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.
Balance appeal and clarity
Your explainer video should be concise and easily comprehensible. However, it’s equally important to ensure that your visuals are captivating, intriguing, and emotive. Clarity and aesthetics are not mutually exclusive. But it’s worth noting that an emphasis on clarity may sometimes compromise appeal, and vice versa. Your job is to strike the right balance between the two to make explainer videos that are truly engaging as well as concise.
Don’t design for designers – design for people
Some designers tend to create designs that other designers will appreciate and applaud or they design with their own taste and preferences in mind. This approach risks your design being exclusive, disliked or misunderstood. Target your design towards your main audience, who are most likely non-designers. Forget about your designer friends and focus on understanding what works and appeals to your audience.
Make your design stand out
In today’s saturated online landscape, your video will be competing against thousands of others to gain attention. If it’s anonymous or generic, it’s sure to fail. Make sure that your design is remarkable and eye-catching. Your visuals need to make a powerful impression in order to stand out, be memorable and have an impact.
Think animation, not static design
When working on the design for an animation, it’s essential to shift your mindset towards animation rather than static design. Avoid designing illustrations that are picture-perfect for static display. Instead, consider how the characters will move, how the camera will move, and incorporate additional steps or frames in your design. Additionally, remember to leave room for the animator’s input by not overly defining every aspect of the design.
Not too abstract; not too realistic
Illustrations and visuals for explainer videos can often be too complex to convey a message concisely. On the other hand, they can also be too simple and abstract to understand. Cristoph Niemann introduced The Abstract-O-Meter scale to demonstrate the perfect balance of realism that illustrations need to contain in order to be effectively understood.
