Title Design

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

part of Animation · tier 2 · Video · 3 pieces of work carry it · 4 crafts it is confused with

The craft, and who hires it

Hired for Main Title Design and title sequences — the market's own words are 'Titles', 'Main Title Design', 'Film/TV Titles', 'title sequences' (Filmograph, Imaginary Forces, Momoco; the title houses pointedly never say 'typography' or 'kinetic type'). Brands buy it for opening/end credits, type-led brand announcements, and quick-impact messaging films.

Title Design: whole pieces MADE of animated type — moving text as the primary creative substance, spanning main titles, title sequences, opening and end credits, and type-led announcement films (broadened from "Kinetic Typography", which stays a searchable alias term; §6.11 2026-07-18). Type-motion BEATS inside other work land as moments (title_card / logo_animations shelves), not this leaf.

Tag it when…

Tag when animated or moving text is the piece's primary creative substance start-to-finish: title sequences, main titles, credit sequences, lyric-style pieces, announcement films where the type IS the show. Alias vocabulary that resolves here: Title Design, Main Title Design, Title Sequences, Main Titles, Film Titles, TV Titles, Opening Titles, Kinetic Typography.

Never tag it when…

Never tag when type is merely one element among other animated graphics — that is animation_motion_graphics. A type-motion BEAT inside a longer piece (a title card, super, end card, logo lock-up) is a MOMENT on the title_card / logo_animations shelves, never this asset tag. Static typographic craft goes to Design (Type Design & Lettering); a typographic LOOK without animated construction is style vocabulary, not this leaf. Content type never decides: a type-led ad or announcement is still Title Design by craft.

Easily mistaken for 4 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 motion graphics — The substance test: type-as-the-whole-piece → Title Design; type-among-graphics → Motion Graphics. When in doubt, ask whether a title house (Filmograph/Momoco) would claim it.
• title card (moment shelf) — A title card or type beat INSIDE other work is a moment on the title_card shelf — a contains-a claim, never this asset leaf.
• Type Design & Lettering (Design) — Designing typefaces/lettering is static Design craft; this leaf requires the type to MOVE as the piece's substance.
• logo animations (moment shelf) / Motion Identity — An animated logo reveal is a logo_animations moment (or Motion Identity system work at the brand level), not a title-design asset.

At what size it applies

Asset tag only when the whole piece is made OF animated type — a title sequence, a type-led film ("the whole piece IS this, to a buyer"). Any type-motion beat inside other work — title card, super, credits block over footage — is a MOMENT on the title_card / logo_animations shelves (canon §3; the v1.1 shelf vocabulary already speaks titles).

Pieces that settle the definition

• And Sophia Wilson's receipt is only getting longer. #Nike — The animated receipt text is the piece's creative substance — type carries the whole idea; link probe-verified
• Refreshed. — reel — Type-led announcement reel where moving text is the primary substance; 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.