Telling digital stories with GIFs

Published in

Digital Storytelling Festival

2 min readMay 21, 2021

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is the second most popular image format used on the Internet, after JPEG. While GIFs have been around for about 30 years, they became very popular in the 2010s, with the rise of social media — especially Tumblr. The Oxford English Dictionary even named GIF as Word of the Year in 2012.

As they’re easy to use and universally supported, GIFs are everywhere. They’re also perfect for telling digital stories, here’s why:

1. GIFs catch attention

Even a subtle animation brings images to life

Henriette Roued-Cunliffe, Source material: Flowers on the Windowsill| Carl Larsson | Nationalmuseum, Sweden via Europeana, public domain

2. GIFs make explaining how things work easy

Perfect for images of vehicles, machines and mechanisms and all kinds of transitions, evolutions and transformations

Franck Grosbois, Source material: Patent Drawing for H. W. Libbey’s Automobile Vehicle | National Archives and Records Administration via DPLA, public domain

3. GIFs are a way to showcase all kinds of collections

Every piece of content has a chance to shine, not only masterpieces and big names

Asterios Alexandrou, Source material: 1. Spitkeet | A.J. van der Wal | Beeldbank van de Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; 2. Album Sheet with an Ostrich | Rijksmuseum
via Europeana, public domain

4. GIFs convey emotion

Emotion makes stories more vibrant and memorable

Pamela Chougne, Source material: Carte Postale Amour, Europeana 1914–1918, public domain

5. They’re a quick and easy way to make your content relevant

Cause there’s room for cultural heritage in everyone’s life!

Bransha Gautier, Source material: Portrait of Laurens Reael| Rijksmuseum via Europeana, public domain

6. GIFs can be standalone mini-stories

You can add captions for a meme-like feel

Source material: The Mysterious Garden, Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh, CC BY-NC-ND

7. They can be also combined with text and images to illustrate more complex narratives

You can embed GIFs in the platform of your choice or use the story functionality on GIPHY for a quick and shareable story

Vintage Dance Party by GIF IT UP | GIPHY

The weekend is here so let's have a party like in the old times

giphy.com

If you feel inspired but don’t know how to create your own GIF, here are some resources to get you started.

It’s time to show off your storytelling GIFts and submit your entry for our creative contest. Share your thoughts on social media using the #DigiStoryFest hashtag.