The human eye is naturally drawn to movement. Movement helps us to decipher, make decisions, and gain an understanding of what we’re looking at with little effort. Statistics show that animated content holds the attention of a viewer longer than a traditional static post. This can be seen most notably in the rise of platforms like TikTok, and Instagram’s new algorithmic bias for reels. Motion helps viewers to understand tone, adds nuance, and has the ability to deliver points with ease. Most importantly, motion creates a sense of brand recall for the viewer.

We’ve pulled together some quick snippets to illustrate the ways in which motion can elevate and enhance your brand’s communication experience.

The personality of a brand is primarily communicated through visual presentation, tone of voice and how it moves in a space. Animation can make a powerful impact on branding in ways that are not always obvious. It’s not about what moves, but how it moves, and what that movement says. A cleverly designed piece of communication should stop you in your tracks, make a viewer linger that little bit longer, convey a message quickly or instil a feeling in a viewer.

A creative use of motion allows brands to convey concepts that are difficult to achieve in static form, making it an ideal tool for when you have a lot to say and little time to grab someone’s attention. Animation, and its style, can influence our opinions, impressions and understanding of a brand.

For a brand to be successful, it is essential that it pins down its core pillars, tone of voice, typography, image style etc. This also applies to how the brand lives, breathes and moves across various digital formats.

It’s important to set parameters on how your brand moves and define the rationale behind why it moves in that particular way, so that your brand can further differentiate itself from competitors and communicate its position and personality effectively. Is your brand more straight-laced…or more goofy, elegant or casual, more into punk rock or smooth jazz? These considerations all make for a well rounded identity that can really live inside the mind of a viewer, the motion style becoming an ownable brand asset amplifying your other core pillars. The style we decide upon will depend on the message you are trying to convey and the feeling you are trying to evoke.

Behind each brand lies a rich story to be told. Storytelling can be achieved in a number of ways, from copywriting to illustration through to animated story pieces.

Often, brands will be rooted in an abstract concept or a story that may be fascinating and powerful, but is unfortunately not widely known by the public, buried in a brand guideline document in a dusty cupboard or folder. If communicated effectively, your story can provide real insight into the brand and its heritage, ethos, personality and values. Here lies the opportunity to say your piece, explain the thinking behind your brand, and define what makes you different. These pieces can create great impact and may live on websites, or as individual campaigns, and even tell your story to investors, or inspire your audience at events.

Behind each brand lies a rich story to be told. Storytelling can be achieved in a number of ways, from copywriting to illustration through to animated story pieces. Often, brands will be routed in an abstract concept or a story that may be fascinating and powerful, but is unfortunately not widely known by the public, buried in a brand guideline document in a dusty cupboard or folder. If communicated effectively, your story can provide real insight into the brand and its heritage, ethos, personality and values. Here lies the opportunity to say your piece, explain the thinking behind your brand, and define what makes you different. These pieces can create great impact and may live on websites, or as individual campaigns, and even tell your story to investors, or inspire your audience at events.

Last but not least, sometimes motion graphics just bring joy! Motion design pieces can simply be a thing of beauty, or a bit of craic! It’s a way to indulge your brand’s visual style and engage viewers with a satisfying visual treat that expresses your brand’s aesthetic leanings, and more emotive qualities. Aiming to do no more than satisfy the mind with some expressive movement can be a great way to boost loyalty and engagement in your audience, sparking a dopamine response in the brain and associating your brand with feeling good!

The ultimate aim of using motion in our work is to evoke a feeling from the viewer, be it delight, surprise, shock, or even just to crack a smile on someone’s face!