Motion graphics and animation are often used interchangeably to describe styles of video. They are two essential strategies in digital marketing today and are used in almost everything, from digital advertising and social media marketing to product demos, illustrated shorts, interactive experiences, and more. But what are motion graphics and animation? How do they differ? And when should you use each one? This article will answer all these questions and more to help guide you in the decision-making process.

Differences Between Motion Graphics and Animation

You can use both motion graphics and animation to create stunning visuals and add action to the message being conveyed. Whether your goal is to tell a story or to launch a new product, motion graphics or animation can help you do so.

The term animation has a dual meaning: the first refers to the entire field of moving imagery that is not filmed. The second is a narrower focus that brings levity to the subject matter by employing illustration, caricatures, cartoons, and highly stylized scenes, which have been traditionally hand-drawn in the past.  The practice of animation may implement a mix of original drawing, stock imagery, and iconography to create the overall visual appeal.

On the other hand, motion graphics focuses on the dynamic movement of 2D or 3D graphic design elements and the integration of these elements into video footage at times. It can be utilized to enhance video marketing or to create an entire film or series of motion graphic shorts as a means to tell an impactful story. Motion graphics utilizes Adobe After Effects and Cinema 4D (for professional 3D modeling) to create stunning, dynamic visual effects.

When To Use Motion Graphics

Motion graphics is animated graphic design and be used in many different ways in video marketing today, including:

• Demonstrating the value of a product or showing how it works
• Creating a social media video that not only stands apart from the competition and grabs attention while scrolling through the feed
• Bringing abstract design visuals into a filmed video to enhance its appeal and draw attention to specific key messages

The use of motion graphics is everywhere. It’s common in marketing, advertising, and in social media where clarity, awareness, and ‘wow factor’ are all essential. From television commercials and product demos to website video content and even large, mesmerizing billboards, using motion graphics communicates information dramatically as well as in an entertaining way. 

For example, in motion graphics, mixing animated 2D or 3D visual elements with video footage can add a layer of visual effects to punctuate key visual messages or create unique, layered textures that are otherwise not possible using straight video clips.

When To Use Animation

When you hear the word animation, usually cartoons like Walt Disney come to mind. Animation provides a blank slate to create scenes, worlds, and situations in which you have total control over the visuals and elements as most likely, they are created from scratch or mixed in with select stock assets. With animation, you can:

• Create characters and scenes specific to your needs, from complex to simple
• Create the illusion of moving shapes, images, or colors within a design, including the background
• Enable whimsical, humorous, or extraordinary concepts that push the creative boundaries
  
• Create an animated product demo with ‘hyper-realized’ screen content, meaning the exact screens don’t need to be shown providing a longer lifecycle to the video content as updates are frequently made

Animation involves three significant steps: planning (or storyboarding), pre-visualizing through animation software, and post-production.  Animators have great freedom and endless possibilities when creating visuals as they are not limited to real-world visuals. 

Films that are animated are also unique because they don’t use real people. Instead, these movies use a different animation style involving computer-generated images allowing animators to create any character imaginable.

Wrapping it up

At the end of the day, motion graphics and animation are two powerful tools that you can use to add action and levity to digital marketing today.  Holding a viewer’s attention is essential and both motion graphics and animation provide the solution—because static images and written text aren’t enough anymore. 

If you have any questions, schedule a meeting with us today, and we’ll provide further insights as well as show real-world examples of both motion graphics and animation.