Love Makes You Family

In 2020 SUUM.studio created a short form animation with Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs (SFAD), a charity that supports people across Scotland whose lives have been impacted by the substance use of others.

SFAD wanted to raise awareness, understanding and promotion of a broader, more diverse definition of family so that more people might identify their individual experience of family within the animation and therefore feel more able to access their support services.

The animation was created with tangible social benefit in mind addressing issues of diversity, inclusion, equality; and with the intent of starting constructive conversations that shine a light on the people and families who are under-represented in Scotland's communities.

To achieve this SUUM.studio created a multi-character and multi-environment micro-animation that employed a bright, cheerful and high contrast palette, along with sculptural character forms and set the diverse cast within familiar domestic settings which were then placed in a mechanised environment based upon vintage automated parts.

Through symbolic materialism SUUM hoped to play with the viewer's sense of scale to highlight how individual experiences often mirror that of those around them, even if it is all unspoken. The use of machinated process symbolises that there are many moving parts to each individual situation.

In addition to promoting the SFADs services the organisation has used the animation in-house to analyse and address issues of diversity and representation, as a training tool that addresses unconscious bias and as a catalyst for change with themselves and partner organisations.

"The animation achieved so much more than was originally expected. Having a resource which is so visual, engaging and thought-provoking is a great way for us and others to start a conversation about family means and accepting differences in our own and other's lives." - Justina Murray, SFAD CEO

"The Animation has been widely and successfully promoted by the Glasgow LGBTQI Substance Use Partnership, it is a useful tool for increasing engagement with underrepresented groups who may not identify with traditional ideas around biological family." - John Holleran, SFAD Families and Communities Manager

"As a queer white man living in Aberdeen in a relationship with a queer black man I found the animation really moving. It was so powerful and emotional to see myself represented." - Attendee of the animation launch event