What is motion design

What is motion design and who are motion designers?

There is no universal definition, although the term itself (not to be confused with moushen design) became widely used in the early 2000s, but in fact appeared 10-15 years earlier.

The most common thing to hear is that motion design is an animated series of images, visualization of static elements that are designed to evoke certain emotions, attract the viewer's attention and interest. Unlike traditional animation, motion design uses motion graphics to illustrate a small plot or idea but doesn't tell the full story. 2D/3D animation programs, graphic and audio editors are used as tools for this purpose.

As far as I'm concerned, who is motion designer, then this is a creative person with technical skills. He develops the plot and style of the video, acts as its director, performs routine work such as choosing a color scheme and fonts, creates images in graphic editors and animates images. Thus, he is a versatile specialist with many hard skills, endowed with creative thinking.

A motion designer is a specialist who creates almost all the graphics that can be seen in entertainment content and more.

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Where is motion design used today?

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Advertisement and marketing

Motion advertising It allows you to talk about the product without further ado, in just a couple of minutes, convey its capabilities and show its strengths. That's why marketers use it so often motion design to create animated videos and advertising banners, expliners and video presentations.

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Media industry

Motion design allows you to create incredible animation effects in blockbusters and adventure films, music videos and modern video games. You can see similar animation clips in movie screensavers and when playing your favorite games.

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Education sector

Graphic motion design is a great way to visualize any complex information in a high-quality manner. Therefore, it is often used for educational purposes: training videos are recorded, embedded in the form of fragments into interactive lessons, and animated presentations are prepared.

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Architecture and construction

Motion design ideal for organizing tours and creating 3D models of buildings that are in the process of being designed. In addition, it allows you to make memorable presentations, animate floor plans, and even visualize the construction process.

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Fashion industry

Here, visual effects help create virtual fashion shows and animated videos that “warm up” the audience before the show, causing the necessary emotional response.

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Business sector

Animated videos created by professionals represent any brand. Motion design is a tool that helps you create memorable presentations of new products and areas of work.

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Web interface design

Modern websites and mobile applications often contain elements in their interface that they create animation designer. These can be menus, individual buttons and icons, animated transitions between pages or windows, progress indicators, gamification elements.

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Tips for aspiring motion designers

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What is a motion designer from a professional point of view? This is a person who is constantly studying theory, practicing, looking for sources of inspiration, and following new trends in design. He is creative and purposeful, is not afraid to try new things and, most importantly, enjoys the process of creating high-quality visualizations.

Pau data on the work.ua portal, a motion designer in Ukraine earns an average of UAH 30,000 per month. It will take two to three months to learn the basics, but to master the profession at a high level, it will take at least a year, a lot of hard work and hundreds of hours of practice.

Free content on this specialty can be found on YouTube and platforms like Udemy. However, in this case, we are most often talking about superficial theory or step-by-step lessons for beginners who learn the basics. Therefore, to get a holistic view of the motion design profession and high-quality feedback, it is best to take courses. Skvot, Projector, Motiondesign and Lemon School have them in Ukraine. Depending on the chosen training course, training will last from 2 to 12 months and will cost from $150 to $800.

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Motion designer skills: what do you need to be able to do and what salary can you expect?

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A motion designer's income largely depends on what projects he implements: 2D or 3D. The former are cheaper, but they also take less time to work. For example, a 3D commercial can cost up to $3,000, but there will be no more than one such project per month. A 2D video costs about $800, but you can complete 5-6 such projects per month. At the same time, you can always start learning in 2D and then switch to creating 3D projects quite easily, but reverse transformation may not be so easy.

Each category — 2D and 3D — has a gradation of statuses, like programmers.

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Junior (basic level)

• Creates simple animated videos.
• He has 1-2 of the most popular editors.
• Needs the support of a mentor.
• It has good taste and taste.
• Can perform simple tasks according to a clear technical specification.

Salary — from UAH 22,000/30,000 (2D/3D).

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Middle (intermediate level)

• He is fluent in theory and practice.
• It uses several editors and a lot of plugins/effects.
• She often experiments with visual effects.
• It achieves maximum image clarity and smooth movements.
• Creates realistic animation images.

Salary — from UAH 40,000/55,000 (2D/3D).

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Senior (high level)

• He is proficient in 3D modeling and other advanced tools.
• Creates full-fledged animated videos, including for A-brands.
• It monitors current trends and introduces new technologies and tools into its work.
• He often has deep knowledge in one or several narrow areas of motion design: 3D visualization, stop motion, kinetic design, etc.
• He makes independent decisions and can argue his point of view to the client.
• Can act as a mentor.

Salary — from UAH 50,000/70,000 (2D/3D).

Motion designer skills are almost identical for all grades; only the degree of proficiency in certain technologies and tools, as well as work experience, differ.

It is also worth highlighting the most popular categories in the field of motion design:

• Generalist motion designer is a general field; a specialist has skills in all major categories, can create and prepare material for a project, lead it independently or lead a team.
• Flat/Shape motion is in most cases a 2D specialist who animates typography, infographics, interfaces, and presentations.
• VFX motion design is a narrow specialization that involves creating only special effects (for example, visualizing smoke, fire, and other phenomena).
• Character animation is a specialist exclusively engaged in character rigging and animation, which is most often in demand in the animation and gaming industry.

The last two categories are the most expensive. For example, creating a 30-second video in the character animation category can cost up to $2,000.

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Motion designer tools

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In response to the question, how to do motion design, we offer a list of the most popular software used for this purpose:

• For graphic design and illustration preparation — Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator.
• To create animated videos — Adobe After Effects/Animate, Moho.
• To create 3D animation — Blender, Cinema 4D, Autodesk Maya.
• To create animated interfaces — Figma.
• For video editing — Adobe Premiere Pro.
• To optimize work and obtain exciting visual effects, plugins for the corresponding editor (for example, in Adobe After Effects, these can be Newton 3, Duik, Sure Target 2).

The most powerful motion design software is developed by Adobe — several of its products are listed above. They offer ample opportunities for creating animations of varying complexity and visual effects, support a large number of plugins and have a user-friendly interface. All of this makes Adobe's graphic and animation editors ideal for aspiring motion designers and professionals alike.

Some of the apps on this list are free or support free plans along with paid ones (like Blender or Figma, respectively). However, in most cases, you must either pay for a subscription or purchase a one-time license. For example, the popular Adobe After Effects starts at $20.99 per month.

What do you need for motion design, in addition to knowing the above programs:

• fundamentals of graphic design and composition;
• ability to generate new ideas;
• theory of color science and color psychology;
• screenwriting skills;
• typography rules;
• basic developer skills.

Is it worth it?..

The animation graphics market is showing steady growth: by data VantageMarketResearch, until 2030, it will increase by an average of 12% annually. Motion design remains an area that is constantly evolving, and accordingly, the number of specialists will also grow, at least to meet market demand. At the same time, the requirements for the level of specialists are constantly growing, and they have to continuously improve and work at the interface with other professions: UI/UX designers, screenwriters, video editors, etc. Although this requires a lot of dedication and diligence, the work of a motion designer is highly appreciated, and in the future he has the opportunity to grow into an art director.

We hope we have clearly explained what is motion design, who does it and what is needed for this. Do you feel creative and want to unleash it in this area? Study, practice, and you will definitely succeed!