SWGfL
A charity dedicated to empowering the safe and secure use of technology globally.
For twenty-five years, SWGfL has shaped how people experience the digital world. From its beginnings in South West England to its role as an international authority in online safety, education and victim support, the organisation has helped millions to benefit from technology without harm. Through resources, training and guidance, it supports schools and educators across the country, while also providing specialist assistance to victims of online abuse through dedicated helplines and initiatives.
Studio East was invited to create a short documentary celebrating SWGfL’s twenty-five-year legacy in online safety. The brief was to distil a complex story that spans decades of progress into a ten-minute film that honoured the organisation’s people, partnerships and impact. The project required precision in both storytelling and production. We needed to create a piece that would resonate on the big screen during the anniversary gala and continue to serve as a powerful communication asset across digital channels long after the event.
Working closely with SWGfL, we mapped key moments of progress, weaving them into a narrative that celebrated both the organisation’s achievements and its continuing mission. Everything remained centred around the strong emotional core of the story: the belief that the online world should be safe, and technology should help people thrive. Design drew inspiration from the early days of the internet, capturing its nostalgic rhythm through the click of a mouse or the hum of a dial-up connection. We reinterpreted early interfaces with a system of tabs, pared-back colours and purposeful typography, creating a visual bridge between the organisation’s origins and its present influence. Archival footage and new interviews added texture, while pacing and rhythm guided the viewer through moments of reflection and progress.
The film was initially screened at SWGfL’s anniversary gala, giving the organisation a moment to pause and reflect on twenty-five years of progress. After the event, it will become a tool for wider storytelling, shared across digital and social platforms to communicate their mission with renewed clarity. Through purposeful narrative and crafted design, the anniversary video transformed SWGfL’s long institutional history into a celebration of progress, and a foundation for the incredible work still to come.
