What is the value of motion design? In particular 3D motion design.
This is a question I have thought about often while I am drinking coffee before heading into work as a 3D motion designer every day.
The more I thought about it, I realized that maybe it could be broken down into two parts:
- It helps people understand.
- It helps people relate.
I believe it helps people understand through the basic concept of visual learning. We can of course make sense of an object seeing it from various angles in 3D. That makes sense when we are talking about an animation that might show features of a real-life object like a new coffee maker.
But in addition to that, I spend a lot of time trying to explain new concepts like cloud computing or AI that are sometimes hard to understand and explain through a conversation or simple visual.
I believe we can understand that idea or concept being explained in 3D animation because it feels closer to the way we see things in real life.
So it becomes more real to us and we are able to connect and understand with that concept that possibly felt distant on paper or as something like an infographic.
And as we move into a world where more and more concepts and thoughts in people’s minds for digital products are abstract and ethereal and are far from familiar real-world objects of our past, the value of 3D motion design will continue to grow.
Understanding on its own is not enough to attract people to an idea or product. I think it is also important to find a way to help people relate.
Motion design helps people relate through visual style and esthetic. Naturally, as people, we are all drawn to different styles. I always remember this when I walk down the aisle of a grocery store and think about what items on the shelf I am drawn to because of the style of the illustration, typeface, or color palette. And I think that is the power of being a designer, as we can help people relate to the message or concept we are animating through creating a style that connects to our audience on a deeper level.
