Motion in Branding

A few months back I got chatting to Andy Lawrence, a graphic designer based in London who specialises in branding (including branding with motion) and broadcast design. His motion skills together with his branding skills help to bring visual identities alive. He’s now taken the leap to full-time freelance, so able to offer his skills to companies and designers alike. You gotta check out his showreel below, it’s amazing…

Andy Lawrence Reel from Andy Lawrence on Vimeo.

I’ve done a little video and animation work in my career, however, never go into motion design. I’m fascinated by what Andy is capable of doing for companies of all sizes, and will surely recommend him to my clients.

As his area of expertise, I’ve invited Andy to guest blog to talk about motion in branding… Enjoy!

The importance of motion in branding

Gone are the days when a logo and visual identity system can sit still at the top of the letterhead. We live in a fast paced, digital world where an identity needs to live and breathe.

Screens are all around us now. We spend our days looking at computer, phone, tablet and TV screens. Sometimes all at the same time. This creates more opportunity in terms of design for moving image.

Adding motion and even sound to the toolkit of any brand identity is becoming more and more important as we move into this world. Brand elements can’t afford to just appear static, they need to move, flow and live in these new digital places.

The idea of moving logos aren’t anything new. For years, film studios and then later TV channels (naturally) had it in the bag, but this tended to focus on just their logos and not any other part of their brand toolkit. Arguably they could be regarded as even more so than some of the films themselves.

Examples of film studio animations

Now brands from all walks of life are using motion. Not just at the end of a project for a brand film, but as a valued and strong asset in its own right. Motion has become a big part of their brand toolkit.

Just as brands protect their colour values, typefaces and logo, so too will they value the protection of their animation style. It’s important as the animation style can help further brand recognition in the same way as colour and typeface do.

It’s important to remember, it’s not just the logo that needs to move, but also the way text and information appear on screen, how images and video clips are brought on screen, and how the branding elements move around and react with each other.