What Is Kinetic Typography? 5 Examples

Explore the dynamic world of kinetic typography: Learn how it captivates audiences & enhances visual storytelling in design.

"Kinetic Typography" is basically a fancy new name that is given to animated fonts. It has existed since the 50s when film title design was an emerging artform. Some might already know Saul Bass' work on Hitchcock's movies for example. Now they are still used in cinema but also for lyric music videos and even just created by graphic designers to go directly into their neat portfolios to never be seen again.

1. Binder, Maurice Binder

The famous James Bond gun barrel sequence in Dr. No was designed by Maurice Binder. I hope this doesn't break the immersion for hardcore fans of the series... James Bond doesn't exist and you will never be successful trying to imitate him... It's a fictional character, guys... Get your life in order!

Here is the famous sequence for Dr. No. I much rather forget about Golden Eye, Skyfall and Daniel Kleinman's opening sequences...!

2. Mad Mad Mad Mad Saul Bass

I just mentioned him. Saul has worked with incredible directors such as the aforementioned Hitchcock, Otto Preminger, Scorsese... And in movies like West Side Story, Psycho, Ocean's 11 and so on.

The example I choose to share is the title sequence from It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, because I think it might be the most animated title sequence Bass ever did... I kind of gave it away with the title I wrote for his section... It's the little details that no one cares about that make writing blog posts worthwhile (to psychos... Yes, pun intended...!).

3. Ceci ( Cecilia ) Erlich

Let's leave the old folk behind and get into the "hip" new comers. Erlich is a Visual Artist and a Graphic & Motion Designer based in Madrid...

I don't know her personally so I can't give more biographic info... but what I can tell is that she is riding the wave of new kinetic typography very well, with some interesting innovative inclusions for the cultured in the field, too. Give her a follow on Instagram.

4. Mat Voyce

Perhaps the most famous living kinetic typographer, Mat Voyce (@matvoyce) has amassed over 160k followers on Instagram by essentially showcasing his portfolio of work on the social network (a dream come true for many graphic designers). Now he works for companies like Disney, ESPN, Google, Nike, Pepsi...

One day Mat might be big enough to even work for Domestika... Well, he actually has already! Here is his Course on After Effects Expressive Typography

His smooth and playful animation might be the kickstarter to this whole trend, so props to him! Mat often animates motivational messages for himself, like the following:

5. Jimmy Turrell

To finish this top 5, I'd like to show you an example of a modern lyric video that uses animated fonts to their full potential. Jimmy and his team, Computerteam, blends the words with the background or animates the letters according to the meaning of the lyrics. Doing research, I found that Jimmy has also worked for Nike, just like Mat Voyce… Certainly, he isn't big enough for Domestika, yet!

So here is a masterclass on kinetic typography (I also like the song... I admit it!):

If your words aren't moving as much as you'd like these Domestika courses and blogs will make the words straight up scape your mouth (words of encouragement hopefully!):

- Kinetic typography courses
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