Motion Graphics: What Is It and What’s It For?
Learn what differentiates motion graphics from animation, and why it is such an effective branch of design
Today, motion graphics is a branch of design that is becoming increasingly popular. It’s now known that people pay more attention to videos than still images, even if those videos are just simple GIFs that move very little.
If you’re a graphic designer, sooner or later you will come across a client who will ask you to create a piece that requires motion graphics. Learning to do so is sure to help you stand out among the competition. Find out more about this branch of design below.
What is motion graphics?
Motion graphics is essentially a type of animation. However, it has a different purpose. The term “animation” can refer to all sorts of techniques used to make images move, such as those seen in animated films and series. In this sense, animation is a basic component of narration and storytelling.
Instead, motion graphics is a particular type of design, which applies movement to certain elements in a composition in order to capture the viewer’s attention.
In this video, you can see some examples of motion graphics created by Guillermo Zapiola (@guillermo_zapiola):
The origin of motion graphics
There are many historical antecedents to animation, such as the flipbook. However, when specifically looking at the origin of motion graphics, we can simply rewind to the mid 20th century.
The North American animator John Whitney used to use computer animation to create sequences for film and television–he was one of the first to use the phrase “motion graphics”. Among his most famous works, is the credit sequence for the film Vertigo (1958), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, which he created under the direction of graphic designer Saul Bass.
Motion graphics today
Thanks to software such as Adobe Flash, Adobe Animate, Cinema 4D and After Effects, creating motion graphics doesn't require endless hours of work for one second of movement.
This doesn’t mean to say that motion graphics only uses digital techniques: many contemporary designers combine both digital and traditional techniques in their pieces. Others use digital animation techniques to create more complicated effects, as Yimbo Escárrega (@yimbo8) does in the following video:
Different uses for motion graphics
Motion graphics offers a wide range of possibilities: you can create effects that are serious, elegant, fun, or playful. Your creation can be adjusted in many ways depending on how you want to communicate the message of your brand or client.
Some of the most popular formats for using motion graphics are:
Infographics
You can use motion graphics to make data stand out, such as creating a graph that moves upwards to highlight a trend. Motion graphics can help the viewer to understand an abstract or complex idea, such is the case in this video by Sujin Yang.
Logos
You can use color and movement to make the name of a brand stand out, as well as other visual elements such as a shape or figure to make it more memorable. Here are some examples of logos which use movement, created by Carlos “Zenzuke” Albarrán (@zenzuke):
Campaigns
If you are working on a campaign that contains information or a phrase that you need to make stand out, adding movement is very effective. Look at his example by Carlos “Zenzuke” Albarrán (@zenzuke):
Typography
If a video has a lot of text or needs to communicate lots of information, a good idea is to add motion graphics to the most important parts, or simple, animate the whole text using different effects. This is an example by Antony Parker:
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