How We Got To Now

Here is the first glimpse of some of the work we have been creating for the six-part series How We Got To Now. The show is presented by popular American science author Steven Johnson and explores the legacy of great ideas.

We created 6 bespoke title sequences and 73 animated segments on a variety of topics ranging from Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr's invention of a frequency hopping torpedo to how Boyle's law and the nature of gases led to the invention of artificial refrigeration.

We were tasked with creating narrative sequences and explainer sections within one distinctive style - mixing archive photography with illustrated elements. The resulting collage imagery was created by Luke Best (you can see some of his work in progress images on his blog) and brought to life by a small team of animators over 8 months.

The series is a co-production between PBS and Nutopia and will be broadcast in the Autumn (or the Fall) on PBS in America and on the BBC here in the U.K. We look forward to being able to show more of the work as the transmission date approaches. In the meantime here is a small clip from the episode about Time.