Dear Notebook reader,
We’ve been working in the field of animation and explainer videos for a decade now. Every single day we turn data and information into powerful animated stories. We’ve failed. We’ve succeeded. But most importantly, we’ve learned.
At some point we started to compile all the most important lessons we’ve learned in a little notebook – as a way to get smarter and make sure we didn’t repeat the same mistakes over and over. A few notes quickly became a lot, and this notebook was born.
Basically, the notebook details everything you need to consider when working with explainer videos: lessons learned, insights and dos & don’ts. Based on our own experiences, we wanted to create useful, hands-on advice in a digestible format.
We use the notebook ourselves in our daily work. So this notebook also gives you the opportunity to benefit from our all the lessons we have learned and become a better animator.
Given that our knowledge and experience will keep evolving, so will this notebook. So follow our Instagram for updates.
We hope you enjoy our notebook!
All the best,
The Notebook
on Animation
Hard-earned insights from our notebook
about animation and explainer videos.
Hands-on, honest and condensed.
Story is paramount
You can’t turn a poor story into a great explainer video. No matter how hard you try to add cool, magical and brilliant design, it’ll still be a weak story wearing fancy cosmetics. Even the best design simply can’t rescue failed content. Instead, prioritise your story and ensure it’s compelling and engaging. With a great story as your foundation, you’ll be able to create a video that resonates with your audience.
Don’t force a fixed linear process
Allow the process to be fluid, to go back and forth between the different stages and components of an animation process. Ideally all components (design, voice over, sound, animation etc) should not just support each other but be tailor made for each other. When you implement something at a later stage you might have to go back and forth several times to ensure all elements work together.
Virality can’t be planned
You can’t just make a ‘viral video’. Your video might go viral, but it’s almost impossible to plan. You might be able to produce content that is more likely to go viral or plan a strategy that makes it more likely. But it is naive to think that we are in control of virality. Stop focusing on virality and start making great and inspiring content that matters.
