Animation and motion graphics are integral to any art form and have a great place in people’s hearts. Take any art piece, for instance, any music video, movie, or story. If half of the credit for its success goes to the theme and message, another half is for its graphics. Graphics rules the era of any culture and is closely associated with the identity of generations.
It is interconnected with technology, and the advancement in technology is expressed in graphics and animations as well. Being a powerful tool in the marketing sector, it is fastly evolving over the years. If previously it was used in movies or videos alone, now almost all business firms and institutions create their own animated or graphic themes to express their motto. As I said, the trends in animation and motion graphics are transforming with each year. Let’s look into the 2022’s animation trends.
1. Merging 2D and 3D
Hybrid animation, combining 3D and 2D, is the new trending phenomenon in the field of animation. Designing in 2D is less expensive while building characters, but 3D is best for background making in minimal time. This is why designers merge 2D and 3D by placing 2D characters in a 3D experience. Mixing the two-dimensional and three-dimensional graphics will create visually appealing and outstanding animation.
2. Mixed Media
Mixed media is a collage of photos, animations, illustrations, footage, etc., which brings together all the great elements for a better way of delivering messages. It has been employed since a very long time ago and is evident in Picasso’s painting, ‘Still life with chair canings’. The main attraction will be the central image, but the background is also filled with information.
3. Animated Logos
Animated logos are definitely a successful tool for enterprises who are looking forward to creating an exemplary impression in the mind of the target customers. Logos define the company’s identity and deliver the message behind the enterprise more effectively within a few seconds. In other words, it brings life to the story of your brand.
4. Kinetic Typography
In contrast to traditional typography, Kinetic Typography is made of stretched, twisted, and moving text, which is, in fact, not boring but really satisfying and captures the attention of the audience right away. It is classified into Motion Typography, where the letters move from one another or scroll on a flat screen, and Fluid Typography, in which the letters change their form without changing the location. We can see this type of Typography in many lyrical music videos, TV shows, and websites.
5. Glitch Effect
The Glitch Effect or Chromatic Aberration is a video effect that mixes up or distorts the still screen of the video for a few seconds, with a static noise to indicate there is some problem with the signal. We can see this effect has been used a lot, especially in horror movies (when the ghost arrives, all the signals suddenly leave the room..why, though?!!). This effect also occurs due to real software errors and bugs, which induce quite a disappointing feeling in us. Not just in the horror movies, the Glitch effect is now widely used in Music videos, movie intros, and even in TikTok filters, and they are extremely cool.
6. Morphing
Morphing is endeared from the beginning and maintains its adulation in 2022 as well. It is widely used in famous animations and movies, gradually changing an image to another which has a similar shape, using seamless transition. In “Ratatouille,” towards the end, there is this scene where Anton Ego tastes the dish by Remi and Alfredo. Suddenly his tough, angry expression changes seamlessly into a warm and sad face filled with nostalgia. This is a perfect example of Morphing.
7. Lines
Lines provide a hand-drawn feeling to the videos, with specific edges, designs, and shapes. It gives a well-organized feel. Used mainly in animation and cartoons, these enable the audience to focus on every single detail of the story. Just like a pencil-drawn art on a piece of paper, the simplicity of this effect is very soothing, and therefore it is often used in explanatory videos.
8. Grain Effect
Grain effects induce an optical feeling of viewing vast grains of minute particles in an image or video. This effect gets along well, especially with black and white photos. It implies a deep meaning and homely feeling, which the plain image may fail to induce in the audience.
9. Retro/ Vintage
Retro style is associated with the color trends of a historical decade, which will induce a nostalgic or aesthetic feeling inside us. With the Handprinted logos of the ’50s, the pop art and Kaleidescape design of the ’60s, Yellow Smiley Face of the ’70s, pop culture and tropical designs of the ’80s, these Retro designs define an entire era.
10. Liquid Motion
Just as the name suggests, this effect catches the eye of the flowing effect of fluid. It can create a calming and mesmerizing feel in the audience’s minds with ripples, waves, splash, spray, and flows. If you have noticed, this trend has been used a lot this year and the previous year, especially in trending dance reels videos.
11. Seamless Transitions
The transition from one clip to another without any breaking points. Seamless transition, also known as an invisible cut, helps to change the video clip from one to another seamlessly using a slide effect, rotation, zooming in or out effect, etc. This way, different video clips or images are blended together, creating a smooth output. It increases the pace of the video and makes any video look much better.
12. Restricted Colour Palette
With a little mix of retro and vintage, the restricted color palette mixes a set of limited colors which provides a semi-toned color combination like skin tones or flesh tones and generates a peaceful view. A limited color combo will help the design to experiment in-depth with the few available colors. Even Though the image will look simple, it has an elegant look.
