News: Big Ideas

Motion Graphics is a powerful Digital tool

By Susan Paolin

Since digital media readership has now surpassed print media over the past decade, publishers, journalists and businesses are using video more frequently to communicate their message. With this, the use of motion graphics has grown exponentially. In some cases, it is a replacement for video when direct video is not possible. Motion graphics encompasses graphics in both stand alone animation and composite video footage.

Six Important Points
From IMAX to iPhone-- wherever there is a screen-- there are motion graphics. What determines whether motion graphics is the best possible solution to communicate a message? Some important issues to consider:

1. Can it effectively support your branding?
2. Would a visual aid help to reinforce some of your message?
3. Do you have complex concepts/research with statistics that need to be clearly illustrated?
4. Do you want to reach your audience on an emotional level with humor and personality?
5. Do you want your message in a variety of venues?
6. Is your concept too large or too small to shoot with a camera?

Here are a few examples from Linkedin,Twitter and Dropbox:

Linkedin uses motion graphics to communicate the power of its network.
This motion graphic piece gives you three clear steps to finding a new job. Pacing the animation correctly gives you enough time to digest the instructions. The graphics reinforce the message without being distracting. http://www.explania.com/en/channels
/work/detail/how-to-find-a-new-job-using-linkedin

Twitter has woven together both images and graphics. It specifically shows the audience how to use Twitter. The background music helps to give it personality. While the sound effects highlight important points for voice talent to create a short but compelling 60 second introduction. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0xbjIE8cPM

Dropbox demonstrates how easy it is to use cloud storage. Dropbox is a young company and the graphic elements are looser, which reflect the personality of the company. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFb0NaeRmdg

Some Suggestions
You don’t need to be a Fortune 500 company to take advantage of the benefits of motion graphics.
Use motion graphics with your message, concept or idea. It will not just read but will resonate.
When creating your message, longer is not always better. Keep it short and concise. One to two minutes is a good length. You want your audience to remember the message but be interested in finding out more.
Upload it to a video hosting site like Youtube or Vimeo then embed it onto your web site.

A concise visual message is an excellent tool to support social media marketing on
Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter. Get involved in social sharing platforms like Digg, StumbleUpon and Delicious so that it can spread and be re-posted. Dropbox did just that when it created a video about its cloud storage and put it on Digg before its product was done. There was already a buzz when it launched. The use of Dropbox spread like a wildfire.

Your website is a great place to put an animation or a motion graphic video. Once it is created, it can be used in other venues like your office waiting room, at a trade show or depending on the product, even your local grocery store. Many stores have monitors in the checkout line. All of these places can be chaotic and loud. Using videos sometimes won’t work because you can’t always hear! Motion graphics is the perfect solution for this type of environment. Your message is only as good as your ability to reach your audience.

An example
Hill International wanted to bring their “about” page to life. Read the text on this link then click onto the motion graphics version I put together for them. http://www.spmotiondesign.com/hillinternational.html A picture really is worth a thousand words.

Susan Paolin has over 20 years experience doing motion graphics projects for America’s Most Wanted, ABC News in Boston, The Teaching Company, The Pentagon and most recently The Surgeon General’s anti smoking speech and locally Hill International. She can be reached at sjp@aol.com