Europa spoort niet

January 2025

Opening screen of the Europa spoort niet interactive explainer, with a map of Europe crossed by train routes and a prompt to begin the journey.

The challenge

For this project, I was asked to pick a current issue in the world that you're passionate about and create a visual and interactive explainer on this subject. I decided to base my project on the problems in the European rail network.

Illustrated train journey summary from Amsterdam to Barcelona, listing delays from transfers and other rail disruptions for a total travel time of 10 hours 30 minutes. Illustrated train scene explaining that signal operators in Wallonia and France are not required to speak English, with a French-speaking operator and a confused train crew.

Illustration and animation

For this prototype, I made every illustration myself in Adobe Illustrator. I wanted to explore more with illustration and animation in my designs and I got inspired by other artworks using noise-grains. Using Figma, I animated and prototyped these illustrations into a functioning design.

Story timeline in the Europa spoort niet explainer showing the journey from Amsterdam, with a train and a Belgian rail worker representing a pickup that lets the trip continue.

Storytelling and copywriting

I wanted to highlight the issues with the international rail network into a story that the user can walk through. To do this, I wrote the text in a lighthearted and informal way which tells the story in a fun and clear way. To make sure that I got the tone of voice exactly right, I asked other students to review different pieces of text and point out their preference.

Explore the design

Go through the prototype yourself on the website of Figma!

Visit Figma

The result

This project increased my illustration and storytelling skills by a lot. I really enjoyed making my own illustrations and seeing them come to life as a clear and fun prototype. I also incresed my Figma skills by prototyping every single action the user can take and adding animations.