Artful Being’s long-running collaboration with The Open University continues with a social series that shows teenagers that a football career rarely starts on the pitch.
The campaign is about something bigger than football: helping young people. Particularly those who don’t see themselves in traditional career pathways. It aims to help them recognise that the skills and passions they already have can be the foundation of a career they hadn’t imagined. Created with energetic, collage, cut-out-style animation, an eclectic soundtrack, and a voiceover from a rising journalistic talent, the series speaks directly to a young audience and helps them imagine themselves in the shoes of people working in a range of roles.
Follow Your Passion is a careers education initiative from The Open University and BBC Bitesize, launching in October 2026 and targeting 14–19-year-olds. Year one focuses on football. Not playing it, but the vast and diverse economy that surrounds it: social media producers, data analysts, sports psychologists and more.
Artful Being was commissioned to create a series of eight animated Instagram Reels, each opening a door into a different career. All built for vertical mobile viewing on the OU’s @OUConnect account.
The brief demanded something that could sit comfortably on the platforms young people use, whilst carrying real educational weight. The answer was a bold collage and cut-out aesthetic. Raw, tactile, and with more than a hint of punk energy. It was designed and animated by motion artist Danny Cato, with every frame tightly composed to communicate a career, a skill set, and a sense of possibility, all in under a minute.
Casting followed the same logic. Rather than a conventional voiceover, Artful Being pitched the use of emerging talent from the Young Reporter Awards, an annual celebration of students pursuing careers in journalism. With the help of Diana Jarvis at Young Reporter Scheme, a standout candidate was cast in Arran Sihota, who not only delivered the voiceover with authority, but gained invaluable studio experience in the process. The result is a series that sounds as authentic as it looks.
“It was a real joy to have a project come in that fully aligned with our Discover & Nurture ethos. Danny Cato’s work had only hit our radar just a few weeks before we received the brief. We instantly realised his style was a match. And when I saw The Young Reporter Scheme, I saw a fantastic opportunity to extend the project’s objective and try and give emerging journalistic talent some professional experience. Arran was a true pro from the start.”
"We wanted to show young people that a passion for football can lead to all sorts of careers. Artful Being understood that straight away. Their animation makes these roles feel alive, accessible and fun, and they were a fantastic creative partner throughout."
Commissioned by Patrick Kearney for The Open University
Multimedia Producer: Bilkisu Xinmiao Zang
Animation and Design: Danny Cato
Stock Images: Pexels
Voiceover: Arran Sihota
Casting: Young Reporter Scheme
Audio Post: Fonic Post
Sound Designer: Chris Swaine
Creative Director: Bill Elliott
Creative Producer: Emma Burch
Music Licensing: Audio Network
Community Engagement – Music: ‘Winds of Change’ – Composer: Paul White
Data Analysts – Music: ‘Background Bubble’ – Composer: Lawrence Insula
Accessibility Designers – Music: ‘If You Like It’ – Composer: Dylan Rogers
Football Coach – Music: ‘No Face, No Case’ – Composers: Tyler Van Den Berg, Jonathan James Johnson, Marcus Ramsay, Campbell E Browning, Pablo Love
Safeguarding – Music: ‘Brain Freeze’ – Composer: Jonathan Bradley
Social Media Producer – Music: ‘Pretty Dope 2’ – Composer: Steve Shebby, Dria Thornton
Sports Psychologist – Music: ‘Gotta Breakthrough’ – Composer: Matt Goodman, Matthew Bento
Sustainability – Music: ‘Happy Go Lucky’ – Composer: David O’Brien, Paul Clarvis
