Crunchtime · Restaurant workforce software · Flat 2D animation video
Flat Design Animation for Crunchtime: Restaurant Scheduling in 3 Questions
Crunchtime needed multi-unit restaurant operators to see that one schedule can be wrong in two directions at once. This flat design animation sets the problem in a taco shop, splits it into "15% OVERSTAFFED" and "23% UNDERSTAFFED", then answers 3 operator questions on Crunchtime's own scheduling screens.
Last updated
Crunchtime · Labor & Scheduling
- Client
- Crunchtime
- Product
- Crunchtime Labor & Scheduling: demand-based forecasts, automated shift schedules and labor law checks
- Made for
- Multi-unit restaurant operators and store managers
- Format
- Flat 2D character and UI animation video
- Style
- Flat vector characters on yellow, with Crunchtime screens
- Length
- 2:16
- Production timeline
- 3 to 4 weeks
- Budget
- $1,200 to $2,000
The problem: a schedule can be wrong in two directions at once
Crunchtime's YouTube description sets out the operator's bind: overstaffing spikes labor costs, while understaffing leaves teams short-handed, with operators reporting that 38% of shifts are insufficiently staffed in an average week. It adds that store managers spend up to 8 hours per week building schedules and working through federal, state and local labor rules.
An operator with dozens of locations does not need to be told scheduling is hard. They need to see both failures side by side, and then see a screen that fixes them without breaking a labor law. The video had to do both in about 2 minutes.
How the video moves from one taco shop to every location, scene by scene
Short on-screen lines and labels carry each point alongside the characters. Select a time to play that scene above.
| Time | On screen | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| The Crunchtime logo with "Labor & Scheduling", then a manager stands outside a shop called "Tank's Tacos". | Names the product and gives the problem one place. | |
| The manager at a laptop, surrounded by dollar signs and warning bubbles: "FAIR WORKWEEK", "OVERTIME", "STAFF AVAILABILITY". | Lists the pressures behind every schedule. | |
| Kitchen staff stand idle under dollar signs, then one server waves both arms and a long queue builds at the counter. | Shows overstaffing and understaffing as two scenes a manager knows. | |
| A manager at a desk beside 2 callouts that count up to "15% OVERSTAFFED" and "23% UNDERSTAFFED", then a clock with spinning hands. | Puts numbers on both failures and on the time they eat. | |
| A "Manager" and an "Operator" with 3 questions: "How can I better forecast my scheduling needs for every shift, every day?", "How can I stay 100% compliant with federal and local labor laws when managing schedules?", "How do I keep labor costs down while staffing enough people to meet demand?" | States the buyer's questions in the buyer's words. | |
| A "crunchtime TEAMWORX" schedule grid with "Staff every location optimally" and "Achieve your labor cost goals", a "Daily Labor Summary" chart of "Actual", "Scheduled" and "Ideal", then a "Manager Dashboard" menu with "Auto-Schedule Open Shifts" fills the grid, and a busy, staffed dining room. | Answers the forecasting question on the product's own screens. | |
| A "Premium Pay Penalty Alert" on the schedule, then check marks on "FEDERAL", "LOCAL", "STATE", "FAIR WORKWEEK" and "MINORS". | Answers the compliance question with visible checks. | |
| An employee on a phone sends a "Vacation Request" and the manager at a laptop answers with a thumbs-up, then a red "35%" "LABOR COSTS" circle counts down to a green "25%". | Covers staff self-service, then answers the cost question. | |
| Back at "Tank's Tacos", the view widens to many locations, then the logo, "Labor & Scheduling" and "crunchtime.com", "hello@crunchtime.com" and a phone number. | Scales the fix from one shop to a chain. |
Storyboard: the frames that carry the Crunchtime flat design animation
Key frames from the finished video, in order. Select a time to play that moment above.
One named shop gives the problem a place. 
The staffing stat split into its 2 opposite failures. 
The buyer's 3 questions, in the buyer's words. 
The first answer is the product's own schedule screen. 
Forecast against reality in one chart. 
One click fills the open shifts. 
The schedule warns before a rule costs money. 
Each labor rule shown as a passed check. 
The cost question answered with one falling number. 
One taco shop becomes a chain.
4 decisions behind the Crunchtime flat design animation
Decision 1
Split one stat into two pictures
From 0:27 the staffing problem is 2 callouts that count up to "15% OVERSTAFFED" beside 6 small figures and "23% UNDERSTAFFED" beside just 2. Together they make the 38% that Crunchtime's description cites.
Copy it: If your headline stat hides two opposite failures, show each one as its own picture.
Decision 2
Let the buyer ask the questions
At 0:40 a "Manager" and an "Operator" put 3 questions on screen: forecasting, compliance and cost. The rest of the video answers them in that order.
Copy it: Write the 3 questions your buyer types into search and make each later scene answer one.
Decision 3
Show the law as check marks
At 1:28 a "Premium Pay Penalty Alert" appears on the schedule, then "FEDERAL", "LOCAL", "STATE", "FAIR WORKWEEK" and "MINORS" tick off one by one.
Copy it: If compliance is a selling point, turn each rule into something the viewer can see pass.
Decision 4
One taco shop, then a chain
The video opens on "Tank's Tacos" at 0:05 and returns there at 1:56, widening to many locations by 2:06 before the logo.
Copy it: Give your buyer one named place to care about, then scale it at the close.
From a taco shop sketch to Crunchtime's scheduling screens
- Restaurant cast. The manager, operator, kitchen staff, server and customers were designed as flat characters, with "Manager" and "Operator" name badges.
- Tank's Tacos backgrounds. The storefront, kitchen line, counter and the town of locations were illustrated in one flat palette.
- Question-led order. Scenes were ordered around the 3 operator questions: forecast, compliance, cost.
- UI motion graphics. The schedule grid, Daily Labor Summary chart, Manager Dashboard menu, penalty alert and compliance chips were built as motion graphics.
- Character animation. The idle crew, the waving server, the queue, the vacation request and thumbs-up, and the labor cost circles were animated.
- Edit, grade and sound. Editing, color grading, effects and sound design finished the video.
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 Crunchtime flat design animation
Why does the Crunchtime video show 15% overstaffed and 23% understaffed?
From 0:27 the video splits the staffing problem into "15% OVERSTAFFED" and "23% UNDERSTAFFED". The 2 add up to 38%, the share of shifts Crunchtime's YouTube description says operators report as insufficiently staffed in an average week.
Which questions does the Crunchtime animation answer?
Three, put on screen at 0:40 by a "Manager" and an "Operator": forecasting "every shift, every day", staying "100% compliant with federal and local labor laws", and keeping "labor costs down while staffing enough people to meet demand".
How does the flat design animation show the scheduling software?
From 1:00 it cuts to a "crunchtime TEAMWORX" schedule grid with "Staff every location optimally" and "Achieve your labor cost goals", then a "Daily Labor Summary" chart comparing "Actual", "Scheduled" and "Ideal". At 1:14 a "Manager Dashboard" menu offers "Auto-Schedule Open Shifts".
How does the video show labor law compliance?
At 1:28 a "Premium Pay Penalty Alert" appears on the schedule. Then "FEDERAL", "LOCAL", "STATE", "FAIR WORKWEEK" and "MINORS" each get a check mark.
Why does the video open and close at Tank's Tacos?
One named shop at 0:05 makes the problem concrete. At 1:56 the same shop returns and by 2:06 the view widens to many locations, which matches Crunchtime's pitch to operators running many stores.
What did the Crunchtime flat design animation take to make?
2D character design, background illustration, motion graphics, animation, effects, sound design, editing and color grading. Production took 3 to 4 weeks on a budget of $1,200 to $2,000.
What Advids clients say
"Advids have done several videos for us now, they are extremely accommodating, efficient and easy to work with. They have a good process in place which enables you to feedback easily."Nina Smith, Marketing Manager at PDI
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