Scouts
Squirrels Welcome!
Deliverables:
Introductory welcome film
Illustrated activity assets
13 sing-along videos
Printed songbook
My role:
Creative direction
Project management
Graphic design
Illustration
Prop making
Stop motion
Animation and motion design
Filming, editing and compositing
Music production
Creative direction
Project management
Graphic design
Illustration
Prop making
Stop motion
Filming, editing and compositing
Music production
Following Scouts’ launch of Squirrels—their first new age section in 36 years—I was commissioned to create an introductory video.
It's main purpose was to drum up children's excitement before they start with a group. It also needed to explain what Squirrels was and help to ease anxious children’s (or parents’) minds by letting them know what to expect.
As well as the 'welcome film', stand-alone activity related illustrations were needed for their online portal as well as various 'kareoke sing-along' videos of original Squirrel-themed songs. Similar to 'The Great Indoors' work, a 'branding approach' was needed so that all the elements had cohesion and felt part of the same family.
Following the launch of Squirrels—Scouts’ first new age section in 36 years—I was commissioned to create an introductory welcome film.
Its main purpose was to build excitement among children before they joined their first group. It also needed to explain what Squirrels was, show what they could expect and help reassure children, parents and carers who might feel anxious about attending for the first time.
Alongside the welcome film, Scouts required standalone activity illustrations for its online portal and a series of karaoke-style videos featuring original Squirrel-themed songs. As with The Great Indoors', the project needed a cohesive visual approach so that the films, illustrations and printed materials all felt part of the same family.
The script was written by Scouts' in-house team and I was tasked with the creative direction and production.
It was reading at around two minutes and baring in mind it needing to hold the (potentially short) attention spans of 4-6 year olds - it was important that the on-screen action was fast paced, varied and jam packed with fun!
The script was written by Scouts’ in-house team, while I was responsible for the creative direction and production.
At around two minutes long, the film needed to communicate a lot of information while holding the attention of a very young audience. It was therefore important that the on-screen action felt fast-paced, varied and packed with playful visual ideas.
Storyboards
Animatic
A mixed media approach was chosen for the film, combining 2D computer animation, claymation and finger puppets, purposely hinting at some of the activities children can expect to do with Squirrel Scouts.
I wanted the overall style to be bold and colourful. The characters needed to be distinctive enough that they were own-able yet not alien to the demographic. I took inspiration from the simplicity of Dick Bruna's 'Miffy' (giving it a modern geometric twist!).
The narration was voiced by my two children, who at the time were eight and five.
A mixed-media approach was chosen, combining 2D digital animation, claymation and finger puppetry. The different techniques deliberately reflected some of the creative, practical and hands-on activities children could expect to experience at Squirrels.
I wanted the overall style to feel bold, colourful and welcoming. The characters needed to be distinctive and ownable while remaining familiar and appealing to young children. I took inspiration from the simplicity of Dick Bruna’s Miffy, giving the characters a more contemporary and geometric visual treatment.
The narration was provided by my two children, who were nine and six at the time. Their natural delivery helped the film feel warm, friendly and directly connected to its young audience.
I first designed all the scenes in 2D, flat vectors so that even when they were produced physically, they shared a common design language and felt consistent throughout.
As the finger puppets would be held at a distance in-front of the set (to allow room for the puppeteers to sit down), I made 'dummy scenes' using paper and photographed these until the finger puppets size matched the 2D designs.
I initially designed every scene as a flat 2D vector composition. This created a clear visual blueprint for the production and ensured that the digitally animated and physically constructed scenes shared the same shapes, proportions and colour palette.
Because the finger puppets needed to be held some distance in front of the set—leaving enough space for the puppeteers to work—I first created paper test scenes and photographed them at different scales. This allowed me to determine the correct puppet size so that the physical scenes closely matched the original 2D designs.
I used a laser-cutter to cut out the elements needed - such as paper, felt and the wooden props (that I would later paint with acrylic).
I was keen to keep everything 'in camera'. I wanted the film feel a bit DIY, as if it was made by a Squirrels' group (but done well!).
I used a laser cutter to produce many of the physical elements, including components made from paper, felt and wood. The wooden props were then finished and painted by hand using acrylic paint.
I was keen to keep as much of the production in-camera as possible. The aim was for the film to have a playful, handmade quality—as though it could have been created by a particularly ambitious Squirrels group, but executed to a professional standard.
A range of activity specific illustrations were also created for their online portal.
A range of activity-specific illustrations was also produced for the Squirrels online portal, extending the characters and visual language beyond the introductory film.
I was also commissioned to create 11 karaoke style sing-along videos, for the Scouts' Youtube page.
Acoustic demo's were sent across by Scouts' Chris James - then it was my responsibility to produce these. I directed and recorded all the young singers (ages between 5 and 9), and performed and recorded all the instrumentation.
I was subsequently commissioned to produce 13 karaoke-style sing-along videos for Scouts’ YouTube channel.
Acoustic demos written and performed by Scouts’ Chris James provided the starting point for each song. I then developed the complete musical arrangements, directed and recorded the young singers—aged between six and ten—and performed and recorded all of the instrumentation.
The project was book-ended by the creation of a physical songbook, enabling leaders to teach and perform the songs at group meetings or camps without relying on digital devices.
I designed the book in Adobe InDesign, combining the bold Squirrels illustration style with a clear, accessible layout. I developed and formatted the text templates, prepared the artwork for print and created an online version with clickable links. This brought the project full circle, extending the same visual identity across the films, digital resources and printed materials.
The final part of the project was the creation of a physical songbook, allowing leaders to teach and perform the songs at group meetings or camps without relying on digital devices. I applied the same Squirrels visual language throughout, bringing the film, online resources, sing-along videos and printed materials together as one cohesive body of work.
All work © Gethin Vaughan Schofield 2026