Content is king in the digital marketplace. And quality content with the aid of motion design is next level. Everybody knows this which is why everyone strive to produce content that is worth seeing and sharing, especially when it comes to bringing in more customers. With a market that is saturated with competition, it can be a huge challenge to create quality content and build a strong brand identity. It is important that potential customers appreciate and know about your brand in order to lead them towards the last stage of the sales funnel.
Content marketing is a method by which brands reach out to consumers through articles, social media posts, videos, podcasts, and other forms of information. Among the many types of content, videos and animations proved to be the most effective at conveying information while providing entertainment to the viewer.
Back in 2020, a study about social video trends showed that ROI increased for those who used videos for marketing. In the same study, 93% of the respondents agree that video content is what made the significant increase. While global technology firm Cisco projects that web traffic will be all about videos by 2022, many marketers and advertisers find it difficult to produce solid video content. Budget and equipment are mostly the problems. There is also a need to create a team that will come up with a script, design the set, and edits the final material. With all these intricacies, one might wonder if it is all worth the effort and resources.
Well, technically, yes, it is worth it since statistics show that 60% of shoppers make their purchasing decisions after watching product videos. But instead of a harder produce live-action video content, there is actually a more accessible method that will not require you to spend a lot for overhead.
Get ready to be blown away by motion design, its importance, and how you can use it to improve your marketing strategies.
What is Motion Design?
Motion design, or motion graphics, is a design style that combines graphic design principles with video production using animation and visual effects. Basically, it is moving audiovisual content that has been injected with colors, shapes, typography, transitions, and other elements.
The animated graphic elements are used for a ton of purposes, mainly in marketing, because they are great at explaining a concept. They can also be created with lots of aesthetic qualities which is why they are also popular on social media.
Animation principles study Mariia Kudryk
But how does motion design work?
In most cases, you can see motion design being used to present information where animated text and graphics are added to enhance the communication channel. It is most helpful when content is extremely complex that it can be difficult to explain by a layman. The point of using it is to make the ideas visual so that the audience will find them easier to understand.
Why Motion Design is Essential to Marketing
Motion design is suitable for a variety of industries where an excellent means of communication is a requirement. This is why it is deliberately used as an integral part of most marketing strategies, including social media, email marketing, content marketing, and mobile marketing among many others.
What makes motion graphics effective? Here are the reasons why:
Carbon TV by Débora Linhares
1. It Makes Boring Content More Interesting
With so much content on the internet, it can be challenging to offer something interesting, especially with a mundane topic. The technical aspects of machinery, for example, have some of information that is just too boring to discuss. Having an expert to explain it may not be enough to perk up the interest of the audience. But with well-designed animated graphics, it is more likely that they will get absorbed enough to watch it until the end.
2. It Emphasizes a Point
Effective motion graphics is consisting of animated graphics, text, voiceovers, and mood-setting music. The combination of entertaining visual and audio elements adds value to your content and will help highlight a point.
Nike Sports Bra by Camila Rosa
3. It Builds Brand Awareness
Having a strong brand identity can do great things in improving your market share. A 2020 survey attests that 93% out of 500 brands gained new customers because of social media videos. Motion graphics allow you to explain your brand in a new and exciting way that makes people aware and remember.
4. It Is Easily Shareable
Motion design and social media are great marketing combo. This would only be effective, however, if your content is actually shared by the users. Because motion graphics are much shorter than full-production videos, it is more likely to get noticed and shared across different platforms. It also helps that you can be as creative as you want with animated graphics, making it more visually appealing to the audience.
5. It is Efficient and Cost-Effective
Resources are a common issue among marketers and business owners. Quality marketing does not come cheap and optimum success is not always guaranteed. With motion graphics, costs are significantly cut down because there is no need to secure locations, purchase expensive equipment, or hire actors. All you need is a computer, some animation tools, and enough knowledge to get started.
Getting Started...
Although it is commonly used in the world of commercial animation, creating motion graphics is actually not a simple task. Unlike other types of animations where you can reference nature as to how objects are to be animated, motion design has no natural reference on how typography, shapes, and other design elements move. It is up to the designer to make the design more humanized in order to use it to connect with the audience.
The question is how to do it? Good thing you are reading this post because here are the steps to get you started:
1. Prepare Basic Toolset
There are tools required to start with motion design. Adobe After Effects is a good software to explore if you want to create 2D animations with simple scenes. You may also want to try Powtoon where there are thousands of high-quality templates that you can experiment with.
2. Create a Visual Library
If you are going to create motion design then you will have to work with plenty of images. Start building a visual library with all the GIFs, movie clips, art, landscapes, and music that inspire you. Use it to ignite your own creative ideas that you can use in creating unique designs.
3. Study the Principles of Animation
Disney’s Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnson have come up with the 12 animation principles that every motion designer has to know. You have to learn about the 12 variables in order for you to create more dynamic and stunning animations.
4. Explore
The fastest way to learn about creating motion graphics is by exploring and gathering all available resources. Try to learn how a certain animation style is made by an artist. There are websites where you can actually break down the animation process to see it being made frame by frame. Aside from discovering new techniques, do not be hesitant to try them out and create your own versions. This will make it easier for you to remember the different methods and will even allow you to devise your own style.
Nguyễn Duy Cương
5. Embrace It
Becoming a motion designer can be demanding. It requires patience and will take a lot of time to master the skills. The only way to enjoy it is by loving what you do and embracing it as a way of life. This will give you more strength to continue learning and also fuel your desire to be good at it.
Motion Design Tutorials for Beginners
Technological improvements have shaped motion design through the years and there is now a plethora of tools that are available for both designers and marketers to create this type of animation. The internet also offers a multitude of resources to learn the fundamental concepts of motion graphics.
Here is a list of the most robust motion design tutorials that are crafted especially for beginners:
1. School of Motion
Undoubtedly one of the best places to be if you want to be taught by industry professionals who know all the tricks and tips of great animations. It is a friendly online community where you not only get access to motion design tutorials but also sharpen your skills with tactical feedback from professional artists. There are a lot of motion design courses to choose from which is a huge advantage if you have a particular style that you want to learn.
2. Motion Science
This website is created by a guy named Cameron who started doing motion design in 1998. Aside from a free workshop about creating extraordinary motion design and elevating your design style, he also offers several comprehensive courses intended to advance your design skills and master different tools, such as Adobe After Effects and Cinema 4D. There are also sample lessons posted on the website that discuss how certain designs were made.
3. Skillshare
Skillshare have plenty of resources for motion design tutorials. There are motion and digital animation classes for beginners. Advanced classes for professional designers are also available. The best thing about these Skillshare videos is that each lesson is broken down into short episodes and hands-on motion projects to make it easier to learn.
4. Intro to Motion Graphics
This is part one of a 4-part motion design tutorials series by Ben Marriott on his Youtube channel, TipTut. The video shows a step-by-step guide to learning how After Effects work, including keyframes, positioning, pre-comps, text to shapes, strokes, fill, and color.
5. Learn Motion Graphics in Under 20 Minutes
This fantastic motion design tutorial will teach you how to use After Effects to create simple motion graphics in less than 20 minutes! It covers the basics of animation which should be useful as you start embarking on this journey.
6. How to Become a Great Motion Graphics Designer: A Step by Step Guide
This is a comprehensive guide that discusses how you can start creating 2D motion graphics. With more than 10 years of experience, Tigran Movsisyan shares all tips and tricks he has learned along the way to becoming a successful digital animator. The focus of this guide is 2D motion graphics which will be helpful for those who are interested in creating explainer videos, tech videos, and advertising content.
7. 100 Days of Motion Design
Tiantian Xu shares this 100-day project where she taught herself to create 50 animated designs in 100 days. It is very useful because unlike most motion design tutorials where the teacher dives right into the process, Xu discussed the tools she used and the creative process involved.
8. Motion Design 101 with Michael Jones
This free course is all about building a solid foundation of knowledge about motion design principles and processes. It is an entry-level course but it thoroughly discusses a lot of information, especially in mastering Adobe Illustrator and After Effects.
9. Motion Graphics 101: A Beginner's Guide
Sharone Houri discusses in detail what a beginner must know about motion graphics. It is mainly about the different applications of motion design. It also has links to courses that her team offers.
10. Greyscalegorilla
Aside from video tutorials, podcasts are also great resources to keep abreast with the latest trends in animation and motion design. This podcast is all about 3D rendering, Cinema 4D, and a lot more. The website also has a lot of resources, like tutorials an intro to Cinema 4D if you are interested in it.
Although we have listed the top websites, remember that the internet is teeming with motion design tutorials that both beginner and seasoned designers will find useful. It would be very rewarding to explore the web for tutorial videos, podcasts, and other motion design resources.
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Takeaway...
The digital market has grown so much in the past few years that it has become a priority for every company to do their best to stand out through all marketing tactics possible. Among the many strategies that have been employed, the majority of marketers are favoring motion design because of its effectiveness in grabbing a viewer’s dwindling attention.
Motion graphics can help propel your brand to success due to the many benefits that come with it. Investing in your skills and knowledge by going through motion design tutorials is a great way to ensure that you are on the right track in crafting your motion graphic content.
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