There are many scenarios where our expertise in designing real–time graphic displays comes into its own but perhaps few have more significance than our dynamic illustration of democracy in action.

Working with SF–DRS, Switzerland’s German language public broadcaster, we developed a data gathering system and designed a set of graphic templates to visualise live results and changes in voting patterns, plus the effect they would have in the context of parliament.

The key to this project was integrating our solution with SF–DRS’ own technology and production process to develop complex databases and system interfaces. Furthermore, the ‘enquiry’ facility we built into the databases allowed the production team to identify and illustrate the election’s most significant stories.

Throughout the vote count, our bespoke software gathered results from the many Swiss regions. Databases were updated in real–time through our customised interfaces, regardless of whether data was sourced from manual or automatic feeds. The system also managed predictions and forecasts.

Our dynamic graphic package integrated complex 3D animations, charts and maps with real–time data to display the latest results and their parliamentary implications. Our content system also handled photos of every candidate (and there were hundreds), which were displayed at the point their result was announced.

“It was a great success, both with the audience, the politicians and the participating journalist – a great job. It was a great feeling to have your very efficient support. The cooperation with BBC Broadcast (now Red Bee Media) has been a very good one. I hope, indeed, that we continue working together.”
Peter Lippuner, Producer National Elections, SF–DRS