Brands are Reimagining Their Long-Form Content (Thanks to This Design Trend)

Scrollytelling combines sophisticated design techniques—timed animations, motion effects, and parallax scrolling—to bring digital stories to life.

It’s a scroll-based form of storytelling, hence the name. Fusing text and media elements on a single-page layout, scrollytelling draws readers into the narrative, driving their anticipation with each scroll.

Publishers, brands, nonprofits, and corporations agree it’s one of the most visually engaging ways to tell their stories. Take it from The New York Times, BBC, The Wall Street Journal, Marks & Spencer, Google, Spotify, and other brands that have been generating buzz (and bagging awards) for their scrollytelling work.

How are they leveraging this unique storytelling approach to up their game?

#1 Turning Numbers Into Stories

There’s a better approach to presenting data and that’s through scrollytelling. Companies can finally retire from using PowerPoint, Prezi, and Spreadsheets and opt for a more modern tool for reporting. With scrollytelling, brands can easily transform dull data reports into compelling stories. 

While there are many creative examples of data-reports-turned-visual-stories, Spotify For Artists’ Fan Study is unmatched. This Spotify arm took scrollytelling to new heights by showcasing valuable insights about their users’ streaming behavior using space-age UI, interactive custom cursor, and a lot of 3D illustrations to get a  better picture of these numbers. Who would’ve thought data reporting could be this exciting?

#2 Amplifying Brand Stories

There’s no better way to communicate the essence of a brand than through scrollytelling. It allows for ultimate creativity;  brands can play with typography, use quirky illustrations, and add video game animations to drive their narrative forward. 

And Casa Angelina shows brands how it’s done with its scrollytelling site! This boutique hotel’s site is a dream, complete with full-screen illustrations of its picturesque sceneries, delectable cuisines, and upscale amenities, giving consumers a virtual tour of their resort. Case Angelina’s interactive cursor also allows them to expand onto an area and learn more about it on a separate web page. It’s as whimsical as it looks!

#3 Showcasing Portfolios

Scrollytelling is a unique way for brands to show off their creative portfolios. They can go beyond the gallery-type format and use an interesting blend of transition, animation, and media elements to innovatively showcase the breadth of their projects.

Brands can draw inspiration from The Washington Post. Through its advertising arm WP Creative Group, this prominent publisher showcased its advertising portfolio through scrollytelling, simplifying its rather packed portfolio of clients to make exploration as frictionless as possible.

#4 Digitizing Newspapers

News features, political commentaries, and in-depth profiles—scrollytelling can easily turn these complex stories into interesting digital reads. It can compress heaps of journalistic information into well-knit, single-page, image-rich stories. 

BBC is a fan of scrollytelling. One of its noteworthy pieces is The Partition of India. This lengthy feature is filled with images, graphics, cinemagraphs, and videos that capture momentous events in the colorful history of India in every scroll.

#5 Educating Consumers

Presenting historical topics can often be boring or dry. But with scrollytelling, you can turn a purely academic resource into a delightfully graphic tale. Now people can get excited to follow the adventures of Theodore Roosevelt, trace the roots of French winemaking, or brush up on the American Revolution. 

National Geographic sure knows how to make educational stories interesting and delightful. The Atlas of the Moons is a perfect example. This award-winning publisher made learning about celestial bodies an enchanting experience (like an unexpected trip into space!) with this outstanding scrollytelling piece.