This 2D animated PSA video for The California Endowment walked Californians through voting by mail, step by step, during the 2020 pandemic, with a diverse cast of characters and Spanish subtitles so every viewer could see themselves in it.

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About This Nonprofit PSA Animation

The Challenge: In 2020, millions of Californians faced voting by mail for the first time, during a pandemic, with a bureaucratic process full of small steps where a mistake could void a ballot. The California Endowment needed the process to feel simple, safe, and doable for everyone.

The Solution: We broke the process into bite-sized, chronological visuals: register, fill out the ballot, double-check it, sign the envelope, mail it. A deliberately diverse cast, across ages, ethnicities, and physical abilities, carried the message that this process belongs to every Californian, with Spanish subtitles widening the reach further.

The Result: A 99-second guide that reassured voters they didn’t have to choose between their health and their civic voice, and that showed exactly how to get it right the first time.

Key Features That Make This PSA Animation Work

  • A process made visual: each bureaucratic step becomes a clear, watchable moment, register, complete, verify, sign, mail.
  • Representation by design: characters of varied ages, backgrounds, and abilities make the message land with the whole community.
  • Bilingual reach: Spanish subtitles built in, not bolted on.
  • Period-perfect reassurance: made in 2020, it met a moment when health and civic duty felt like a trade-off, and showed they weren’t.

Technical Details

Year: 2020

Format: Flat vector 2D character animation

Style: Bold outlines, warm inclusive cast

Purpose: Public education on voting by mail

Runtime: 1:39

Target Audience: Registered voters in California

Deliverables: The California Endowment public outreach (English with Spanish subtitles)

Why Animation Works for Public Service Announcements

Instructional PSAs live or die on clarity. Live-action can show one person’s experience; animation can show everyone’s, and make each step unmistakable.

A drawn cast also sidesteps the casting problem entirely: our 2D animation made inclusivity a design decision, not a production constraint.

And when the moment is tense, as 2020 was, animation’s warmth lowers the temperature: the message reads as helpful guidance, not another alarming headline.

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