Motion design videos are popular today. Mainly exploited for digital digital marketing on the Internet, they are mostly found on social networks. They are also used internally, within companies. Whether for project presentations or meetings, this type of video is popular with a large number of companies, regardless of the sectors in which they operate. But what is motion design really all about? Where and in what contexts can it be used? What are the best practices to obtain a good motion design video? These are the questions that we will successively answer in the course of this article.
What is motion design?
Motion design, or more precisely “motion graphic design” for English speakers, means the art of bringing graphic illustrations to life through animation. It represents a video presentation technique based on the animation of graphic elements. The latter can be composed of pictograms, images, or typography. The whole thing is set to background music, and often a voice over that gives dynamism to the overall animation. Illustration styles are intrinsically linked to the intended use of the final content. A tutorial will have its own specific characteristics, which will differ from a documentary type of content, for example. It will be declined in as many forms as there are film genres, exploiting all existing animation processes. Apart from computer-animated illustrations, one can find the use of volume animation, or modelling clay. Computer-generated images can be put into motion directly by hand, or always with the help of the computer. Video presentations can even be interactive as needed, being generated in real time.
This discipline involves a wide range of professions, mainly composed of authors, designers, and animators, all supervised by an artistic director. From a practical point of view, the process makes it possible to make a message or an idea appear in a simple, clear and precise way. Often of short duration, around 90 seconds, it is able to convey complex concepts or general notions in a direct and simplified way, to allow a quick assimilation by the observer. Illustrations, often borrowed from the world of animation, cartoon, can help to lighten and more easily convey serious subjects, delicate themes. This balance between the lightness of the graphic elements and the complexity of the subject matter allows the viewer to go straight to the essential, to arouse the desired emotions or reactions, or even awareness. Such a result would be more difficult to achieve with other processes.
In the context of a company, the message is rather informative, and motion design is an adequate tool to meet the needs of firms, both internally, and in the implementation of marketing strategies, through advertising in particular. The process adapts to all budgets and all needs, to find takers as well with large multinational firms, as SMEs, or non-profit organizations. The artistic direction and the referent project manager work together so that the visual communication is in accordance with the company’s graphic charter. The graphic designers use their creativity to create visuals, particularly with a computer graphic designer, that are specific and unique to each company, using software such as Photoshop and Illustrator.
The possible uses of motion design for your company
The process is widely used today in digital communication. It is very frequently found on the Internet. A video for social networks will most often be edited according to motion design codes. Most websites use it to present in a general way the raison d’être, as well as the missions and objectives of their websites or companies. All this with a graphic design that is often clean and with special effects that make the video interactive.
Some of the best known include Amazon and their offerings on Kindle Direct Publishing. This is a gateway dedicated to authors, allowing them to publish their books directly online, without going through a publishing house. To present the concept, Amazon uses a motion design video presentation. The latter is based on a mix of typography and animated computer graphics, all accompanied by a voiceover that describes the advantages and solutions that the platform can bring to authors. In the space of two minutes, Amazon manages to present the features of Kindle Direct Publishing in a comprehensive way, with simple but attractive illustrations, not forgetting the voiceover, which approaches the subject in a familiar and friendly tone, to show us the strong points.
As for the application of motion design on a product, we can mention the iPhones promotion campaigns by Apple, which has most often used the process for its advertisements. For the promotion of the iPhone X on YouTube for example, motion designers and web designers have coupled several animation techniques, to make what is called media mix. The latter, as its name suggests, consists in mixing the animation with real shots. The rendering becomes dynamic and enticing, through animated typographies that present the main innovations and attractions of the product, all delivered in one minute. This video for social networks creates a direct buzz, generating millions of views. The Apple brand goes right to the heart of the matter, to arouse the direct curiosity of the Internet user.
In the case of a company’s internal environment, old slide shows, often static and inert, are now giving way to interactive and animated tools that can better capture the audience’s attention. The growing popularity and simplicity of various animation software contribute to this revolution. Motion design, because of its ability to deliver content in a clear and succinct manner, allows firms to communicate effectively with their employees, if only to disseminate the company’s values and vision. Even today, it is possible to do basic motion design with PowerPoint, the main editing and display software dedicated to slide shows, used in companies all over the world.
This is an opportunity to present your company, as well as your products or services. In fact, a video presentation of a product can increase the act of purchase by more than 30%. The presentation of your products proves to be a real trigger not to be neglected. Do not hesitate to call upon an audiovisual production agency that will create special visual effects for your graphic communication and can add your logo(s) in an animated way.
A method and a know-how of motion design to be adapted to each project
Whatever the purpose of motion design is, it is important to plan its implementation well. There are a few steps to follow, necessary to obtain a quality animation that meets the client’s expectations.
The first step is to define your objectives. The first step is to define your objectives. Knowing and clearly defining the usefulness of motion design makes it easier to draw the main guidelines as the project progresses. With this in mind, we make what is called a brief, presenting the client’s requests and needs. It will guide us in the choice of the main graphic elements. We define the overall graphic style, choosing for example to opt for animated computer graphics, pictograms, or cartoon-type images.
The next step is to write the script, the storyboard. The next step is to write the script, the storyboard, which represents the paper version of your video. It allows you to standardize the narration, to easily detect and place the scriptural elements of the future motion design. It also offers the possibility of fine-tuning the scenario to adapt to various technical constraints.
The motion designer finally enters the game, by setting up drawing boards, illustrating in a precise way the progress of the video, sequence after sequence. During this phase, the text of the voiceover can already be integrated to give the client the clearest possible idea of the final result. This is the work plan on which the production team will base itself to make the film.
The modeling stage consists of digitally modeling all the graphic elements defined on the storyboard, before animating them. Graphic creation software is used for this purpose, to make a 2D or 3D model of the different illustrations, according to what has been defined in the previous steps.
We then move on to the recording of the voice over, if your video implies the existence of a narration. It is advisable to have it made by a professional, for an eye-catching result. Apart from the music, the way the narrator communicates will be decisive on the overall quality of the motion design.
This step requires a certain amount of vigilance, and the motion designer then focuses on the animation, taking up the various elements created during the modeling process. For this, he uses specialized graphic design software. The storyboard is the main thread of his work, and the illustrations sketched during this previous step come to life, bringing us a little closer to the final result.
The next step is to add the soundtrack. The next step is to add the soundtrack, which is important to create the desired emotion in the viewer by conveying the message of the video in a fluid manner. Digital communication has the specificity of playing on the senses of the Internet user, to better sensitize him to a cause, an idea, or a brand.
The last step is to make sure that everything fits together in a fluid way, especially regarding the synchronization of sound and images. The motion designer finishes his work by exporting the animation in different usable formats, for your different uses. Indeed, we note that a video for social networks, for example, is subject to certain conditions regarding the size or weight of the file.