The Idea

Stories about neurodiverse people are usually told through limitation. The struggle, the diagnosis, the overcoming; with the audience positioned to feel moved rather than to actually look at anything. The work the person makes comes second to the fact that they made it.

The Art of Us starts from the other end. We invited artists on the spectrum to show their art, and treated them as what they are: artists. Not a lens of limitation, a lens of celebration.

That meant refusing the obvious framing. This wasn't built as a cause film, it was built around joy, individuality, and process. The art itself, and the hands making it.

The Work

As creative and art director, I ran the campaign — a film plus a set of social videos.

We had minimal resources and a warehouse. The team turned it into an intimate, light-filled art studio: a room that felt creative, human and alive rather than institutional, which matters when the whole argument is that these are artists in a studio and not subjects in a program.

Everything then pointed at the making. Brushstrokes, texture, the splash of colour going down; each one a record of how a particular person experiences the world. Vibrant colour, tactile visuals, and layered sound design carried it, so the film moves like a studio feels instead of like a campaign about a condition.

The Result

Sign-ups to the program came in 10% above their usual intake. The film became the best performing video on their YouTube, and the work went on to support grant funding for the program.

The grants are the part I'd point at. An awareness campaign that raises awareness is a nice thing to have made. This one brought more artists through the door and helped pay for the program they were walking into — which is the difference between a film about the work and a film that keeps the work running.