Graphical genius: Top motion graphics trends of 2018

Producing encapsulating creative content in all aspects of digital marketing and promotion is key to the success of any campaign. Whether it’s a bright neon banner on an Instagram post or a classic animation of a dynamic subtitle on a YouTube trailer, the content must be vibrant, in trend, relevant to the campaign and engage with the audience.

It’s important to keep track of current trends and create content that stands out from the huge amount of promotional content we see daily, across multiple platforms. So, what are the latest trends and how is DMS staying ahead of the game to create engaging promotional content for the clients?

We sat down with our Head of Motion Graphics, Nico Vargas to get his insight on the latest motion graphics trends of 2018, how times are changing and what will lead the way for content creation in 2019!

What are clients asking for when it comes to motion graphics currently?

Each year we see a whole range of different trends, styles and colours across a sea of digital campaigns delivered to many platforms. But one key trend from our clients’ point of view is something that never changes – they want unique content! Our clients are major influencers within the industry, from international film studios to lifestyle and sports brands and they have the highest standards. With a vast pool of content and the changing habits of consumers, it’s paramount that our clients’ promotional content is unique to their brand, but at the same time incorporates the very latest trends and styles delivered efficiently and as quickly as possible to every platform.

There’s been a huge shift towards social content – with a 60% increase in the production of content delivered to social media platforms. Our clients need to engage with their audiences faster, so we’re using bumpers – a five second teaser before a promotion trailer – that incorporates engaging dynamic subtitles to entice the audience to click and view the promotional content.

Are there any key trends that emerged in 2018?

Most recently, our motion graphics team has created a range of styles with 2D and classic animation which are seemingly very popular, not to mention, the use of solid pastel colours. We’ve seen a trend in neon glows – particularly for Terminal, Bad Times at the El Royale and Hotel Artemis, amongst others. And there’s also been demand for motion graphics with a lot of resource-heavy physics involved, producing fantastic results.

How are the many versions of content that are now included in deliverables impacting the day-to-day life of a motion graphics operative?

There’s a huge demand for content to be delivered in varying formats, shapes and sizes for a range of platforms – which has brought some challenges. But we’ve optimised our workflow and developed a system to efficiently deliver 100’s of different assets for our clients, it’s about being strict with the specs and having a highly trained team.

What do you anticipate seeing in 2019?

As a designer and creative animator, I love working with classic animation, working step by step, frame by frame to create beautiful, yet simple animation. This classic style and process of animation is time consuming but produces fantastic results – I’d love to see more of this in 2019.

On the flip side, photo realistic styles and animated type faces are becoming more popular and something we look to carry on working with next year. However, over stylised graphics looks fantastic but can detract from the content we’re working with and lose clarity in the message.

In terms of workflow, we hope to see a lot of AI integration in motion graphics. Getting rid of processes that can be automated would enhance output and enable the team to focus even more on creating eye-catching motion graphics.  We’re seeing how game engines like Unreal and Unity are changing the way we think about motion graphics and are delivering high quality graphics faster. This will benefit previsualisation, especially.

Nico’s insight into motion graphics and the latest trends have also been included in the December issue of Computer Arts Magazine where journalist Tom May investigates the top six graphics design trends of 2019, and the top nine design trends we want to see in 2019.

Like this article and want to read more? Check out some of our other articles below:

 
11th December 2018

Go back