Winter is coming… We couldn’t withstand the temptation of staring this post with the well-known phrase. There are two reasons for doing so. The first one is that this statement is actually true. The coldest season is about to start. The second one is that winter equals to Christmas holidays, end-of-the-year reviews and New Year resolutions. This is just the right time to come up with suggestions and predictions of what will be work best for your business promotion. Being big fans of motion graphics, we bank on it and are ready to highlight the major design patterns and trends.

Last year was about trying something fresh and discovering new depths of motion graphics. We’ve tried to make our own suggestions and outlined key ideas in a fascinating post “Motion Graphics Trends for 2018”. Most of the predictions became the mainstream of this year. As 2018 is running out, we decided to sum up the biggest movements and the brightest trends born to rule the motion graphics industry throughout the upcoming year.

It’s up to you to decide how to use this outline: as a source of constant creative inspiration or as a guideline for informed design choices. The aim is to identify where motion graphics are right now and what path will it follow in 2019. Ready? Let’s dig a little deeper.

3D Everywhere

Being a new frontier of motion graphics, the 3D design is really everywhere and will continue to grow in popularity the next year. Combining animation, sound, and video, 3D opens up greater opportunities for showcasing almost unbelievable scenes designers previously couldn’t display.

We can see 3D shapes everywhere: in game design, marketing campaigns and sales presentations. It’s simply impossible to imagine motion graphics of 2019 without this trend. This is a new and robust communication tool able to highlight top product or service benefits in an extremely impactful manner. Possessing characteristic of a highly captivating and convincing medium, 3D can bring to life presentations, vivify commercials and product shots.

OPPO R9S – RED from CHIU on Vimeo.

Will we see more 3D motion graphics throughout 2019 in all industries? Definitely.

Mix of 2D & 3D Graphics

We spoke about this trend back in 2017. Mixing 2D and 3D can remarkably enhance any storytelling with more lifelike images. That’s why it was growing so trendy at the end of 2017. And that’s why its popularity will only intensify in 2019.

International Woman’s Day by Multiple owners.

Design ninjas continue to test new approaches and work on a spectacular combination of 2D and 3D graphics. As proof, we can observe a variety of new examples not only in commercials and big-budget shots but in digital ads and marketing as well. And it’s not surprising. 3D graphics design itself can be quite expensive while plain 2D animation doesn’t always comply with the message. A clever blend of both equips your marketing strategy with visually appealing graphics at an affordable cost.

There are several approaches to mixing 2D and 3D elements:

• Overlays of 2D images with live-action or 3D footage.

• 2D overlays with match-moving.

• Combination of 2D hand-drawn elements with live-action footage.

• Merging of 2D and 3D images.

Let’s wait and see which of the approaches will take the leading position in 2019.

Highly Complex VFX (Visual Effects)

Explosions, natural catastrophes, dinosaurs, and transformers… Such scenes cannot be shot in real life but, thanks to visual effects, we can see them in movies or commercials.

Combining existing footage with a computer-generated imagery, VFX motion graphics can take viewers to another dimension where everything is possible. No wonder it becomes so popular.

NUBIA-RedMagic by Multiple owners.

Motion design with highly complex VFX is spectacular and fascinating. The magic happens because you’re no longer able to distinguish live-action from digital animation. It’s a hybrid of technology and artistry that grants viewers an exclusive visual experience. Hurry up if it wasn’t included in your marketing campaign. This is the trend you cannot overlook.

Colorful Color Palettes

Color greatly influences any storytelling. It can double emotional impact, clarify motivation or set the right mood. So, how to choose the best colors for your story? The answer is to opt for a colorful color palette in 2019.

BBC Two Ident from Kijek / Adamski on Vimeo.

Your design must stand out and bright bold colors rule the digital design world right now. Remember that color is also a form of brand expression. The motion graphics color palette for the forthcoming year inspires positivity.

Don’t be afraid to utilize its visual power to make your animation look fresh and zesty.

Animated Logos

Every upcoming year pushes the limits of logo design. 2019 will continue to follow this tendency. Companies strive to market their offers in the digital space putting the major focus on social media and expecting more from logo designs.

Pet Cloud by Maksim Marakhovskyi.

Animated logo design is a super hot new trend that will proceed to evolve throughout 2019. The eye-catching magic of things that move is now actively used in logo motion animation making the letters warp, rearrange, expand, transform, hide and reveal, rotate, etc.

For sure we’re going to witness other logo animation after effects able to pop up in interesting ways and captivate user attention.

Try to use this trend in your next design endeavor to create something unique and distinctive for your brand.

Retro Motion Graphics

Retro style makes a comeback serving as a source of inspiration for graphic designers.

Blockfood animation video from Lemon Digital on Vimeo.

Retro motion graphics is what will help you get noticed in 2019. If you’ll be brave enough to combine it with VFX as in the examples below, your audience will keep coming back hungry for other fascinating experiments.

SweeTARTS Endless Variety Gummies from velvetspectrum on Vimeo.

Some may assume that retro design is outdated and unattractive. Of course, it presents a completely different style compared to modern design, and this is where the key benefits hide. Especially for retro motion design.

Such an unexpected combination proved to be very popular among designers and business owners. Retro effects in motion look cool, they awake nostalgic memories and are able to attract a far broader range of audience than expected. Why not to try it the next year?

Drink & Sport from JAMBO on Vimeo.

Morphing

If you are looking for an appealing way to connect ideas or make a smooth transition from one concept to another, pay attention to morphing graphics. Considering its growing popularity, we dare to predict that it will become an essential part of animation design in 2019.

There is a countless number of logos that morph from one shape or image to another. Have you ever noticed how engaging they can be? Scientists say we’ve got used to identify and distinguish images more quickly. Thus, it’s more preferable to use visuals for conveying messages. Morphing in motion graphics perfectly fits this concept and short attention spans.

Images and shapes morphing helps to show and express more in less time. Catch a few examples of using this trend for your brand promotion:

• Morph your logo into a product you present.

• Morph your product into a solution your target audience may look for.

• Morph base material/initial idea into the end-product.

Icon animation for Rokid Alien AI assistant by Gleb Kuznetsov.

The list can go on and on as far as your imagination and business goals allow. Just keep in mind that morphing is a hot design trend for 2019 worth to be included in your design or video production plan.

Motion Graphics in Web & Apps

Motion design for web is popular and trendy. If you want to drive traffic to your website and boost its competitiveness, you’d better add motion graphics there. The choice of leaving or staying on your website a visitor usually makes during the first ten seconds. This is a small time frame for drawing attention and demonstrating value, isn’t it?

Motion graphics can perfectly serve the purpose. Its ultimate goal is to educate, engage visitors and make them stick around your website or come back for more. Little will change in 2019. So, if you are thinking about how to tell the story of your brand, showcase the specs of your product, service or simply made the loading screen not so boring, trends of motion graphics for websites for 2019 offer a variety of options.

From experiments with your logo (remember the paragraph about morphing?) and hover animation to kinetic typography and animated map markers. The choice is yours.

A space for endless creativity, a source for continuous inspiration and positive user experience. This is how app development graphics can be described. Far gone the time when it was just a décor integrated into an interface. Now it’s a fully-functional element able to bring your app to life and guarantee smooth interactions which, in their turn, make a tremendous impact on the overall user impression.

A thought-out motion design for mobile apps adds more convenience, simplifies navigation and makes a memorable experience of using your product.

Loading Animation for iPhone X by tubik in Mobile Design.

Click and hover effects, processing bars and list bounces have been actively used to link interface elements, incorporate interactive tips, provide feedback, show pages hierarchy or important functions. They will continue to prevail in 2019 making apps even more predictable, convenient and faster. Choose the form that best suits your goals if you still haven’t done so. Mobile app development cannot succeed without motion graphics.

It’s Time to Get Moving!

Now when you get the idea about what trends are going to rule the motion graphics world in 2019, we hope you are feeling inspired to explore a new way of showcasing your brand.

Do not forget to use the comments section to ask questions or share your own motion graphic predictions for 2019.

This article was originally published by Devenup