Maybe you have already heard or read the term "Motion Design" but have no clear idea of this concept. Yet nowadays, this curious but fascinating bug is omnipresent in our daily life.
On today's menu, you will learn about motion design, its definition which keeps evolving over time, and a taste of its journey through its many pioneers.
The 12 principles of motion design, preceded by the reasons for its success and its advantages. Finally, you will find a selection of 3 softwares that we recommend for 2D animation.
/MOTION_DESIGN
What is motion design?
This art form intrigues and never stops evolving in all its dimensions. Creativity knows no physical limits unlike cinema or photography and this is certainly what has contributed to its immense power today.
/ORIGIN
The history of motion design
The origin of motion design is unclear since its first expressions were not yet considered a full-fledged art. Classic in history, it is its popularity and the first company to appropriate the specialization that will have the honor of naming it. The chosen one will be John Whitney, founding his company "Motion Graphics. Inc. in 1960.
Back to our millennium (but not too far away), the birth of the Internet will be the big bang of the motion design galaxy we gravitate in today.
The expanding creation and broadcasting tools will push French advertising agencies to create "motion centers" to meet the demand for video or animation creation, especially for YouTube. Motion designers will have to be creative and adapt to the constraints of the platforms.
These constraints, added to the competition, becoming more and more complex and difficult, will call for the creation of training courses and motion design schools in order to promote efficient graphic designers within companies from the start.
"But Jamy, why do motion design?".
"Well Fred, it's very simple!"
/BENEFITS
The advantages
Why is motion design so trendy today? Quite simply, the brain has several "memories", the best known are visual and auditory memory but there is also a third, less emphasized, which is : kinetic memory. In simple terms, it is the ability to trigger memorization by using movement. And the 2D animation will arouse it a lot.
We will spare you the details and terms of the bio course, all you need to remember is that the movement of shapes and colors contributes to maintaining the attention of the viewer because it is stimulant. Thus, the public is more likely to register and adhere to the information that is disseminated!
The power of motion design varies depending on the situation. 2D animation can fulfill different objectives. Presentation video, explanatory video, tutorial, product video,... motion design can be a real asset for the communication of your company.
Why is motion design so trendy today? Quite simply, the brain has several "memories", the best known are visual and auditory memory but there is also a third, less emphasized, which is : kinetic memory. In simple terms, it is the ability to trigger memorization by using movement. And the 2D animation will arouse it a lot. We will spare you the details and terms of the bio course, all you need to remember is that the movement of shapes and colors contributes to maintaining the attention of the viewer because it is stimulant. Thus, the public is more likely to register and adhere to the information that is disseminated!
The power of motion design varies depending on the situation. 2D animation can fulfill different objectives. Presentation video, explanatory video, tutorial, product video,... motion design can be a real asset for the communication of your company.
1. Commercial
In a commercial contextThe main interest of motion design is that it allows to better promote the content of a video. Thanks to the colors and the storytelling, the target audience finds it easier to identify and will be more sensitive. This greatly facilitates the relationship of trust between the advertiser and the client. Thus, motion design increases the chances that the client will take action.
These are elements that can be easily identified here with this video for Brussels formations that the Duck team has carefully produced:
In a commercial contextThe main interest of motion design is that it allows to better promote the content of a video. Thanks to the colors and the storytelling, the target audience finds it easier to identify and will be more sensitive. This greatly facilitates the relationship of trust between the advertiser and the client. Thus, motion design increases the chances that the client will take action.
These are elements that can be easily identified here with this video for Brussels formations that the Duck team has carefully produced:
2. Learning
In a pure learning environmentMotion design contributes to the popularization of complex concepts or notions. Remember the small dynamic animations in the reports of the TV news or in documentaries! This is what it's all about. Stimulation by movement and colors encourage the viewer to learn and understand. Goodbye rigid texts and motionless diagrams! With motion design, information is more accessible and fun. Tutorial videos are particularly well suited to the format.
For VOO, we made an explanatory video showing the different steps illustrated.
In a pure learning environmentMotion design contributes to the popularization of complex concepts or notions. Remember the small dynamic animations in the reports of the TV news or in documentaries! This is what it's all about. Stimulation by movement and colors encourage the viewer to learn and understand. Goodbye rigid texts and motionless diagrams! With motion design, information is more accessible and fun. Tutorial videos are particularly well suited to the format.
For VOO, we made an explanatory video showing the different steps illustrated.
3. Business
/COMMERCIAL
/LEARNING
/BUSINESS
In a commercial contextThe main interest of motion design is that it allows to better promote the content of a video. Thanks to the colors and the storytelling, the target audience finds it easier to identify and will be more sensitive. This greatly facilitates the relationship of trust between the advertiser and the client. Thus, motion design increases the chances that the client will take action. These are elements that can be easily identified here with this video for Brussels training that the Duck team has carefully produced:
In a pure learning environmentMotion design contributes to the popularization of complex concepts or notions. Remember the small dynamic animations in the reports of the TV news or in documentaries! This is what it's all about. Stimulation by movement and colors encourage the viewer to learn and understand. Goodbye rigid texts and motionless diagrams! With motion design, information is more accessible and fun. Tutorial videos are particularly well suited to the format. For VOO, we made an explanatory video showing the different steps illustrated.
In a business settingThere is a category of video designed for businesses calledcorporate video" or "company video". This type of video can take several different styles: motion design, film, interview, screencastetc. Corporate videos in motion design are a good solution to present a company, its team, its objectives, its missions,... A large number of companies have become fans of corporate videos in animation. Indeed, how not to become addicted to a concept that combines clarity, fun and performance as the corporate video in motion design?
/COMMERCIAL
In a commercial contextThe main interest of motion design is that it allows to better promote the content of a video. Thanks to the colors and the storytelling, the target audience finds it easier to identify and will be more sensitive. This greatly facilitates the relationship of trust between the advertiser and the client. Thus, motion design increases the chances that the client will take action. These are elements that can be easily identified here with this video for Brussels training that the Duck team has carefully produced:
/LEARNING
In a pure learning environmentMotion design contributes to the popularization of complex concepts or notions. Remember the small dynamic animations in the reports of the TV news or in documentaries! This is what it's all about. Stimulation by movement and colors encourage the viewer to learn and understand. Goodbye rigid texts and motionless diagrams! With motion design, information is more accessible and fun. Tutorial videos are particularly well suited to the format. For VOO, we made an explanatory video showing the different steps illustrated.
/BUSINESS
In a business settingThere is a category of video designed for businesses calledcorporate video" or "company video". This type of video can take several different styles: motion design, film, interview, screencastetc. Corporate videos in motion design are a good solution to present a company, its team, its objectives, its missions,... A large number of companies have become fans of corporate videos in animation. Indeed, how not to become addicted to a concept that combines clarity, fun and performance as the corporate video in motion design?
In a commercial contextThe main interest of motion design is that it allows to better promote the content of a video. Thanks to the colors and the storytelling, the target audience finds it easier to identify and will be more sensitive. This greatly facilitates the relationship of trust between the advertiser and the client. Thus, motion design increases the chances that the client will take action. These are elements that can be easily identified here with this video for Brussels training that the Duck team has carefully produced:
In a pure learning environmentMotion design contributes to the popularization of complex concepts or notions. Remember the small dynamic animations in the reports of the TV news or in documentaries! This is what it's all about. Stimulation by movement and colors encourage the viewer to learn and understand. Goodbye rigid texts and motionless diagrams! With motion design, information is more accessible and fun. Tutorial videos are particularly well suited to the format. For VOO, we made an explanatory video showing the different steps illustrated.
In a business settingThere is a category of video designed for businesses calledcorporate video" or "company video". This type of video can take several different styles: motion design, film, interview, screencastetc. Corporate videos in motion design are a good solution to present a company, its team, its objectives, its missions,... A large number of companies have become fans of corporate videos in animation. Indeed, how not to become addicted to a concept that combines clarity, fun and performance as the corporate video in motion design?
Not sure what type of video to choose to promote your business? There are different types of videos that have different purposes. Discover them here.
/PRINCIPLES
The 12 principles of motion design
It consists in deforming an animated object in movement in order to reinforce its strength, its speed and its weight. The more it stretches and crushes by the movement, the softer it is. The heavier it is, the less the movement will be accentuated.
In singles, it is to include a step that introduces the main movement. Before jumping, you take your swing. Before you hit, you swing your arm back. These are details that we don't see in the foreground in everyday life, but it is these details that mark the realism of an animation.
When using staging in cinema, it is important to know how to manage the appearance of different characters. This notion is also valid for motion design. The objects of the animation must appear in a well-defined order beforehand in order to guide the viewer's gaze. This step is essential for his immersion.
Two animation methods in one step! Straight ahead consists in drawing the different stages of an animation one after the other. Whereas pose to pose is more like drawing the key phases first and then completing them with transitional phases in between.
Also called Drag, it is a step that cares about the coherence of independent movements to the physics of the main element. A concrete example: when you make a character run with a cape, the cape is not subject to the same physics as the character. It must therefore be coordinated. That's the whole point of this step.
Play with the number of frames to speed up or slow down an animation. Another step that contributes to the realism of 2D motion design.
To create a more harmonious movement, arcs can be used. This is a plus for almost any shape that can be animated.
Not to be confused with point 5, it is about taking care of the secondary elements that impact on the main movement. Another example, if you animate an annoyed character walking, the feet are the main element while the fists and the expression of irritation are the secondary elements. This phase will focus on the latter.
The speed of animation in motion design depends on the number of frames per second. Frames are the images used to create the animation. The more frames there are, the slower the animation will be and vice versa. It is important to note that the number of frames can greatly change the feeling that a motion design sequence should bring.
It's all in the title, it's a step that consists in exaggerating the expressions of a character or the movement of objects present in a motion design animation to better reach the viewer.
The eleventh technique in this list consists in giving volume and perspective to the drawing. It is necessary to master the volume, the mass and the weight of what you want to animate. These are important notions because this is what will give the viewer the impression that the character has a consistency and that it evolves in a physical world.
Finally, what contributes a lot to a motion design animation is the attractiveness of its actors. This little step consists in making the characters "attractive". This does not necessarily mean beautiful, since we all have our own sense of aesthetics, but rather "dynamic" or "interesting". To do this, we exaggerate the attributes that characterize the character and remove the excess detail.
Have you been captivated by this topic? You'll find a nice explanatory video here which takes up all these principles in greater depth.
/LOGICALS
Our 3 favorite software to animate
After Effects
Part of the Adobe suite, it is the first choice of our team due to its versatility. It is one of the most complete programs and has a large number of video tutorials available. If you want to become a professional in the field of motion design, After effect is probably the best choice for these reasons but also for its ubiquity in the production.
Toon Boom Harmony
Another very popular program among motion designers, Toon Boom Harmony owes its fame to the multiplicity of its tools and its pro quality features. It has been used for animated series that you already know, such as The Simpsons or Rick and Morty.
FlipaClip
To finish this mini-list, a free and minimalist software. Easy to use and with the minimum but enough to make small frame by frame animations. FlipaClip is especially popular with influencers on TikTok or Instagram for fanmades or clean creations on current music.
After Effects
Part of the Adobe suite, it is the first choice of our team due to its versatility. It is one of the most complete programs and has a large number of video tutorials available. If you want to become a professional in the field of motion design, After effect is probably the best choice for these reasons but also for its ubiquity in the production.
Toon Boom Harmony
Another very popular program among motion designers, Toon Boom Harmony owes its fame to the multiplicity of its tools and its pro quality features. It has been used for animated series that you already know, such as The Simpsons or Rick and Morty.
FlipaClip
To finish this mini-list, a free and minimalist software. Easy to use and with the minimum but enough to make small frame by frame animations. FlipaClip is especially popular with influencers on TikTok or Instagram for fanmades or clean creations on current music.
Want to get started?
As you can see, motion design has become an essential (not to say indispensable) tool in the world of visual communication. This universe has seduced you and you are considering a project? Contact us, the team will gladly make it happen!
