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Discipline

Motion design

Applies design to time and motion: film and series titles, animated brands, audiovisual pieces and interface transitions.

Origin
20th-century practice with no single author; collected by Krasner (2008)

What it deals with

On screen, the message is not seen all at once: it unfolds over time, and rhythm matters as much as form.

Principles

  • Time

    How long each thing lasts and in what order it appears.

  • Meaningful motion

    Motion explains or supports; it doesn't distract.

  • Image and sound

    They are designed together, but the piece must also work without sound.

Applications in design

  • Use it like this

    Write the script and the pacing before animating.

  • Avoid

    Animating everything just because you can.

  • Don’t fall for it

    Check the piece at the size and on the screen where it will be seen: on a phone, small text can’t be read.

Especialidades

Specialty

Title design

Designs the credit sequences of films and series, which set the tone and introduce the story.

Specialty

Motion branding

Designs how a brand moves: animated logos and motion rules so it can be recognized on screen.

Specialty

Audiovisual design

Designs image-and-sound pieces for screens, deciding how the two combine to communicate.

Specialty

UI motion design

Uses motion in interfaces to make clear what changes and where each thing comes from.

Methods and tools

  • MethodStoryboardTelling in panels how someone uses a product or a service.

Connections

Related to

Authors and works

  1. 2008

    Jon Krasner

    Brought together the history and aesthetic principles of motion graphic design.

  2. 1981

    Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston

    Set out Disney's twelve principles of animation, such as anticipation, timing or slow in and slow out, which motion graphics borrows to make movement feel natural.

  3. 1993

    Bay-Wei Chang and David Ungar

    Showed that these cartoon principles also work outside film, to make changes on a screen understandable.

Sources

Original sources

  • Thomas, F., & Johnston, O. (1981). Disney animation: The illusion of life. Abbeville Press.
  • Chang, B.-W., & Ungar, D. (1993). Animation: From cartoons to the user interface. In Proceedings of the 6th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST ’93) (pp. 45–55). ACM. View source: Chang, B.-W., & Ungar, D. (1993)

Secondary sources

  • Krasner, J. (2008). Motion graphic design: Applied history and aesthetics (2nd ed.). Focal Press.

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