Responses by Kwame Taylor-Hayford and Sophie Ozoux, cofounders, Kin.
Background: To celebrate 25 years of making trustworthy, human-powered knowledge accessible worldwide, we partnered with the Wikimedia Foundation to launch Knowledge is Human—a campaign anchored by Wikipedia’s first brand anthem film and a first-of-its-kind video docuseries offering a behind-the-scenes look at the lives and stories of volunteer editors around the world. The work is a tribute to humanity’s shared curiosity and a reminder that knowledge is, at its core, human. Designed to reignite cultural relevance and spark global conversation around Wikipedia—particularly among Gen Z—the campaign reframes Wikipedia as not just a website but a living experiment in collaboration, trust and shared humanity.
Design thinking: At a time marked by division, eroding trust and contested truths, Wikipedia has been described as “the last best place on the internet.” This project centers Wikipedia’s editors—who span different backgrounds, professions, geographies and passions—and how they fuel the platform by editing, photographing, translating, archiving and teaching. The brand film reinforces their critical role, bringing audiences closer to Wikipedia and its mission to provide free, verified knowledge to people around the world.
Challenges: We navigated Wikimedia Commons’s vast visual archive, curating more than 700 images and videos to tell the story. In close collaboration with director Adrian Yu, we shaped rhythm, meaning and momentum to authentically represent Wikipedia’s diverse, global community of editors—delivering the core message while weaving in the Easter eggs and cultural references that give the film its richness and humanity.
Favorite details: We’re most proud of how we represented the editors at the heart of the story. Rather than leaning into spectacle or idealization, we led with respect and curiosity, letting people speak in their own words and keeping their quirks, passions and obsessions intact. We prioritized contrast and range over neat symmetry and chose short, intimate moments that feel native to social platforms rather than institutional.
Time constraints: Time was our greatest constraint—and ultimately our greatest gift. With little room for overthinking, the process demanded trust: in the idea, in each other, and in our instincts and taste. Clear communication, close collaboration and fast decisions kept us moving in sync, aligned around a shared vision. There was no separation between client, team or collaborators—just a group of people fully committed to making something meaningful together. That sense of unity made the project a true joy to create.
Specific project demands: With more than 250,000 volunteer editors around the world, it became a privilege and a challenge to decide which voices to spotlight. We ultimately chose eight individuals whose lives and contributions reveal the true breadth of the community: a Californian who has spent two decades documenting hurricanes and storms; an Indian medical doctor who shared critical COVID-19 information during the global pandemic; an elderly librarian in Tokyo expanding access to knowledge in Japanese; and a New Haven–based photographer known as The Singing Photographer, whose work authentically represents Black culture—among others. Together, their stories make one thing clear: there is no such thing as a “typical” Wikipedian.
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