BEHIND THE STIGMA
An Animated Exploration


The lines have different speeds, signifying the rapid emotional shifts experienced by those with bipolar disorder or personality disorders. The use of many columns reflects the multifaceted nature of these conditions.
With an inconsistent loop of letters and outlines this animation reflects the unpredictable and disorienting experience of dementia.
Illustrated as a never-ending tunnel, this animation stands in solidarity with victims of addiction, a group often heavily stigmatized. The looped, endless nature of the tunnel visualizes the inescapable cycle that addiction can become.
The word appears in varying directions and stretches and distorts irregularly, encapsulating the unpredictable and intense emotional experiences associated with the disorder.
Representing the chaotic nature of ADHD, letters appear and disappear in a haphazard manner against a constantly shifting  cartoonish background.
The word is in a loop that can never quite escape from itself, symbolizing the constant "catch-up" that anxiety imposes on individuals.

The word features an electrostatic buzz over the font, representing the distorted reality and hallucinations that can accompany this condition.


Overview


“Behind the Stigma” is a self-initiated animation series that visualises the emotional textures of various mental health conditions, beyond the buzzwords.
The project was born from a personal urge to better understand these experiences, both creatively and emotionally, while also pushing my skills in After Effects. It became a space to experiment freely with type, motion, and metaphor... without the pressure of getting it “right.”

Concept


Each word animation explores a different condition (from anxiety to ADHD to dementia) through the lens of motion design and typographic play.
Instead of clinical explanations, the visuals speak through form, speed, rhythm, and disorientation.

Why It Mattered


This wasn’t meant to be an awareness campaign, it was something more personal.
At a time when “mental health” felt overused but under-explored, I wanted to slow down and engage with it on my own terms. The goal wasn’t to teach, but to visualise. To make something that feels like the experience, not just talk about it.
It became a creative way to understand both the topic (and my own approach to animation) more deeply.

The Process


There was no big plan. No pitch deck. Just a lot of messing around with keyframes, expressions, and plug-ins in After Effects.
Each animation started as an open-ended experiment: What happens if I distort this? Loop that? Break the rules here?

I explored a mix of built-in presets, animation templates, and completely manual setups. Sometimes starting with a structure and then intentionally breaking it. I’d stretch timing, overlap movements, distort type until it felt like something unfamiliar but emotionally right.
A lot of the time, I had no idea where it was heading. Some animations came out of happy accidents: things that glitched, shifted, or behaved wrong but ended up working just right. That became part of the fun: letting the process guide me instead of trying to control every frame.

The whole thing was instinct-led, but layered with trial, error, and lots of tweaking. Each piece taught me something new, not just technically, but creatively: how to push an idea without over-explaining it, and how to let motion do the heavy lifting.

Recognition


Originally shared on Behance with no captions or explanations—just the loops as they are—it unexpectedly went viral.
The project was featured in Behance’s GIF section (a first -and last- for me), and the response was overwhelming. Maybe the absence of text let people project their own interpretations. Maybe it was the simplicity. Maybe it landed on the right algorithm.
 

Final Thoughts


“Behind the Stigma” started as a way to teach myself more about motion: nothing more, nothing less.
It was a chance to explore new tools, experiment freely, and see what happened when I let go of polished plans.
Some animations were built from scratch, others used templates as a foundation, and honestly, that shouldn’t be stigmatized (pun fully intended). 
It’s not always about reinventing the wheel: it’s about using what’s available and pushing it somewhere new.
What mattered was the intention behind each piece and the unexpected ways they came together.
 And if a few loops happened to spark a bit of thought along the way, even better.

I KNOW IT'S A CONTRADICTION—EXPLAINING ANIMATIONS THAT WERE MEANT TO SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES. BUT HEY, SOMETIMES YOU WANNA TALK, SOMETIMES YOU DON'T. HERE'S ME DOING A BIT OF BOTH.