One of the very first uses of the term “motion graphics” was by legendary animator John Whitney, in the early days of the 1960s — coined by the man to describe a television title sequence. It was bold, it was revolutionary, and it was something that given the limited tech turned heads. 

Nevertheless, long before Whitney, other artisans were experimenting and driving modern motion graphic trends with their intrepid experiments. Marcel Duchamp, Walter Ruttman, and Fernand Leger just to name a few were already - by Whitney’s days - mixing tech and technique to create the illusion of motion and communicate messages through graphics, videos, and audio. 

Today’s current innovations have boosted that pursuit, giving artists new and imaginary ways to transmit their desires and broadcast their intentions. Let’s take a look at what’s coming down the pipeline now that 2022 is over, and what motion design trends are about to redefine the art form next year. 

Over 70% of companies, according to HubSpot, have invested heavily in visual marketing strategies in the last year — most recognizing that design and visual content is one of their biggest challenges. 49% of marketers rate graphics and images as one of the most important tools in their content creation strategy. 

And why is that?

Let’s dissect how our brain works:

According to various studies, people will only remember 10% of audio information and almost none 3 days after the first broadcast. Images, meanwhile paired with the same data, have a much higher retention rate. How much? 65%.

People following directions with text and illustrations do 232% better than those who simply read said directions. 

90% of all information processed and stored by the brain is visual. 

Our brains process images 60,000 times faster than text. 

Most people read only 28% of the words on a web page. 

45% of website visitors will leave a site after only 15 seconds of pure reading. 

These are just some of the reasons why marketing professionals are so enamored of images and audio and why they always have their thumb on motion graphics trends and how they can be employed to drive consumer actions and emotions. 

Motion graphics and animations are a surefire way for professionals to get their message across and funnel in new clients and consumers. For example, replacing text for an image will increase conversions - according to TechJury - by 33%. And, here’s the clincher, supplanting that static image, with a video or animation, will supercharge that conversion rate — by over 86%.

That is one of the many reasons why it is incredibly important for all businesses to keep their ear to the ground and try to predict the motion graphic trends that are likely to make a rumble. If they fail to ride the cacophony, they might very well fail in their marketing endeavors. 

Non-defined borders are open compositions that dynamically run off the page. They can melt with other images or visual styles. Today, they are generally used for commercial videography. 

An attention-grabbing motion graphic trend, this effect adds depth and power to images — giving them visual appeal and digital weight.

Project: Meta - Quest Pro Authors: Phillip Peters, Martin Vokatý, Michael Schulz, Florian Juri, Jeff Thomson, Damien Patie, Taz Saragi, Liam Sielski Waters, Bruno Faiotto, Carlos Cortés, Damon van Drimmelen

Floating and flying elements that defy the laws of physics and add space and freedom to compositions are exciting and attention-grabbing. This motion graphic trend is one of the latest that has caught the viewers' concentration — it is also quite possibly one of the most effective and influential. 

Project: Gnome Serum Author: Spot Studio

Colors define a huge portion of our lives. They influence our psychology, our purposes, and the way we interact with our environment. The colors we employ, how we employ them, and how we mix them will have a direct impact on our consumer’s overall behavior. Currently, one of the biggest motion graphic trends is to create vivid and bold color compositions that are attractive, dreamy, enchanting, futuristic, and vague in their message — that are sensory delectable yet undefinable. 

Project: Sonos | The Future of Listening Author: ROVE

There is a direct correlation between water/fluids and our mental state. Science has determined that observing liquids can inspire us to be more connected and compassionate — they foment a contemplative state and a feeling of awe. This is one of the reasons why imitating the movement of water in motion graphics is so effective when it comes to consumer emotions, and why companies like Apple, Samsung, and dozens more are constantly leveraging it in their designs and marketing strategies.  

Project: Fluid Holographic Shapes Author: Alexey Boldin

Maxi typography is an incredibly effective visual composition where the words or typography is so bold and poignant that it sometimes bleeds off the page. This allows it to take center stage in an artistic piece and become the focal point of it and your message.

Project: HYPEBEAST / HBX Authors: Massive Assembly, Eugene Seo, Federico Leggio, Champ Panupong Techa 

Due to the advent of Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and many more, vertical animations are becoming the norm. A vertical video is a piece that is created to be viewed in portrait mode - not landscape or panoramic — in other words, taller than wide. 

Project: Skittles DOOH Advertising Author: Klopas Oey

One of the many benefits, aside from that it has become the baseline for most Social Media channels, is the fact that it can actually slash production values and difficulties associated with it by half. 

Morphing was made popular by James Cameron in Terminator 2 — it was the special motion picture effect used to cement the T-1000’s place in cinematographic glory. Those few seconds of celluloid history cost the studio millions. Today, thanks to the advent of technology, morphing is no longer a pricey novelty but one of the cornerstones of graphic design.

Project: Nike LunarEpic Flyknit Launch Author: Tendril

From the United Nations World Food Program, all the way to the music video “Burn,”merging 2D and 3D has become commonplace. Long gone are the days when animators had to settle for either a 2D or 3D project — juggling which technique or style to stick to for the whole endeavor. Today, due to the advances in Adobe After Effects and Cinema 4D, animators can use both preferences in the same project.

Project: Grommet - Animated Promo Author: Buff Motion

Grains are those small flecks of black or gray material that were inherent to most images when film was chemically developed — originally they were small particles of silver halide, the substance used to develop film. They were random and after a while photographers started to utilize them for stylistic effects. They can, if properly employed, generate emotions and create iconic images — and were incredibly effective in such movies as Saving Private Ryan as well as Traffic. 

Project: Wheat Author: Josh Clos

Currently, most motion graphics are done digitally, chemicals are no longer used. This means that grains are in fact artificially produced through filters. 

Studies have shown, constantly, that publishers that feature strong motion graphics and visual content manage to grow their traffic 12X faster than those who don’t — people engage, share, invest, and connect more with motion graphics content than with any other type out there. Consumers want to be moved, and demand personalized products, this includes not only what they are purchasing, but how the company is reaching them. This is the primary reason why, at the end of the day, it’s critical to employ a motion graphics agency. They will interpret your message, and your objective, and give you a product that properly delivers it.