Aberdeenshire Council’s Roads Service has released an animated video that shows how potholes are formed.A communication design student from Gray’s School of Art was asked to take on the project in conjunction with the local authority in an effort to explain how they are formed and to ask for the public’s report in helping them.Stuart Elliot, who has just finished his third year at Robert Gordon University’s art school, saw the council’s brief in February and instantly recognised a worthwhile project that he could get creative with.The aspiring illustrator, originally from Earlston in the Borders, has been working on the video since March.The animation, entitled 'Roads Maintenance: The (pot)Whole Story!', will contribute towards his graded portfolio of work and will also appear on the council’s YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm-pRZdd9YI&feature=youtu.be Not only has the project offered Elliot an insight in to the tribulations of roads maintenance, but useful experience in working with local government, as well as an opportunity to exercise his creative skills.He said: “The majority of the animation was very new to me, so I was pretty much learning how to use the software as I went along. You’d be surprised how difficult it is to animate a walking person!”Elliot’s university course mates and lecturers have been supportive of the project, although he admits at first they thought the topic was amusing.He added: “While potholes are not a particularly glamorous subject, people get very irate over them. I felt I could inject some light-heartedness by having fun with the visuals – humorous content is always more memorable!”The animation shows a pastel-coloured Aberdeenshire landscape, where the mountains are high and the snow fall heavy, the traffic fierce and the local wildlife highly intelligent.It’s a tongue-in-cheek Aberdeenshire where cows, rather than dogs, can be seen driving tractors, moles like to wear top hats and seagulls deliver the mail.Aberdeenshire Council’s head of roads and landscape services, Philip McKay, said: “Winter invariably leads to problems with potholes due to the freeze/thaw cycle.“At this time of year the council is busy repairing faults and carrying out its programme of preventative surface dressing and resurfacing works. During the summer, members of the public play an important role in helping the council by reporting potholes so that they can be incorporated into the programme of repairs.“We wanted to get that message across to residents, using a more unusual method of communication. Video is an engaging way to tell a story, and I thought the idea of a collaboration with RGU could provide some innovative results. I think Stuart’s animation hits the nail on the head. It’s brief, funny and informative.“I hope people in Aberdeenshire recognise that it’s tongue-in-cheek, but also take a moment to consider the amount of effort we put in to maintaining our road network and the scale of the job at hand.”