Video Campaign
WELCOME TO WIC
A video campaign introducing California's WIC program to new participants, produced in 11 language versions for statewide distribution.
Year :
2026
Industry :
Public Health
Client :
California Department of Public Health, WIC Division
Project Duration :
5 Months
Problem : The old video didn't match what the program actually feels like
Welcome to WIC is often the first thing a family sees when they encounter the program, so it carries a lot. It explains what WIC is, who qualifies, and what the benefits are. But the version in circulation had been around for years, and it was showing. The policy information had fallen out of date and the look no longer matched CDPH and WIC branding.
The tone was the bigger issue. It came across as gloomy, and for a program built to help families, that lands wrong. Local agencies and service sites were raising it, and leadership agreed the video no longer represented what WIC is or how it should feel to walk into it.
Solution : A rebuild that finally feels like the program it introduces
We rebuilt the video from the ground up with current policy and a look that matched CDPH and WIC branding. Working with the communications team, we made the color, motion, and pacing decisions together, aiming for something upbeat enough that a mother watching it would come away feeling that people had built this for her.
Demographic analysis set the scope at eleven languages, covering California's largest language populations. Native speakers reviewed each version so the translations read the way people actually speak, not the way a machine renders them. The WIC Director, our Branch Chief, and others in the chain of command signed off, and the campaign went out to 83 local agencies and more than 500 service sites.
Challenge : Eleven languages that had to stay in sync
Subtitles were the hard part. Different languages need different amounts of screen space, so the SRT files from the English master didn't line up with the translated versions. Timing drifted, and when timing drifts the subtitle stops matching what's on screen. On a video explaining eligibility rules, that isn't a cosmetic problem.
Matching eleven files against the English master by hand would have taken most of a timeline that was already under four months. So I built a small SRT matching application using Claude that aligned the translated files to the original timing automatically, which freed the schedule for the work only a designer could do.
Summary :
The campaign now runs in eleven languages across 83 local agencies and more than 500 service sites in California. The most useful thing I did on it wasn't a design decision. It was recognizing that a production bottleneck could be solved with a tool instead of a month of manual work.
More Projects
Video Campaign
WELCOME TO WIC
A video campaign introducing California's WIC program to new participants, produced in 11 language versions for statewide distribution.
Year :
2026
Industry :
Public Health
Client :
California Department of Public Health, WIC Division
Project Duration :
5 Months
Problem : The old video didn't match what the program actually feels like
Welcome to WIC is often the first thing a family sees when they encounter the program, so it carries a lot. It explains what WIC is, who qualifies, and what the benefits are. But the version in circulation had been around for years, and it was showing. The policy information had fallen out of date and the look no longer matched CDPH and WIC branding.
The tone was the bigger issue. It came across as gloomy, and for a program built to help families, that lands wrong. Local agencies and service sites were raising it, and leadership agreed the video no longer represented what WIC is or how it should feel to walk into it.
Solution : A rebuild that finally feels like the program it introduces
We rebuilt the video from the ground up with current policy and a look that matched CDPH and WIC branding. Working with the communications team, we made the color, motion, and pacing decisions together, aiming for something upbeat enough that a mother watching it would come away feeling that people had built this for her.
Demographic analysis set the scope at eleven languages, covering California's largest language populations. Native speakers reviewed each version so the translations read the way people actually speak, not the way a machine renders them. The WIC Director, our Branch Chief, and others in the chain of command signed off, and the campaign went out to 83 local agencies and more than 500 service sites.
Challenge : Eleven languages that had to stay in sync
Subtitles were the hard part. Different languages need different amounts of screen space, so the SRT files from the English master didn't line up with the translated versions. Timing drifted, and when timing drifts the subtitle stops matching what's on screen. On a video explaining eligibility rules, that isn't a cosmetic problem.
Matching eleven files against the English master by hand would have taken most of a timeline that was already under four months. So I built a small SRT matching application using Claude that aligned the translated files to the original timing automatically, which freed the schedule for the work only a designer could do.
Summary :
The campaign now runs in eleven languages across 83 local agencies and more than 500 service sites in California. The most useful thing I did on it wasn't a design decision. It was recognizing that a production bottleneck could be solved with a tool instead of a month of manual work.
More Projects
Video Campaign
WELCOME TO WIC
A video campaign introducing California's WIC program to new participants, produced in 11 language versions for statewide distribution.
Year :
2026
Industry :
Public Health
Client :
California Department of Public Health, WIC Division
Project Duration :
5 Months
Problem : The old video didn't match what the program actually feels like
Welcome to WIC is often the first thing a family sees when they encounter the program, so it carries a lot. It explains what WIC is, who qualifies, and what the benefits are. But the version in circulation had been around for years, and it was showing. The policy information had fallen out of date and the look no longer matched CDPH and WIC branding.
The tone was the bigger issue. It came across as gloomy, and for a program built to help families, that lands wrong. Local agencies and service sites were raising it, and leadership agreed the video no longer represented what WIC is or how it should feel to walk into it.
Solution : A rebuild that finally feels like the program it introduces
We rebuilt the video from the ground up with current policy and a look that matched CDPH and WIC branding. Working with the communications team, we made the color, motion, and pacing decisions together, aiming for something upbeat enough that a mother watching it would come away feeling that people had built this for her.
Demographic analysis set the scope at eleven languages, covering California's largest language populations. Native speakers reviewed each version so the translations read the way people actually speak, not the way a machine renders them. The WIC Director, our Branch Chief, and others in the chain of command signed off, and the campaign went out to 83 local agencies and more than 500 service sites.
Challenge : Eleven languages that had to stay in sync
Subtitles were the hard part. Different languages need different amounts of screen space, so the SRT files from the English master didn't line up with the translated versions. Timing drifted, and when timing drifts the subtitle stops matching what's on screen. On a video explaining eligibility rules, that isn't a cosmetic problem.
Matching eleven files against the English master by hand would have taken most of a timeline that was already under four months. So I built a small SRT matching application using Claude that aligned the translated files to the original timing automatically, which freed the schedule for the work only a designer could do.
Summary :
The campaign now runs in eleven languages across 83 local agencies and more than 500 service sites in California. The most useful thing I did on it wasn't a design decision. It was recognizing that a production bottleneck could be solved with a tool instead of a month of manual work.