The Challenge:Illinois has underfunded its public universities for decades. Tuition keeps rising, students keep getting priced out, and the policy arguments that could fix it were buried in data nobody was reading. The Coalition for Transforming Higher Education Funding needed to make that case in a way that actually moved people.

Our Approach:We built the visual world from scratch using a paper-cut 2D animation style that feels handcrafted without sacrificing clarity. The Illinois state shape becomes a storytelling device. The Funding vs. Tuition crossover chart becomes a gut punch. People first, data second. The emotion lands before the argument even starts.

The Result:The video became a tool for real advocacy. Screened for legislators, used at coalition meetings, and part of the push that helped move equitable higher education funding from a talking point to actual legislation in Illinois.