A Pathway to Independence: An animated explainer for YMCA South Midlands
YMCA South Midlands, a charity based in Milton Keynes and Northampton, needed one short film to show young people its Pathway to Independence: four stages, three years, from the day you arrive to the day you move on. It was their first ever animation, and the team wanted it to be the hero of their comms.
"James was great to work with. He understood the brief and was able to come up with great creative. He stuck to the budget and delivered on time to meet our deadline. Super creative and easy to work with. Highly recommend."
Nicky Talacko, Brand & Digital Communications Manager, YMCA South Midlands
Built from triangles
Early on, Nicky mentioned that the YMCA logo is built from triangles. That detail ended up shaping the whole film: everything we designed and animated is made from strong, simple geometric shapes. The clearest example is the progress bar along the top, which moves from a triangle to a pentagon to a hexagon. Each has more sides than the last, a simple way of showing the young person gaining experience and independence as they move along the path.
The real star of the film is the YMCA's building. It was designed around the four stages of the pathway, so rather than treating it as a backdrop, we drew the real thing and made it a character in its own right: the place where the whole journey happens.
The result
The film launched at a YMCA South Midlands event on 18 September 2026 and was really well received. Within days, they were back asking to turn the artwork into print.
Off the screen and onto the walls
Because the film was built from simple, flat shapes, its artwork works just as well standing still. We're now adapting it into a set of journey posters for their building, so young people meet the same hexagon on the wall that they met in the film.