Case Study · Explainer Films · Motion Graphics · Illustration
Mycotrition — Mushroom Explainer Films
Six illustrated motion-graphics films explaining how medicinal mushroom products move from cultivation and processing through quality management to the finished product.
Created in 2018 for Mycotrition GmbH, a company connected to Hawlik Gesundheitsprodukte GmbH, the series was produced in German, English and French.
Project Overview
Explaining a manufacturing process across three languages
Client: Mycotrition GmbH
Year: 2018
Role: Illustrator · Storyboard Artist · Motion Graphics Designer · Voice-Over Director
Languages: German · English · French
The Assignment
From supplied technical text to a visual process
In 2018 I created a series of six explainer films for Mycotrition GmbH on the harvesting and production of Hawlik’s medicinal mushroom products. The films follow the process from cultivation through mushroom powder and extract production, quality management and the manufacture of the finished products.
I adapted the supplied texts into concepts and storyboards, painted every scene digitally in a soft watercolor style and animated the illustrations as motion graphics. The technical stages were not invented for visual effect: the process slides were developed from photographs of the actual manufacture and from diagrams supplied by the manufacturer.
The films were produced in German, English and French. I also supervised the German and French voice recordings in person and coordinated with the voice agencies and recording studios involved.
What I delivered
- Text adaptation, concepts and storyboards: adaptation of the supplied technical texts for six films, with concept sketches and storyboards translating each production phase into a visual sequence.
- Original illustration: dozens of digitally painted watercolor-style illustrations covering forest environments, cultivation, harvesting, processing, production equipment and figures.
- Technical process graphics: illustrated process slides based on photographs of the actual manufacture and diagrams supplied by the manufacturer, including extraction flows, laboratory analysis and production stages.
- Motion graphics: animation of layered illustration elements, camera movement across scenes and fades, maintaining a consistent visual style throughout the series.
- Three language editions: six films, each in German, English and French, with title cards in all three languages.
- Voice-over direction and coordination: in-person supervision of the German and French narration recordings, together with coordination with voice agencies and recording studios.
Six films, one connected production story
Each film explains a particular stage, while the sixth brings the process together in one overview. The films run approximately two to six minutes each. Every film exists in German, English and French, with its own title card; a separate playlist carries versions with Spanish subtitles.
- Cultivation of Our Mushrooms: cultivation on logs and harvesting the mushrooms.
- Production of Mushroom Powder: crushing dried material, milling it into powder and examining the fine powder under magnification.
- Production of Mushroom Extract: water treatment, extraction and spray drying, explained through illustrated equipment and flow diagrams.
- Quality Management: laboratory analysis and the allocation of a production batch.
- Production of the End Products: the production line, capsule filling and sorting, blister packing and jar labelling.
- In a Nutshell: an overview connecting the production stages with certification, documentation, product identification and the finished products.
Digital Watercolor and Technical Process Illustration
Much of the subject matter concerns processes that are difficult to communicate with ordinary product photography alone: extraction, flow through production equipment, laboratory analysis, documentation and quality control.
Illustration allowed the series to move between natural environments, technical diagrams and manufacturing stages while maintaining one coherent visual language. The watercolor treatment kept the films calm and approachable while the diagrams remained specific enough to explain what was actually happening.
One Drawing Style Across Landscapes and Machinery
I developed the illustrated scenes in a soft digital watercolor style, from woodland environments and botanical details to production equipment and technical flow diagrams. The approach gave six multilingual explainer films a consistent visual language while allowing precise explanations of individual manufacturing stages.
The same hand-drawn approach moves from landscape and character illustration to process diagrams, technical machinery and scientific explanation. Click the artwork to view the full-size image.
Explore More Illustration Styles
Watercolor and process illustration is one of several visual approaches I develop for hand-drawn explainer videos. The English, German and French service pages show additional drawing styles and production examples.
English — Hand-Drawn Explainer Videos
Deutsch — Handgezeichnete Erklärvideos
Français — Vidéos explicatives dessinées
From mushroom cultivation to fine powder
Films 1 and 2 move from mushrooms growing on logs to the processing of dried material. The illustrations show harvesting from the log, reishi in a forest setting, crushing, milling and the fine powder under magnification.
These are process illustrations rather than generic mushroom imagery. Production photographs and manufacturer diagrams provided the references for the illustrated stages, connecting the natural material with the equipment used to process it.
Making extraction understandable with flow diagrams
Film 3 explains mushroom extract production through technical illustrations of water treatment, an extraction vessel and a spray-drying cyclone. Arrows show the movement of water, extract and air through the equipment.
The diagrams follow the real installations. Illustration makes it possible to show internal flows and relationships between components that would be difficult to communicate through an exterior photograph of the machinery alone.
Laboratory analysis, documentation and quality management
Film 4 covers quality management, including analysis equipment with a chromatography graph and a powder batch divided between three destinations. Film 6 connects the stages in an overview that also shows certification, documentation, product identification and the finished products.
The visual explanations move between laboratory equipment, documents, an identification card and product packaging. Arrows and sequences make those relationships readable within the same illustration system used for cultivation and production.
Capsule production, blister packing and labelling
Film 5 follows the manufacture of the finished products: loading a drum, filling a hopper, capsule filling, sorting the capsules, blister packing and labelling jars. Each operation is drawn as a distinct production stage.
The equipment illustrations retain the relevant mechanical details while using the same soft watercolor treatment as the natural scenes. This lets the series move from the forest to the production line without changing its visual language.
Layered animation and voice-over in three languages
I animated the painted illustrations as motion graphics, using artwork on separate layers, camera movement across the scenes and fades. The forest illustration below appears with and without the deer, showing how individual elements could be separated within a scene.
Narration and recording direction
Kaspar Eichel narrated the German edition, Daniel Beretta the French edition and David A. Watson the English edition. I supervised the German and French recording sessions in person and coordinated with the voice agencies and studios.
| Language | Narrator | Recording location | Agency |
|---|---|---|---|
| German | Kaspar Eichel | Berlin, Livelive studio | Sprecherdatei |
| French | Daniel Beretta | Paris | Titrafilm |
| English | David A. Watson | Not specified | GreatBritishVoices |
This project combines original hand-drawn illustration with motion graphics and multilingual voice-over. For related approaches to visual explanation, including whiteboard animation, see my hand-drawn explainer video services.
Watch the Mycotrition explainer films
The following three videos are included here from the published series. For the full collection and language playlists, visit the Mycotrition GmbH YouTube channel.
Für deutschsprachige Auftraggeber: Diese Filmreihe wurde auch auf Deutsch produziert. Für Unternehmen in Deutschland, der Schweiz und anderen deutschsprachigen Märkten entwickle ich handgezeichnete Erklärvideos und illustrierte Animationen. Weitere Informationen zu Erklärvideos und Whiteboard-Animation finden Sie auf meiner Seite Handgezeichnete Erklärvideos.
Related work
Hand-Drawn Explainer Videos · Commissioned Illustration · Editorial & Educational Illustration · Sanafort Creative Direction · Hawlik — Ten Illustrated Explainer Films · All Case Studies
Need to explain a process clearly?
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Illustration Gallery · Drawings and Process Scenes
Illustrations from the Six-Film Series
Explore the original watercolor-style artwork and process illustrations created for the films, from woodland scenes to manufacturing, laboratory and quality-management diagrams.
