5 Unique Logo Animation Techniques with 15 Inspiring Examples
A logo animation is an incredibly influential tool in your marketing kit. It plays a significant role in ease of recognition, brand engagement, and the perceived innovativeness of the brand. Animated logos in mobile marketing have been proven to directly correlate to how innovative consumers think a brand is.
Static logos, even when the movement is built into them (such as an arrow icon that points forward), do not perform half as well as logo animations in creating deeper connections with the brand, promoting a consistent brand message, and humanizing the overall brand.
As a free logo animation software online, we provide extensive opportunities to brands and businesses to animate their logos, but the final decision to do that must be based on a few factors. The most important of them all — how your consumers feel about it.
Consumer Attitudes Towards Animated Logos
To really benefit from all the good things an animated logo can do for your brand, it’s essential to understand consumer feelings towards these fluid graphics. Research done on animated brand logos, published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, revealed some interesting insights. Here they are:
- Dynamic firms are the best clients for animated logo designs. Consumers valued a clear congruence between the animation of the logo and the company type. A modern brand was instantly accepted with its new animated logo, but a traditional brand with a more reserved clientele preferred its logos to remain static and not jump around on the screen. So, if you are creating a sports logo or an entertainment logo, you’re good to go with animation but hold your horses if you are creating an insurance logo design or something similar.
- Logo animation must be consistent with other brand cues. Consumers preferred logo animations that were consistent with the broader message of the brand. If other brand assets like its business slogan or color palette had an inherent lively feel to them, customers were more likely to respond favorably to the animation. An animated logo working in a vacuum did not receive a warm welcome.
- Established brands stand to gain more benefits by animating their logos. Whether you want to animate the historical logo of Nestle or start up a new SaaS company and give it a fluid logo design, research says your efforts will pay off. The favorable attitudes towards logo animations were consistent when well-established brands were introduced into the picture. Legacy brands are as likely as newer brands to reap the benefits of beautiful logo animations.
Logo Animation in 5 Different Ways
In this ideas post, we are sharing 5 different ways to create logo animations for a variety of end goals. The accompanying examples will help you see these logos in action and help you give a framework to work with.
1. Narrative logo animations
These logo animations have a storytelling aspect to them. Usually, they are slightly longer than a typical logo animation but that’s because they are building a narrative through which you can take an inside look into the brand.
You can glimpse the brand’s character, origin story, USP, or brand message through these dynamic logos. Embedding animation in other elements of branding, you can continue telling the story through dynamic icons, infographics, ads, and onboarding processes.
Image Source: dribbble.com/Alex Gorbunov
Image Source: dribbble.com/Zauri Miminoshvili
Image Source: dribbble.com/Alex Gorbunov
2. Logo animations that humanize the brand
Static logos are pretty limited in their ability to give their brands a human face. Sure, mascots are a way to do that, as are using animal icons or human silhouettes in the logo. Yet, it doesn’t come close to the naturally fluid way animated logos can move to take certain shapes and convey certain emotions.
When an animal icon in the animated logo starts to blink or when a fly starts buzzing around in an agriculture logo design, the effect can be both delightful and charming. You can see the people behind the company in a way, and feel reassured by the transparency displayed through the logo.
Image Source: dribbble.com/Wanda Arca
Image Source: dribbble.com/Ashot S.
Image Source: dribbble.com/Lemons Animation Studio
3. Playful elements in logo animations for engaging experiences
While a logo animation, without any extra bells and whistles, can be enough on its own, adding the element of play increases its engagement quality.
Customers are likely to hang around with it and even let the animation play out a couple more times — just to repeat the experience or revisit some key moments. In terms of brand recognition and recall, these extra few seconds spent with your logo design are hard-earned money and have huge benefits.
Upgrading your animation logo with such playful details can also convey your brand’s personality, humor, and wit, and instantly stir positive emotions toward the brand.
Image Source: dribbble.com/Fede Cook
Image Source: dribbble.com/Tony Pinkevych for Untime Studio
Image Source: dribbble.com/Pivotal
4. Descriptive logo animations
Though logo animations bring with them a playful and charming quality, don’t be fooled by their perceived bubbliness. A logo animation template can be an extremely clever tool to equip your logo with deeper meanings and descriptive hints.
Making your logo descriptive allows consumers to perceive it as more authentic, transparent, and trustworthy. But that comes at the cost of creativity. Descriptive icons can be interpreted as too simple or generic, and not lend the most creative value to the design.
Animating such a logo solves the problem. Without resorting to using bland iconography, you can just make your logo move and take on descriptive shapes that convey your core offer, brand promise, and the solution you provide to your consumers.
Image Source: dribbble.com/Vadim Carazan for CARAZAN
Image Source: dribbble.com/Alex Gorbunov for Alex Go & Co
Image Source: dribbble.com/Dmitry Lepisov
5. Logos with simple motion graphics
Not all industries can benefit from animated logos in the same way. Sectors or businesses that are considered more traditional have to be careful when considering how to make a logo animation work for them. Consumers, for the most part, associate animation with youthful, innovative, or energetic brands. If you cater to audiences that prefer reliability over trendiness, perhaps try a milder form of animation — which is, motion graphics.
Motion graphics are static images given movement. They are logo designs with single, brief movements on a loop. Animation, on the other hand, is an entire series of separate movements.
Choosing a motion graphics logo is a practical way to add fluidity and functionality to a fixed logo design, without incurring the high costs of animation, including consumer distrust or slow loading webpages.
Image Source: dribbble.com/CARAZAN
Image Source: dribbble.com/dudenas
Image Source: dribbble.com/James Ferrell
Conclusion
Logo animations are an incredible way to introduce your brand to the new wave of Gen-Z consumers. Combine form and function in your local business logo with some much-needed movement and see it carry your brand to amazing heights.
Since all innovation must stand on the strong feet of flawless foundation, here is our Logo Design 101 to refresh your knowledge on the basics of logo design.
When you are done, take a look at our brilliant logo animation maker that can transform your simple logos into beautiful storytelling machines in an instant.