Effective and creative design breaks through content fatigue.

Graphic designs that move, twist, and change are an excellent way to actually stand out.

Getting users' attention is no easy feat. With most people being exposed daily to what feels like a million combined emails, notifications, Facebook posts, Instagram pics, and adverts across every receipts, storefront, and bus stop, content that's bland or looks too corporate has no chance of standing out at all. Nowadays, content creation is extremely accessible - with services like Canva on the rise, any worker at any company can pump out a series of graphics for any platform in a matter of minutes. It's easy, quick, and most of the time it's free. The problem itself lies in the fact that anyone can do it. Thinking back on whatever ads you saw today, there's a pretty good chance that all of them looked pretty similar, and there's an even better chance that you can barely remember any of them at all. The same corporate fonts, blocky colours, a simple image with easy text, and perhaps a stock photo or a vector illustration. You might remember seeing these ads - but can you remember what any of them said, or wanted you to buy? 

Motion Design appeals to the monkey brain.

If you actually want content that looks like a typical real-estate agency's Instagram post, you probably don't need motion design. In fact, it's probably a better solution all things considered to do it yourself in Canva. On the other hand, if you're pushing for something that actually gets user attention - something that stops the endless scroll through social feeds and actually gets people to take a second look, then movement is a great way to catch people's eye. It's a simple and well-understood principle that movement draws your attention more. That's just how we evolved - something jumping out from a bush on the savannah obviously deserves more of your brain's immediate attention than a mountain in the distance that definitely hasn't changed since this morning. The same principle can be used to get your business the attention it deserves, with much better results than a simple, static design. This year, most of the content people see is on screens - displayed on the web, social media, or even digital billboards. Everything else on Earth moves - so why don't your graphics? 

Motion design trends to look out for: 

Because businesses are starting to catch on to this idea, moving graphics and designs have seen a pretty big surge in attention. There are a variety of really trendy ways to use motion in your content. One trend that has been really exciting in the last few years is logo animations, which are a brilliant way to add life to your brand itself, as well as any digital content that you'd typically use a logo on.  Logo animations are versatile in that they can be used on websites, in social posts, advertisements, and as an introduction or outro to any branded video.

Another exciting trend in the motion design field is punky, poppy, hand-drawn elements. These have been used for a while by brands like Nike, but are starting to push forward a little bit into the main marketing sphere, and they do a brilliant job of "stropping the scroll", particularly with younger audiences that are looking for 'edgier' content.

Animated explainer videos are another brilliant way that big brands and businesses have been using motion design in recent years. Whilst the trend largely originated from the "whiteboard animation" sketched-on style, modern motion design is now used to create show-stopping animated explainers; sometimes to introduce a product or business, as a "trailer" of sorts for a new launch, or even just as educational material. Modern digital organisations such as Vox News and Kurzgesagt ave really pushed this form of motion design to a new frontier.

One last trend that popped up more and more in 2020, and seemingly will be even more popular in 2021, is a sort of retro, animated and 80's-aesthetic look that's reminiscent of something you might see in Stranger Things. Motion Design aside, the type of neon colours, jumpy and glitchy elements, and dramatic glowing colour schemes that were associated with new digital designs in the 1980s may have seemed cheesy at the time, but are only more and more appealing today.

Get in touch with us today for a free chat about motion design, visual content, or anything else. We don't bite!