Animation, Individual Piece
Agency - Duke & Duck
Client - National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; National Academies
Dealing with addiction is almost impossibly hard, and we wanted to present a real-life experience of someone affected by opioid use disorder (OUD) to get past the stigma that most people carry into any conversation about treating OUD with medications, such as the incorrect assumption that people are only switching from one drug to another. We needed to make it clear that treatment with medications for OUD is effective and saves lives, and that improving access to these medications is essential in our fight against the opioid epidemic. We wanted people to be inspired by connecting to one mother’s story in the fight against OUD — both the policymakers and public health officials who are in a position to influence addiction treatment policy and programs, and people who are experiencing addiction along with their loved ones. We chose an animation approach and used archival audio of testimony from our narrator to strike the balance between this one personal story and the larger policy implications. Because this is such a personal story, we were drawn to an illustrative approach to help strike an emotional chord for this vulnerable narrative.
Creative Development: Duke & Duck
Creative Director: Alex Herder
Production Manager: Tarisa Shelton
Art Director: Katie Trayte
Animators: Victor Verdugo, Dave Ellington
Sound Design: Chris Mastellone