Slack · Team collaboration SaaS · 2D UI animation video
B2B Marketing Video for Slack Canvas: One Project, From Message to Search
Slack needed people who already live in Slack to see what canvas adds: "a single space to capture and document your most important information". This B2B marketing video follows one project, "Project Alpha", from a channel message to a canvas with a checklist, an approval button, comments and linked files, then finds it again through search.
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Slack · Canvas
- Client
- Slack
- Product
- Slack canvas, a surface inside Slack to share and organize knowledge
- Made for
- Teams and managers who already work in Slack channels
- Format
- 2D UI animation and motion graphics video
- Style
- Slack interface recreated in 2D, with illustrated avatars
- Length
- 1:27
- Production timeline
- 3 to 4 weeks
- Budget
- $1,200 to $2,000
The problem: Slack users already have a place to talk, not a place to keep things
Slack introduced canvas as "a new surface to share and organize knowledge" and "a single space to capture and document your most important information and get everyone on the same page". The viewers already use channels, huddles and DMs every day. A new feature has to show what it adds, not repeat what they know.
On a busy project the brief, the decisions, the approvals and the files sit in different places. The video had to show all of them landing on one page, inside the Slack window the viewer already knows, in under 90 seconds.
How the video builds one canvas for "Project Alpha", scene by scene
Every feature is shown on the same fictional project, so the viewer watches one page fill up. Select a time to play that scene above.
| Time | On screen | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Slack logo, then 4 avatars with a "#" and a video icon. Channel, huddle, video and chat icons scatter, then fold into one document. | Starts from the Slack parts the viewer knows and turns them into a page. | |
| "slack canvas" title, then the Slack app: workspace "Beta Corp", channel "# project-alpha", Zoe's message "Excited to get started!". A click opens the canvas panel: "Project Alpha", "Key resources", "Primary stakeholders". | Shows where canvas lives: inside the channel. | |
| The canvas fills the screen: "This canvas will be your single source of truth for all information about this project." An "Action Items" checklist, a "Request Manager Approval" card clicked to "Request Submitted", "Technical Resources", "Primary Stakeholders" Zoe Maxwell and Harry Boone. | Shows a canvas doing work, not just holding text. | |
| "Latest Decisions": "Receipts are due Wednesday, May 4th". A comment opens on that line: Zoe Maxwell "Isn't May 4th a Thursday?", Matt Brewer "Thanks for catching that." | Shows comments on one line of the page. | |
| A video with a "0:50" time and plant images are dropped in, then "Project Beta" and "Project Gamma" canvases are linked. | Shows media and other canvases living on the same page. | |
| Zoe and Matt's avatars beside the canvas, then 2 more people join with an "A" badge. "Let's get started" is typed and a rocket and a light bulb image are added. | Shows several people editing one page. | |
| Back in the Slack app with the canvas open in the channel. Search: "Channels, people, files, and more", then "Technical" finds "Technical Resources". | Proves the page can be found again later. | |
| 4 hands hold one white card, then the Slack logo and "Where the future works". | Closes on everyone on the same page, then the brand. |
Storyboard: the frames that carry the Slack canvas B2B marketing video
Key frames from the finished video, in order. Select a time to play that moment above.
Familiar Slack icons fold into one page. 
The feature is named once the idea is set. 
Canvas opens inside the channel the team already uses. 
A checklist and an approval card go onto the page. 
One click, and the approval is on record. 
Decisions are written down, with an owner tagged. 
A teammate catches a wrong date in a comment. 
Other project canvases link from the same page. 
4 people work on one canvas at once. 
Search finds the canvas again by name.
4 decisions behind the Slack canvas B2B marketing video
Decision 1
Build the new feature out of the old ones
From 0:04 to 0:15 the icons Slack users know (channel "#", huddle, video, chat) scatter and fold into one document. The title "slack canvas" lands at 0:16.
Copy it: If you are launching a feature inside a product people already use, start from the parts they know and turn them into the new thing on screen.
Decision 2
Run every feature on one project
"Project Alpha" appears at 0:18 and is still the project on screen at 1:16. The checklist, approval, decisions, comments, media and links are all added to the same page.
Copy it: Invent one realistic project for your demo and keep it for the whole video, so each feature adds to the same screen.
Decision 3
Show a small mistake getting caught
At 0:44 Zoe Maxwell comments "Isn't May 4th a Thursday?" on "Receipts are due Wednesday, May 4th", and Matt Brewer answers "Thanks for catching that."
Copy it: Script one tiny, believable error and show your product fixing it. It proves the feature faster than a feature name.
Decision 4
End where the user will find it again
At 1:10 the canvas sits inside "# project-alpha", and at 1:14 a search for "Technical" returns "Technical Resources".
Copy it: Close the walkthrough on how users get back to the thing they made: the menu, the search or the channel.
From one Slack project to an 87-second canvas walkthrough
- Asset preparation. The Slack logo, the illustrated avatars and the interface parts for the channel, canvas and search screens were prepared for animation.
- One project script. Each canvas feature was given a moment inside "Project Alpha": checklist, approval, decisions, comments, media, linked canvases and search.
- UI animation. Clicks, drags, typing and the "Request Submitted" state change were animated on the recreated interface.
- Motion graphics. The opening icon fold, the zooms between app and canvas, and the closing hands and logo were built as motion graphics.
- Sound design. A custom sound design was made for the cut.
- Edit, grade and deliver. The video was edited, color graded, composited and encoded for delivery.
Scope of work:
Production took 3 to 4 weeks on a budget of $1,200 to $2,000. See the SaaS video production service for how a project like this is scoped.
Questions about the Slack canvas B2B marketing video
Why does the Slack canvas video open on icons folding into a document?
Viewers already know Slack's channel, huddle, video and chat icons. From 0:04 to 0:15 those icons fold into one page, and the title "slack canvas" follows at 0:16, so the new feature is introduced as the old parts brought together.
Which canvas features does the video show?
A checklist (0:26), an approval card that changes to "Request Submitted" (0:32), decisions with a tagged owner (0:38), a comment thread (0:44), media and linked canvases (0:48 to 0:59), several editors (1:00) and search (1:12).
How does the video show comments in canvas?
At 0:44 a comment opens on the line "Receipts are due Wednesday, May 4th". Zoe Maxwell asks "Isn't May 4th a Thursday?" and Matt Brewer replies "Thanks for catching that."
Why does every scene use "Project Alpha"?
One project lets each feature add to the same page. The canvas starts at 0:24 with a title and 2 headings and by 1:08 the same page holds a checklist, an approval, decisions, media, links and 4 collaborators.
How does the video show where canvas lives in Slack?
At 0:20 a click in the "# project-alpha" channel header opens the canvas panel. At 1:10 the canvas is back in the channel, and at 1:14 a search for "Technical" finds "Technical Resources".
What did the Slack canvas video take to make?
Asset preparation, 2D UI animation, motion graphics, visual effects, custom sound design, editing, grading, compositing and delivery encoding. Production took 3 to 4 weeks on a budget of $1,200 to $2,000.
What Advids clients say
"We had a tremendous experience in working with the Advids team. They've proven that a 'remote' engagement can be highly successful, and delivered with quality on time."Michael Morgan, SVP Global Sales and Marketing at Telrock
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