MY WORLD – Alex Kessling

MY WORLD

My World is an educational initiative targeting 13-16 year olds, designed to engage them with news and educate them about misinformation and the process of news gathering and verification. This project was a collaborative effort between Angelina Jolie's charity, Microsoft Education, and BBC World Service. The goal was to create a 12-episode show that fosters critical thinking and media literacy among teenagers.

Concept / Branding / Motion

I was the one-person design team for this massive project, responsible for creating the brand and all associated graphic and motion design. This included developing visual identities, animations, and other multimedia content. Additionally, I managed the collaboration with the partners, ensuring all design elements aligned with the project's educational goals and the branding guidelines of each organization. I primarily used Adobe Illustrator for the graphic design and Adobe After Effects for the motion design.

The project built on the work we had done for Africa Kids, a similar news show focusing on general topics from around the world. Angelina Jolie's team saw the show in Africa and brought it to her attention, which led to the collaboration with Bill Gates, BBC World Service, and eventually me. The initial research focused on understanding the interests and perspectives of 13-16 year olds interested in news and current affairs. I based the titles on their feelings of wanting to dive in, push, and break through the status quo for a better, fairer world.

"The design process initially involved a committee approach, with everyone inputting and pushing for specific colors like red or blue. While I aimed to keep the teenagers' stories and feelings at the forefront, the early designs were strong but became diluted through numerous iterations. With four weeks left before the pilot and no consensus, I gathered all the feedback from the past eight weeks and isolated myself for 48 hours. I focused on the teenagers' passion and how the BBC could guide them, with support from Angelina Jolie's and Microsoft's backing. I created numerous sketches and Illustrator files, centering the entire brand around the title sequence. The story was strong enough to drive the whole design, which I pitched and secured full buy-in by the end of the week. Sometimes, all it takes is a bit of creative hermit mode!

The 'My World' project received overwhelmingly positive feedback and has paved the way for significant future projects. The experience led to the creation of shows like 'Dars,' an educational program for Afghan girls banned from school. 'My World' also expanded to include online-only content that was well-received, and Microsoft distributed the original show along with internal explainers on their platform. The impressive turnaround in the 12 weeks leading up to the first show highlighted the team's ability to create a new show from scratch, showcasing the power of collaboration and dedication. Teamwork makes the dream work, and a bit of sleep deprivation apparently! With all the pain, it was a great experience and wonderful to work on a show that made an impact.