Big Business / Business Insider
Over the years, I’ve developed the style of one of our flagship shows, Big Business— a Youtube series that gives an all-access look at the process and people tasked with making, building or moving things at a scale that the world has never seen before. The show’s look is tactile, with photo cutouts and textures inspired by each episode’s subject matter and location. Topics have ranged from exploring why brie cheese as we know it could go extinct to why Ghanaian cocoa farmers don’t see the profits of their crop.
Select episodes are featured below.
Why Real Feta Cheese Is Disappearing
This episode of Big Business dove in to the authentic Greek feta industry and the challenges it faces. An outbreak of sheep and goat pox led to the death of hundreds of thousands of dairy-producing animals. Meanwhile, other countries, including the US, are challenging Greece's legal claim to the name "feta" on the global stage. The graphics in this episode focused on establishing feta’s undeniably Greek history and explaining the forces threatening the industry. Design and animation below is done by me unless otherwise specified.
Color palette, pulled from footage in the episode
CREDITS
Art Direction: Colin Schappi, Dorian Barranco
Design & Animation: Dorian Barranco, Sagarika Debnath, Yvonne Kwok
Script & Voiceover: Abby Narishkin
Video Editing: Robin Lindsay
Sagarika Debnath
Sagarika Debnath
Yvonne Kwok
Sagarika Debnath
Sagarika Debnath
Inside The World’s Biggest Truck Stop
This episode goes inside the world’s biggest truck stop, Iowa 80, a family-owned business that has survived the decline and conglomeration of the mom-and-pop truck stop business. I sought inspiration from vintage paper road maps and highway signage when creating the graphics that talk about the history of trucking and the American Highway System.
CREDITS
Art Direction: Dorian Barranco
Design & Animation: Dorian Barranco, Leo Bakker Marshall
Script & Voiceover: Abby Narishkin
Video Editing: Seth D. Stein
Vanilla Is The 2nd Most Expensive Spice. So Why Do Madagascar’s Farmers Live In Poverty?
Vanilla is one of the world's most expensive spices because it's so labor-intensive to grow. Madagascar is responsible for 80% of the world's supply. Farmers there have to hand-pollinate each flower because the plant isn't native to the island. In recent years, the tough work has paid off, as vanilla prices soared to $600 per kilo in 2018. But Madagascar’s farmers aren’t seeing the benefit of those high prices.
The graphics in this video dive into the lesser-known history of vanilla in Madagascar— where it came from and who originally learned how to cultivate it.
CREDITS
Art Direction: Ali Jafri, Dorian Barranco
Design & Animation: Dorian Barranco, Steve Brefo
Script & Voiceover: Abby Narishkin
Video Editing: Robin Lindsay
