Abstract and Concrete

Many companies have to market products that don’t physically exist. If your company primarily works with data, networking, security, or SaaS, it might not be possible to depict what you do in a realistic way. Not effectively, at least. A video of people typing at computers or tapping on phones won’t grab your audience. That’s when you use motion graphics.

A motion graphics video uses text, icons, shapes, charts, and graphs to communicate ideas in an abstract or symbolic way. The broadest definition would say that any video that doesn’t feature characters fits the bill, but the best examples of motion graphics videos distill complex and abstract ideas into simple images. Rather than with characters, they tell stories by demonstrating the relationships between ideas with shapes and motion. They can be 2D, rely on on-screen text, or incorporate 3D motion graphics to give the video a sense of space.

A motion graphics video might be right for you if your product or service exists solely in the digital space or is so complex that it can’t be depicted directly.

You can tell a simple story with just two people in a room with a few props. But that might not accurately explain the scope of your offering. Motion graphics videos are commonly used to explain cutting-edge concepts like big data, cloud analytics, or blockchain.

You can’t show those with two people in a room. You can barely show that with a map of the world. Instead, you need to create a functional video metaphor out of shape and motion that demonstrates exactly how impressive your product is.

A motion graphics video might be right for you if your product or service operates at an extreme scale, from the microscopic all the way up to the global—and beyond.

Color and Shape

Motion graphics videos are fashionable because they’re a great fit for companies that want to communicate sophistication. When made with your brand guidelines in mind, your video looks right at home no matter where you deploy it.

Motion graphics videos are flexible. Because you’re working primarily with text, shape, color, and motion, the world can be tailored to accomplish exactly what you need it to accomplish, no matter how specific or out-there your brand requirements are. The end result emphasizes the two things that are most important to brand-conscious companies: your identity and your ideas.

A motion graphics video might be right for you if your brand favors sophisticated visual design.

Sound Ideas

An essential element of motion graphic video design is often ignored, but it makes a huge difference. It’s sound design. Motion graphics videos create huge opportunities to tell your story through sound and music, which makes them a perfect fit for keynote presentations or brand identity pieces.

Conversely, many motion graphics videos are built to work without any sound at all. This means you can deploy them at trade show booths or as muted autoplay videos on social media without losing any impact because the visuals carry the ideas.

A motion graphics video might be right for you if your message or brand could benefit from rich sound design—or no sound at all.