Animade’s playful animations for Sugru illustrate the joy of fixing

Sugru is the world’s first mouldable glue, invented to help tackle a growing problem with waste but also extremely useful in everyday life. From fixing broken phone chargers to piecing together a broken toy, Sugru inspires people to think and act creatively.

To help promote the benefits of fixing, Sugru developed The Fixer’s Manifesto, 10 statements to support the brand’s mission to inspire and enable a new generation of fixers and makers.

Originally introduced in 2012, the manifesto has now been reimagined by London-based animation studio, Animade into a series of 11 three-second animations, and a newly illustrated poster.

Inherently a creative product, Sugru was first developed in 2003 when its inventor Jane ni Dhulchaointigh was studying product design at the Royal College of Art. Rather than ask herself: “Do I really want to design more products?” Instead the designer posed the question: “What if I could fix and improve and reimagine the stuff I already have to make it better?” Fast forward to 2012 and Jane won London Design Festival’s inaugural Design Entrepreneur award, followed by being stocked in B&Q across the UK and Ireland in 2013 and in 2000 Target stores in the States from 2015. To date, Sugru is stocked in over 6,000 stores globally and is used by people in over 175 countries and territories around the world.

Showing the imaginative use of Sugru through animation is a no brainer for a colourful glue that can be moulded into any shape. However, rather than focus on the characteristics of the product, Animade championed Sugru’s ongoing mission to beat throwaway culture with visuals to help get more people to start thinking about fixing.

As a result, within the humorous shorts Animade illustrate points such as “If it’s not broken, improve it” by adding flaming wings to the side of a bike, and “Embrace the stuff we have”, shown by animating arms hugging brooms, headphones and other household bits and bobs. Each animation is drawn in a pencil sketch style, relating to the hand-made spirit of the brand, filled with a bright colour palette with flexible movements that merely reference the product rather than promote it directly.

“Both the illustrations and animations are fantastic,” says Sugru inventor, Jane. “ Not only will they help encourage people to build, fix and upcycle but they also draw attention to the importance of reducing consumer waste in a fun way. It was vital that this didn’t feel preachy as we really want this to connect with people who may not traditionally see themselves as fixers or makers – we’ve found that the most powerful way to affect behavior change is by inspiring people”

“Previously Sugru have completed its creative content in-house, so it was a real treat to partner with them on this project,” explains the senior creative on the animations, Michael Davies. “Our brief was simply ‘How can we bring to life its core asset and speak to a wider audience about the importance and beauty of fixing and repair?’ To fit with Sugru’s DIY ethos we aimed to create a look which was organic and not too digitally manufactured. A hand-drawn approach seemed to fit perfectly with Sugru’s brand, using bright colours and pencil lines. We had a lot of fun experimenting with ideas and creatively balancing both playfulness and purpose.”

See more details at Sugru.com and enjoy the full series of animations over on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter by following @sugru over the coming weeks