In a world full of movement, even staying still is a choice.
Twenty years ago digital experiences were universally flat, static and unresponsive. “Good design” still existed, but only in two dimensions.
Today, everything has changed. The ability to create interactive, mobile, and even 3D assets has transformed user expectations and design possibilities. Even the most rudimentary websites and apps now contain dynamic features, and advances in AI make producing such interfaces easier and faster than ever before.
Motion (or the lack thereof), is now as much of a branding decision as colour, font, or illustration. How your visual identity moves is now a crucial element of what makes it both distinctive and effective.
Static is no longer the default
Of course, building a brand without motion is still a decision, it's just not the default decision in the way that it once was. Avoiding motion can make a brand seem serious, mature, and conservative. For larger more established organisations, this can be an appealing option. Removing motion can also be a shortcut to more accessible digital solutions, although this may not be as important as you believe (more on this later).
The key here is that using or not using motion should be the result of a deliberate and strategic choice, not a basic assumption one way or the other.
The value of motion
Leaving aside the arguments for static solutions, sometimes the best decision is to make the absolute most out of motion design across your website(s). Take, for instance, our ICAD commended work for ReproMed Ireland, which features a highly-dynamic homepage, complete with integrated video and fully responsive modules. Here the motion of the website is directly connected to other brand assets, particularly colour and shape. The result is a cohesive visual brand, perfectly communicated in a digital medium.
Where motion makes a difference
Where motion really upgrades your brand identity is when it is applied consistently across touchpoints (just as you would treat your fonts, colour palette etc). Over time, your brand will be associated with certain patterns of movement and interaction, helping build distinction and mental availability.
A great example of this is Spotify, who have actually published their guidelines around motion design.
Just as we might create a design system full of components, patterns, and layouts, we can also create a library of predefined movement patterns. The way that a button interacts when pressed, for instance, can be clearly mapped out and replicated across your website suite when needed. This creates a cohesive and consistent approach to motion across your entire digital ecosystem.
Motion and usability: More than a luxury
One common misconception around motion relates to accessibility and usability. The assumption is that adding motion will automatically make a digital solution harder to use. Of course, the intelligent use of motion can actually make an experience more accessible! Take, for instance, Kooba’s work for Nexus Inclusion (a leader in the accessibility space), for whom we used motion and animation to build visual clarity and add responsiveness to the website. Here we not only built a more usable interface, but also a more enjoyable and engaging experience for every user.
The quality of motion design itself matters, but so does the strategic decisions you make around it. If you’d like to discuss the wide variety of options your brand has when it comes to motion, just get in touch today, we’d love to chat!
