The Lambeth Library Challenge is a website commissioned by Lambeth Council, that aims to get people engaged in the budget cuts faced by their local libraries.
The user is guided through the variable costs of running a library, allowing them to choose where to spend the available budget by using a simple slider and a budget monitor.
As a freelancing illustrator/animator for digital design agency White October, I got involved early on in the project. In meetings with the designer, developer and project manager we discussed the possible structure, look and feel of the app; how to make a strict council budget comprehensible and engage the user to make budget decisions based on what services they would like their local library to provide.
We decided on a pop-up book feel, in line with the topic of libraries, and started brainstorming possible pop-up visuals for the separate sections provided by the council (e.g. books, staff, maintenance). Once the illustration style and the content was agreed, I got onto illustrating the assets and animating a simple pop-up movement, which I delivered as separate spritesheets to be animated in css and javascript – popping up or down, depending on the state of the budget slider.
On the basis of the success of the Lambeth Library Challenge Lambeth Council commissioned a second app, the Lambeth Parks Challenge, which aims to engage people with the budgets of their local parks. more info