Motion Graphics

This page is generated. Do not edit it by hand — run scripts/atlas-vocab.py.

part of Animation · tier 2 · Video · 631 pieces of work carry it · 6 crafts it is confused with

The craft, and who hires it

The workhorse animation hire: explainer videos, product-launch and feature-announcement films, brand introductions, instructional content, logo animation, and motion-branding toolkits. Studios sell it as 'Motion Design' beside Design and Live Action; product companies buy it for UI/feature walkthrough films.

Animating graphic elements — shapes, typography, icons, data, and interface imagery — to convey information and brand energy; the design-driven, non-character core of animation craft. Industry synonym: 'Motion Design' (Hornet, Oddfellows). The canonical_id group 'motion_graphics' spans the 2D and 3D physical rows — dimensionality rides as a facet.

Tag it when…

Tag when keyframed graphic elements — shapes, icons, charts, UI mockups, diagrams, type used alongside other graphics — form the piece's visual substance. Includes product/UI animations built as graphics. Type MAY be present: tag Motion Graphics when type is one element among the graphics rather than the entire substance.

Never tag it when…

Never tag when animated type IS the whole piece — that goes to animation_kinetic_typography (Title Design). Character-performance-led work goes to 2d_animation_character_animation. Graphics composited onto camera footage to enhance it are Post-Production > Visual Effects; a live-action film that merely CONTAINS a motion-graphics beat (title card, end card, logo reveal) gets a MOMENT tag, never this asset tag — the DN-192 search-grain acceptance case. Content type never decides: an explainer, ad, or testimonial built of animated graphics is still Motion Graphics by craft.

Easily mistaken for 6 other crafts

Every other page suggests neighbours by similarity. This one navigates by difference: each line names the craft this is confused with, and the rule for telling them apart.

• animation kinetic typography — If moving TEXT is the primary creative substance start-to-finish, it's Title Design; if type is one element among shapes/icons/graphics, it's Motion Graphics.
• 2d animation character animation — Graphic material moving vs a character performing. A mascot that acts pushes to Character Animation; abstract/informational motion stays here.
• Visual Effects (Post Production) — Graphics that enhance CAMERA footage (supers, screen replacements, composited overlays) are VFX craft on a live-action asset; Motion Graphics pieces are graphic-built end-to-end.
• Motion Identity (Brand & Identity dual role) — A motion SYSTEM/toolkit defining how a brand moves (Vucko/Koto 'Motion Identity', Tendril 'Motion Branding') is the Motion Identity craft — ONE canonical_id, dual-role per v2.2; one motion-graphics FILM executed for a brand is this leaf. Market seats motion identity in BRANDING, not animation.
• logo animations (moment shelf) — An animated logo reveal inside other work is a logo_animations MOMENT; only a piece that IS graphic motion end-to-end takes this asset leaf.
• UI in Motion (lens) — 'UI animation' is not a leaf anywhere (0 of 9 studios name it — vendor benchmark Q1); animated-UI work files HERE as craft and surfaces via the lens.

At what size it applies

Asset tag ONLY when the piece IS motion graphics end-to-end — what a motion studio shows as its work ("the whole piece IS this, to a buyer"). A title-card, logo-animation, or infographic beat inside other work is a MOMENT on its shelf; if both kinds showed under a content search the grain law is broken (the DN-192 acceptance case is named on this leaf).

Pieces that settle the definition

• HOKA ONE ONE Sweetest Cushion- Bench — Brand spot built of animated graphic elements — graphic motion as the piece's substance; link probe-verified
• Your favorite Codex shortcuts are getting an upgrade. July 15th. — Product feature-announcement film built as animated UI/graphics — the canonical buyer use; link probe-verified
• Now our plants won't shut up — reel — Graphics-led animated social piece; motion graphics end-to-end; link probe-verified

Where to look next

• The whole services tree — the services index.
• Every other vocabulary — the vocabulary index.
• How work gets credited to a craft — the entities chapter.