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