Motion graphics refers to the art of creating graphic assets that combine moving pictures, text, visual effects, etc. It is the best way to visualize something and make it look authentic and aesthetic at the same time. Motion graphics design is one of the main services of design studios, and it reflects the demand that social media has placed on marketers and businesses.

What the Motion Graphics term means

The term motion graphics means that the graphics you see are in motion. It’s as simple as you can get when explaining this to somebody. It’s a great way to present something complex and give it a cool vibe. While there are similarities between motion graphics and 3D animation, let’s talk about their differences. Animation is a whole realm of design, and motion graphics is just a type of animation. We’ll use animation and motion graphics interchangeably in this article for the sake of simplicity.

The main purpose of motion designers is to create nice-looking graphics and set them in motion to tell stories. Whether it’s for marketing purposes or for creating a masterpiece of a movie opener, motion graphics work well in most cases. It all started a long time ago in the 1800s, but the golden era of motion graphics came with the adoption of more sophisticated means of creating animations. Digital graphics pawed the way for all sorts of creative endeavors, and it was the time when motion graphics became prevalent in our everyday life.

Motion design is much better suited to conveying complex ideas than static graphics. Using additional dimensions like space and time, motion graphics are heads and shoulders above 2D pictures. It gives creators a lot of opportunities for storytelling and enticing viewers, thus, achieving the end goals of motion design studio’s clients much faster. This is done by putting together all elements of design in a way that looks natural and coherent, which establishes an emotional connection with the viewers.

Popular uses of motion graphics

Nowadays motion graphics are everywhere. You can see graphic animation on TV or social media, and, of course, the most prominent example of utilizing this type of design is marketing and advertising.

Online marketing. There’s never been a better time to implement motion graphics into your marketing campaigns. With the exhaustion of the audience due to the constant bombardment with endless promo materials with plain pictures and text, adding motion graphics to the equation can be a great change of pace. Digital marketing benefits from utilizing this approach for another reason - motion graphics design is a universal thing that can be a nice addition to any type of marketing campaign. And this sort of content also boosts conversion rates.

Video intros are another example of how beneficial graphics in motion can be. Animation studios around the world are often tasked with creating lively and cool intros for YouTube videos. This helps content creators look different and promote their brands. In addition to that, there are different types of overlays with special effects that YouTubers use to create engaging videos that make people subscribe and yearn for new content.

Social media is a prime example of where to put your newly created motion graphics. The fact is that people easily get bored with repeated content that consists of plain posts with pictures. To freshen things up, you would need to deploy some animated videos that engage people and are just fun to watch. This is one of the reasons to opt for motion graphics in your grand social media marketing strategy.

And last but not least – explainer videos. These are immensely popular with people who use the Internet to learn new things and be aware of current trends. Animation studios have been creating them for ages now, and for a good reason. Motion graphics can be used not only to sell products but also to make complex subjects more digestible. This, in turn, brings certain value to people. Mixing your other content for social media with some short video explainers will strike a balance between selling your products and educating people on topics that matter.

Why use motion graphics

First of all, when you compare motion graphics to other types of content, retention rates of the former are going to be much higher. And that is no surprise. Sadly, social media exposure from a young age has decreased our ability to concentrate for a long time. What could be more boring than reading pages of text to learn about something? That’s where motion graphics come in. There’s a lot of potential for making the viewers engaged so they watch your videos until the end.

The second issue that stems from shortened attention span is the need to explain ideas as fast as possible. And motion graphics is a miracle cure for that. It takes just several seconds for a person to decide whether to continue watching or switch to something else. And during those seconds you have a chance to captivate your audience by incorporating animations created by motion graphics agencies.

And the biggest benefit for your business would be improving your brand awareness. Videos tend to be the most sought-after sort of content out there. Thus, investing in nice-looking videos with outstanding effects and intros is going to have a huge impact on how people perceive your brand. This is why motion graphics can be a powerful tool for your branding strategy.  

Software that motion designers use

We’ve discussed the basics and some of the benefits of motion graphics for your business efforts. Now we’ll give you a brief overview of motion graphics software that designers use to create high-performing animations and videos. Though you don’t necessarily have to know it, as all of this is done by professionals at design agencies, it’ll shed some light on the process of creating masterpieces.

Adobe After Effects is the most popular software for creating motion graphics. It’s a part of the Adobe Creative Cloud ecosystem, and it helps designers to utilize a variety of apps and extensions to create content that one might need to achieve their business goals.

Cinema 4D takes second place in all rankings across the Internet. It combines the simplicity of the user interface with powerful features able to produce all kinds of 3D visual assets. The interface is praised by many professionals due to its intuitive nature. Cinema 4D is easy to use for novices in motion graphic design, yet it’s a viable option for pros that may benefit from integrations with other software like Adobe Illustrator or After Effects.

Conclusion

Motion graphics is a popular field of design and its prominence cannot be understated in the age of social media. Motion graphics is a way of communicating with the audience using sequences of moving pictures, special effects, sounds, and type. It’s the essence of it but for motion design, there are no creative limits to how one might utilize it. 3D almost always beats 2D, and this is the case with 3D animations that professional designers arrange into videos that can be immensely helpful for your business success.

With motion graphics you can achieve almost anything – whether it’s creating rad intros for your YouTube videos or using animations to illustrate some concepts on your website. The use cases are innumerable, as well as the benefits of implementing this type of design into your business processes.

As with most things in life, finding the right people to do the work is a vital component of one’s success. In this case, you’re in luck – we, the Ubunzo team, are eager to provide you with high-quality and conversion-driving motion graphics. Please don’t hesitate to contact us so we can discuss your projects and come up with creative ways to boost your business with top-notch animations and videos.