A non profit gathering space just for women with autism.
Felicity House is a unique space in NYC for women with autism to meet up, learn, create and be part of a supportive community. They were looking to create a video to welcome new members and give the women a warm introduction to the house.
What makes Felicity House so special is that they’re dedicated to adult women which is a much smaller percentage of people with autism. We needed a script that would convert a multipage handbook into a welcoming story and allow any woman watching to get a glimpse of what it would feel to be a part of Felicity House.
Concept Art
The visuals needed to have an understanding and nuance of the intended audience, but also be smart and stylish to reflect adult women living in NYC. We were encouraged to focus on the details of the space, and create an impression of the space, without being overly literal. Some of these initial concepts stayed throughout, but mostly just the palette and painterly style moved onto the next stages of development.
Typography
When designing the type we wanted to keep it personal, friendly and artistic so we chose a hand drawn font and animated in a written style. We also wanted to embellish the font with painterly effects, as well as some florals to match with the aesthetic of the video.
Character Design
We had a unique challenge of trying to allow the women to imagine themselves in the space without actually seeing any person that may not represent their gender identity, race or body type. That sensitivity was really important throughout, so we stuck to only seeing the staff members as full body characters. When we do see a representation of the autistic women, they are cropped shots of hands or feet. Below are a few designs of the staff members.
Credits
Client: Felicity House
Direction: Yeah Haus
Creative Director: Chad Thompson
Art Direction/Illustration: Michelle Ouellette
Animation: Juan Buscarons, Andrew Embury, Sara Bennett, Chad Thompson
Copywriter: Adam Burkett
Voice Over: Celia Aurora de Blas
