Ah, to animate a logo. Whether it’s an established brand that we’ve taken on or a new identity as an outcome of our rebranding process, I get positively giddy when we have the opportunity to give a client that extra razzle-dazzle. Animated logos are short, sweet, and enhance a brand by adding another layer to its identity. For me personally? They give me a chance to play in a limitless sandbox (hello After Effects!)-- but keep me focused with a very specific goal: get that logo on screen creatively, quickly, and very deliberately. Why should your logo just fade in when you can have something customized to your brand’s personality? Give me a few seconds and if I’ve done my job right, you’ll be watching that loop until you need to shake your head like an Etch-a-sketch to move onto something else.
Or maybe that’s just me.
Let’s take a look at the what, why, and where of the illustrious animated logo, with a little of my own how on punching up the who of your brand.
An animated logo is pretty straightforward, and if you’re reading this then you’ve likely seen them on screens all over the place. They are intended to get your brand firmly planted in viewers’ minds, making it more memorable than a static image. The hope of every animator is that their work delighted you through surprise and perceived complexity. We want to raise your brand awareness through movement, sounds, and colors. Storytelling is a natural human activity, and an animated logo has a better chance of connecting emotionally with your target audience, reinforcing your identity, and adding consistency in your video-based communications.
When I’m assigned the task of animating an organization or company’s logo, I start by breaking it down mentally into potential animations-- which pieces can be revealed, and in which way? I then take a look at their story and brand voice-- are they lighthearted or more serious? I’ll take note of their visual framework and look for ways to infuse it into the transitions or reveals. Will this logo need to go onto a solid background? What if it’s used on top of a busy or moving image like a watermark? Finally, I get to work. Sometimes I nail it on my first attempt, and other times I find that what I’ve scribbled out doesn’t always translate. The beauty of working with modern technologies is it’s possible to quickly deconstruct where something breaks down, and pivot to a different approach.
Online video consumption has been growing rapidly over the last few years, so while it’s important to have a presence in that arena, perhaps the strategy to consider moving forward is not “let’s just get some stuff on YouTube,” but “how can we look as professional as possible?” I can go on and on about how to shoot videos with your smartphone, but there are a few things you can add to any video that won’t take long and will package it up nicely into a presentation that fits squarely within your brand’s overall image. A bonus perk of having an animated logo is that it’s a multipurpose element: share it on your social media pages for something quick and fun, use it as an intro/outro in your videos or use it as a bug in the corner of your video to watermark it, drop it into your Powerpoints, use it in your app’s splash page, and even have it displayed on your website where appropriate! Why don’t you give this pea a chance? Contact us today!
