How can motion design create a sense of wonder and surprise for users?

To create effective animations, you need a clear vision of your goals, like setting a mission. Your purpose dictates the choice of elements and styles. Align every movement with your core objective. Playful or unexpected motions can bring an element of fun and creativity, making your animation memorable. Create a piece that is engaging and purposeful.

?? Define Your Purpose: Before diving into motion design, set the canvas by defining your purpose clearly. ?? Draw Attention: Adjust your lens to focus on drawing attention if your goal is to stand out in the crowd. ?? Explaining a Concept: If your aim is to explain a concept, use motion to illustrate understanding seamlessly. ?? Guide an Action: To guide an action, think of motion as your director, guiding the scene with precision and purpose. ?? Tell a Story: If storytelling is your objective, compose the narrative using motion as your storytelling tool. ?? Choose your Elements, Timing, Styles: Like a dance, choose the right elements, timing, and styles that resonate with your purpose, creating a harmonious visual motion.

I taught advanced After Effects for 10 years and I would have students write/sketch out their ideas to help keep them focused and have a clear vision of what needs to be done to complete their project and begin to think about the transitions/eases. This is still how I get started on a project.

I was tasked with creating a motion design to explain a complex product feature. In my experience, I found that defining a clear purpose was crucial for the success of the animation.

One of the most powerful ways to create a sense of wonder and surprise for users is to add interactivity and feedback to your motion design. Interactivity is the ability of the user to control or influence the motion, such as by clicking, dragging, hovering, or scrolling.

I applied easing to ensure smooth transitions between scenes, used squash and stretch to add a playful touch, employed anticipation to build excitement before key reveals, and incorporated overlapping action for fluid and natural movement.

Using motion to create contrast and hierarchy was instrumental in achieving this goal. I applied motion to key elements, such as product images and call-to-action buttons, making them stand out against static content.

Creating wonder in motion design is an art. Start with a clear goal—captivating attention, explaining, guiding, or storytelling. For wonder, embrace unexpected motions like bouncing or rotating. Apply animation principles for smooth transitions and fluidity. Use motion to highlight elements, experimenting with various types like linear, circular, or curved. Elevate engagement with interactive elements and feedback, turning user interaction into a delightful surprise. In essence, by blending purposeful design, animation finesse, and strategic motion choices, you transform motion design into an engaging journey filled with delightful surprises for users.

Motion design has enhanced our branding and design work for years. A logo's flexibility and adaptability to fit different contexts can be brought to life with some powerful animations. We often deepen a logo's concept by animating it in After Effects, demonstrating how it can bend, blend and interact with imagery and content. We also use motion design to create hypothetical mockups when presenting work to clients. Movement is an important part of expressing brand personality in social media marketing and design campaigns. Animating the core components and characteristics of a brand and identity helps our clients understand the transition from static to active and how the brand can come alive.