Crazy Normal: From Symptoms to Diagnosis

Basel Historical Museum

  • Given full creative freedom, we created an animated video about how psychiatric diagnoses are made. Featuring Birdie—a character first sketched in Japan—we finally brought a long-held idea to life. We’re grateful to the museum for trusting us to share this emotional journey with clarity and empathy.

  • Client:
    Basel Historical Museum (HMB)

    Idee & Lead HMB: 
    Katja Rehmann, Gudrun Piller & Daniel Suter

    Expert: 
    Daniel Sollberger

    Script & Project Management: 
    Judith Rehmann

    Visual concept & Animation: 
    Estelle Gattlen

    Sound design: 
    Estelle Gattlen

Video: Crazy Normal: From Symptoms to Diagnosis

Stills from the videos

Sequence of four cartoon panels showing a purple bird reading a note, a pink bird lying on a pillow, the purple bird in a space helmet, and a scanned image of a brain on a blue background.
A cartoon character with a bird's beak, purple body, and glasses standing near a large window with multiple green panes, against a textured blue background with pink geometric shapes.
A cluttered room with a large computer monitor displaying a cartoon image of a black cat, a desk with scattered papers, bottles, and office supplies, a window showing a night sky, and a person lying on the floor among various items.
Animated illustration of two birds with human-like bodies. One bird is sitting on a chair, holding a pen, and the other bird is sitting on a washing machine with crossed arms. There is a broken mirror with a shattered pattern and a small calendar sho

Behind the scenes

A line drawing of a person lying in bed with a pillow, looking tired or bored, with a plant, a lit cigarette, and a ringing phone nearby.
Screenshot of a computer screen displaying a text document titled 'Diagnosevideo - Script Version 02' with the first part of a script about depression symptoms, featuring text in various styles including bold, italics, and colored text.
Various sketches of a bird-like character, including a close-up of its face, a full body front and side view, and scenes of the character in different situations, such as lying in a hospital bed and interacting with a human. Some sketches are partial
A screenshot of Adobe After Effects workspace showing a composition with animated circular elements. The main panel displays two versions of a graphical object composed of circles, with some circles containing emojis. The timeline at the bottom shows
A digital animation timeline and editing software interface with a black-and-white hand-drawn sketch of a person wearing glasses, holding a small bird close to their chest, displayed on the central workspace.
A top-down illustration of a cluttered bedroom with a person sleeping in bed, clothes on the floor, and various items on the desk and floor, including envelopes, a lamp, bottles, and a remote control.