The British Council

BIRAX

The British Council and the British Embassy in Israel have been working closely to invest in much-needed research. Teaming up on the multimillion-pound Britain-Israel Research and Academic Exchange initiative, or BIRAX, they’ve enabled collaborations between top scientists across Britain and Israel. We collaborated with the British Council to create a whiteboard animation showcasing BIRAX projects and achievements.

LET’s Talk

The Brief

Our task was to celebrate the success of the initiative and encourage further participation and funding to deepen the ties between Britain and Israel.

The BIRAX program has had wide-reaching cultural, economic, and scientific impacts: They have funded 26 research projects on world-leading health issues, amassed thousands of citations, and connected over 1200 people. No wonder their impact report is 55 pages long!

The Explainer Video

Our group of creatives here at Cognitive managed to sum it up visually: from the importance of BIRAX donors to its impact and achievements, all the while merging in statistics and details from real scientific reports. We decided to focus on one project, a collaboration developing algorithms to diagnose and manage macular degeneration, a blinding eye condition.

The visuals are grounded in reality. We introduced real scientists as characters in the animation, honouring those involved with BIRAX, and included accurate scientific imagery, from authentic lab equipment to actual retinal scans. Our creative team transformed our standard Cognitive blue and white colour scheme, tailoring the animation with BIRAXs’ vibrant branding colours to create a memorable animation.

Animating these illustrations makes for a more digestible visual experience. The film's script and visuals weave together tactfully at a pace that keeps the viewer hooked, while allowing them to absorb the messaging. Merging voiceover, illustrations, and animation, we created a powerful and professional animation for the British Council, highlighting their life-changing research and global impact.

The Client

BIRAX – Britain-Israel Research and Academic Exchange – was initiated in 2011 by the British Council, British Embassy in Israel, and the UK Science and Innovation Network in collaboration with the Pears Foundation as a founding partner.

The Context

Discover more about BIRAXs’ achievements by visiting the British Council website.

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The British Council - BIRAX