Using Instagram to Create a Storybook Out of Stickers for Weary Parents and Curious Children
The GiF Learning Library is a fully-animated storybook made with zero post-production. It was developed by layering GiF stickers, one over the other, to create the illusion of animation. Only readily available GiF Stickers were used to create each page, layered to give the GiF stickers new context. A sticker of a young man riding a horse, was turned into a prince by layering and resizing the sticker with a crown and a sword. The magical kingdom was created by layering grand gates with seemingly interacting creatures, and trees and plants (also layered on each other) on the inside.
Art directors had to scour Instagram’s library for the right stickers to layer. This method was applied to each and every page of the IG story book, using a total of 1,248 stickers. Each page was built on the platform itself, and every time it was edited, the pages had to be recreated again before being finalized as an IG highlight.
It’s been a little over a year since we first went into lockdown, and I’ve embraced a few things in my new reality. First, it’s okay to share my workspace with two tiny human beings who like to announce they need to poo in the middle of my meetings. Second, sometimes my workspace is the same place they poo. And third, I accept that all day, every day, there will be a question with ten follow-up questions thrown my way. This is how a search bar must feel like.
While tedious, it is also their relentless questions that inspired the stories behind The GiF Learning Library. An Instagram library developed as a resource for weary parents who need a child-friendly way to explain why it’s important to stay safe at home and online.
The fully-animated stories were made entirely on Instagram—without any post-production work. We created each animated page by layering 1,248 stickers, all already available on Instagram. This allowed us to create engaging scenes that could hold the attention of young children. And get a story to animate, while the world came to a halt.
The expertise of Facebook and The Childs Rights Network informed each story released, to ensure the right topics were touched on when teaching about offline and online safety. The stories were released in both English and Filipino, and were augmented with interactive quizzes and a live reading by local celebrity Bianca Gonzales.
Today, many children continue to learn from home. And they spend even more time on varying Internet platforms. The need for more resources on offline and online safety continues to grow. So the GiF Learning Library continues to remain open, ready to help weary parents answer a few of those “WHY’S”.
