American College of Education


When you're an agency, sometimes you need a trusted partner to create an explainer video for your clients. That's exactly what Kim from Charles Ave Marketing needed, and we worked together to create some fun and informative videos for American College of Education (ACE). 

the challenge


Kim approached me with the challenge to create a series of videos for her client, ACE. The purpose of the videos were to explain to potential students how they could fund their college education and why ACE didn't accept Government Funding. The idea of animation was appealing to them as it would be a great way to simplify this message and make it friendly and approachable to the student population. They also liked the idea of one main character to represent their student avatar throughout the videos.

the Process


This is the best kind of collaboration! Kim provided the script, I delivered a storyboard and from there we worked together to come up with the best visual message. 

When designing the look and feel for characters, we felt that a simple vector style would work best. Below is our mood board where I presented some design ideas and colour palette for overall art direction. 

Opening scene - Style frame delivered for NNFA Video

When it came to creating the backgrounds, we stuck with a simple stage that helped focus attention on the character and story. And all along the way, we collaborated to find the best option for the project.

Character Design

the solution


Kim and I worked together to create a series of 3 videos for ACE - each tackling various questions their audience would have regarding funding tuition. The videos simplified these messages and in turn reduced their effort and time addressing each query. 

"I’d been looking for an animator for one of my clients who wanted to create explainer videos but couldn’t find the right animator. Then I found Sandra! Immediately upon speaking to her, we had good chemistry, and as soon as we decided to collaborate, we started bouncing ideas off one another. 


Sandra was always gracious about accepting feedback from both me and the client, and she used our ideas to add creative touches in unexpected places. The final videos were positively received by the client, and it made me look really good. Her methodical approach to video creation gave me ideas on how I can replicate it for future projects, so I really hope we have the opportunity to work together again soon!" 

Kim Kohatsu | Charles Ave Marketing