Videos and motion graphics are an essential piece of any content marketer’s arsenal — your audiences crave them. According to Wyzowl’s 2020 State of Video Marketing report, 86% of people would like to see more video from brands in 2020. You can help your motion graphics shine with animation styles that fit the tone and purpose of your videos and your company as a whole. Whether you’re considering a data-driven, infographic-inspired design or a cinematic style, motion graphics have something to offer for any brand.
Here are 4 examples of stunning stylistic elements you can incorporate into your next marketing video that can take your motion graphics from standard to stand-out.
Shifting Background, Fixed Foreground
- Tone: Focused
- Purpose: Telling a detailed story
- Use: Capturing time or change
This short-form animated video, or GIF, features a central image — a car — that passes through a number of scenes and backgrounds. And while the car does feature some minor animation (such as a slight bounce), most of the motion graphic’s momentum comes from the constantly changing background.
This technique helps the viewer go on a journey from a single point of view. It also allows you to capture full stories in a shorter time frame. And, you can place the viewer at the center of that story by showing the impact of various situations on one hero character.
Putting Life into the Details
- Tone: Realistic
- Purpose: Emphasizing specific elements
- Use: Promoting a product or experience
In this simple scene, the frame stays in one place. Subtle moments — a turning sign, flickering lights, and a head nod — give it life.
This approach to animation can help your motion graphic accomplish a few key goals. First, it centers real-life actions, helping the viewer create symmetry between the video and a lived human experience. Second, a still frame with select movement gives visual emphasis to specific features. If you’re showcasing a particular product or service, this direction can be particularly effective.
Creating a Big Reveal
- Tone: Dramatic
- Purpose: Reinforcing audience understanding
- Use: Explaining or launching a complex idea
This short-form motion graphic features a single frame and a visual “slider” that animates to reveal new information. An animation style like this can create a dramatic transformation in your motion graphic. Whether you have a highly technical product or want to look behind the scenes — or simply create some energy around an announcement — this transition shows readers not just where to look but how to understand a sophisticated concept.
Building Momentum with Directional Flips
- Tone: Energetic
- Purpose: Keeping audience attention
- Use: Creating connections between different ideas
We created this GIF to inform audiences about our name-change. It features clean lines and transitions that move the viewer from one point to the next — as if it’s on an invisible roller coaster.
This style can be used to share any sort of information, be it data-, icon-, or text-oriented. In a motion graphic with lots of information or a need to connect the dots, this animation technique brings the viewer along for the ride and ensures that they’ll stay invested in your visual story.
Winning Motion Graphic Animation Styles for Any Company
Picking the right animation style is about more than just making a motion graphic that’s fun to look at. It’s about ensuring that the visual techniques deliver on your goals and will communicate the most efficiently and effectively to your audience. Whether you’re looking for a promotional, explainer, or emotive motion graphic, make sure you’re working with the right animation company, a team that aims to understand your goals and design a final product that can achieve them. Then, your next video marketing effort can speak — and move — for your brand in the most effective ways.
