Girl Effect link over the past week or so. Good stuff. Thanks so much!