Motion Brand Guidelines: The Ultimate 2025 Guide for Dynamic Branding

In today’s digital-first world, motion brand guidelines have become a cornerstone of modern brand strategy. Simply put, these are the rules and principles that govern how a brand uses animation and movement in its identity – from subtle logo animations to full-blown motion graphics. Motion guidelines ensure that every animation tells a consistent brand story, much like traditional brand guidelines do for logos, colors, and typography. This comprehensive guide explores what motion brand guidelines are, why they matter in 2025, how to create and use them, and real examples of brands leading the way.

What Are Motion Brand Guidelines?

Motion brand guidelines are a component of a brand’s style guide dedicated to animated and dynamic elements. They define how a brand moves – covering everything from animated logos and icon transitions to the pacing of UI interactions and video graphics. In essence, it’s “the art of bringing a brand’s visual elements to life through animation and movement,” extending brand identity beyond static images. Just as style guides codify a brand’s colors and fonts, motion guidelines codify the animation style, speed, and behaviors that are on-brand.

Crucially, motion guidelines translate a brand’s personality into a “visual language of movement.” Some branding experts even liken it to a form of brand body language – conveying tone and emotion through how elements appear and disappear on screen. For example, the Open University notes that how a brand moves should reflect its persona (bold, credible, welcoming), treating motion as an extension of brand voice and behavior. In short, motion guidelines ensure that whether it’s a loading spinner or a promotional video, the style of motion consistently feels like the same brand.

Why Motion Guidelines Matter (Especially in 2025)

A few years ago, one might have asked “Should our brand identity include motion?” Now the question is “How is motion interwoven into the heart of our brand?”. By 2025, it’s clear that motion is no longer optional – it’s expected. Brands today live on screens large and small, and audiences are inundated with content. Motion helps brands stand out in crowded digital spaces by capturing attention and conveying stories quickly. In fact, human brains are hardwired to notice movement – a survival instinct that makes animated visuals more eye-catching and memorable than static ones. This means a flicker of motion can significantly increase brand recall. Animated logos, for instance, “leverage movement and dynamic elements to grab people’s attention” and stick in memory.

Beyond grabbing eyeballs, motion adds a new dimension to brand storytelling. It enables brands to communicate personality and emotion in ways static imagery can’t. A playful bounce or a smooth fade can speak volumes about a brand’s character (fun vs. formal, cutting-edge vs. calm). Research even suggests that storytelling through visuals can dramatically boost how people value a product – one analysis found it could increase perceived product value by up to 2,706%. While that number is eye-popping, it underscores how powerful emotional engagement through motion can be. Motion evokes feelings: a well-timed animation can delight users, build anticipation, or instill trust.

Crucially for businesses, consistent motion guidelines address the challenge of scale and consistency. As brands expand their presence across social media, websites, apps, and video channels, they need a unified way of moving. Without clear guidelines, one video’s animations might feel playful while another’s feel stiff – diluting the brand. “One of the key challenges most brands face today is how to scale motion effectively… ensuring consistency across various platforms is critical,” notes one motion agency. This is where motion guidelines shine: they “define a brand’s unique voice in motion” and provide a framework to apply it across all touchpoints. Whether it’s a startup posting Instagram stories or an enterprise producing TV spots, the motion style should be recognizable and cohesive.

Finally, motion guidelines are vital in 2025 because they align with how audiences consume media. Video content and interactive media are dominating marketing – from TikToks and YouTube ads to interactive web UIs. Brands with strong motion identities are better equipped to thrive in this landscape. As one creative director put it, “Motion is the new frontier of branding and communication… brands are called to scale beyond static and adapt to the world of motion”. Embracing motion isn’t just about keeping up with a trend; it’s about future-proofing your brand for new platforms (think AR/VR, interactive apps) where static logos alone won’t cut it. In summary, motion guidelines ensure a brand remains relevant, engaging, and consistent as we move deeper into the era of dynamic digital content.

Key Benefits of Using Motion in Branding

Adopting motion brand guidelines yields several concrete benefits for startups and enterprises alike:

• Instant Engagement and Higher Recall: Movement naturally draws the human eye. Animations can stop the scroll on social feeds and make content more memorable. Brands report that animated logos and graphics create a “captivating visual impact” that helps them “stand out in a sea of static visuals,” increasing the likelihood that viewers remember them. The dynamic nature of motion imprints a stronger memory of the brand’s presence than a static image might.
  
  
• Enhanced Brand Personality: Motion gives life to brand elements, reinforcing brand values and tone. A smooth, gentle animation can communicate elegance and trustworthiness, while a bouncy, rapid one can signal fun and innovation. As the Inkbot Design blog notes, animated elements “breathe life into your logo” and can “communicate brand attributes like playfulness, elegance, or professionalism” in ways static designs cannot. This deepens emotional connections with the audience.
  
  
• Consistency Across Touchpoints: With clear motion guidelines, every team (or agency) knows how things should move, avoiding jarring differences. Consistent use of motion builds a cohesive experience – whether someone is interacting with your mobile app or watching your product video, the transitions and animations feel familiarly “you.” This consistency strengthens brand identity. It also prevents missteps: without guidelines, one designer might overuse flashy effects while another keeps things minimal, resulting in a confused brand image. A unified framework ensures everyone from marketing to UX follows the same playbook.
  
  
• Scalability and Efficiency: Once motion rules are set, they become a scalable asset. Teams can produce new animated content faster by reusing approved patterns and templates. For example, having a library of pre-defined transition styles or logo intro animations means designers aren’t reinventing the wheel each time. This is especially valuable for growing startups that need to pump out content, or large enterprises coordinating multiple creative teams. “Motion guidelines offer a scalable solution by providing a strategic framework that can be applied to various projects,” making it easier to create new assets without sacrificing quality.
  
  
• Stronger Storytelling & User Experience: Thoughtful motion guides the viewer’s eye and emphasizes what’s important. It can illustrate how a product works or highlight a feature in an intuitive way. IBM’s design language emphasizes that motion “guides viewers through complicated problems, tells meaningful stories and helps make progress…from start to finish.” In user interfaces, motion feedback (like a button smoothly morphing into a loader) provides reassurance and clarity. Overall, animations can lead users through a narrative or process step-by-step, improving comprehension and enjoyment.
  
  
• Differentiation in a Crowded Market: In 2025’s hyper-competitive landscape, everyone has a nice logo and color scheme. How your brand moves can be a true differentiator. A unique motion style (for instance, a signature way that your app transitions screens, or a distinctive animated mascot) sets you apart from competitors. Motion offers another axis on which to express uniqueness. As one agency states, it “enables differentiation and consistency across digital culture”, meaning you can stand out while still being cohesive across platforms. Brands that master motion appear modern and innovative, gaining an edge especially with younger, tech-savvy audiences.
  
  
• Adaptability to Media and Context: With motion guidelines, brands can easily adapt content to various media – social posts, website banners, TV commercials, or even AR experiences – while maintaining a consistent feel. For example, an animated logo can be shortened or simplified for an app icon splash screen, and expanded into a longer form for a trade show video, all according to the same rules. Guidelines often include templates for key touchpoints (like a standard Instagram story animation, or a consistent video intro/outro format) to streamline adaptation. This adaptability ensures the brand stays fresh and context-appropriate without straying off-brand.
  

In sum, motion design is “more than just a design trend—it’s an essential tool for enhancing brand communication” and building deeper audience connections. The benefits above ultimately contribute to a stronger brand presence and a more engaging customer experience

How Motion Brand Guidelines Are Created

Creating motion guidelines is a strategic process that typically involves cross-functional collaboration (brand strategists, designers, animators, marketing leads) and a deep dive into the brand’s identity. Here’s how organizations usually develop their motion brand guidelines:

1. Audit and Discovery: Start by assessing how your brand is currently using motion (if at all) and where the opportunities lie. This motion audit looks at existing videos, app UI animations, advertisements, etc., to identify what’s working and what’s inconsistent. The goal is to uncover places where motion can enhance user experience, storytelling, or engagement. For example, you might find your product has some micro-interactions that feel off-brand, or your marketing videos lack a unifying style. Also, consider your brand values – how could movement express those qualities?
   
   
2. Strategy & Concept Development: Using insights from the audit, define a high-level motion strategy that aligns with the brand’s positioning and audience expectations. This involves deciding the overall tone of your motion (should animations feel playful? elegant? bold? calm?) and how that ties to brand personality. Often, brands create a set of core motion principles or pillars at this stage. These are a handful of guiding statements that capture the desired style of movement. For instance, Slack formulated values like Engaging, Purposeful, Clear, Delightful to direct all their animations, while Klarna’s team distilled their motion identity into three principles: Simple, Purposeful, Playful. These principles act as a North Star, ensuring everyone designing motion for the brand shares the same vision.
   
   
3. Define Key Motion Components: Next, break down the specific elements that need guidelines. A comprehensive motion style guide usually covers:
   
   
   
   • Animation principles and techniques: E.g. guidelines on speed, timing, and easing (how animations accelerate or decelerate). Many draw from classical animation principles like staging, anticipation, follow-through, and overshoot – Slack’s “animation constitution” explicitly includes these to keep their motion “playful, not silly”.
     
     
   • Logo animation: Rules for animating the logo or wordmark. This could include approved intro/outro sequences, looping vs. non-looping versions, and dos and don’ts (Slack’s rule: stick to the logo’s original shape proportions when animating it).
     
     
   • Typography in motion: How text appears, moves, or disappears. For example, guidelines might state whether to animate text word-by-word or line-by-line, and forbid confusing effects. (Slack’s guide says “never animate character by character” and always ensure text remains legible during motion).
     
     
   • Transitions: Standard transition effects between scenes or UI states. This covers things like fades, slides, wipes, match cuts, etc., that are on-brand. Slack’s rules favor simple cuts or purposeful match cuts over “flashy wipes,” to keep transitions natural. Klarna similarly defines transitions inspired by their app’s swipe gestures, and cautions not to overuse them.
     
     
   • Interactive/UI motion: If the brand has digital products, specify how interactive elements behave (button presses, menu expansions, loading animations). Google’s Material Design is a famous example of a motion system for interfaces, defining consistent easing curves and durations to ensure a product “feels” right. Klarna’s guidelines note they use the Material Design 3 standard easing set for their UI animations as a reference.
     
     
   • Brand graphic elements: Many brands have unique graphic motifs (shapes, icons, mascots) – guidelines cover how these come alive. E.g., Slack’s brand shapes (derived from its logo) are animated as accents and transitions, with rules like “do not distort or bump shapes into each other” to maintain a friendly, orderly feel. If you have an illustrative mascot or characters, rules might govern their movement style (Indeed’s guidelines say character motions should be simple and human, adding life without overdoing it).
     
     
   • Audio/Sonic alignment: Some guidelines even touch on sound design in motion (if the brand uses audio logos or SFX). While not always included, a truly robust motion guide ensures that the tempo and mood of motion graphics align with any sonic branding.
     
     
   • Accessibility considerations: It’s increasingly important to account for users who might be sensitive to motion (to avoid triggering vestibular issues) and to keep content readable. Indeed.com’s motion rules explicitly caution: “Do not overuse motion elements or have too many types of motion at once. Do not put motion under text… Animated GIFs should stop after five seconds or one loop.”. These ensure animations enhance rather than hinder the user experience, and provide fallbacks or options to reduce motion if needed.
     
     
   • Prohibited techniques (Misuse): Defining what not to do is just as vital. Klarna, for instance, bans certain effects outright – “Do not use an animated gradient. Do not stretch shapes or typography. Do not use motion blur.”. These guardrails maintain brand integrity and visual quality.
     
     
4. Prototyping and Iteration: With components defined, designers and motion experts will create sample animations and prototypes to illustrate the guidelines. This is where the abstract principles turn into concrete examples. Short demo videos might be made – e.g. an official logo animation, a sample loading spinner, a mock social post – to test if the guidelines feel right in practice. Feedback is gathered from stakeholders. It’s common to tweak things like duration (is the logo animation too slow/fast?), or complexity (is an effect too flashy for the brand’s tone?), during this phase. Iteration refines the system until it truly “feels on-brand”.
   
   
5. Documentation: Once finalized, all the principles and examples are documented in a clear, accessible format. Typically, this becomes a section of the overall brand guidelines or a standalone motion handbook. The documentation should include textual rules and plenty of visual examples (stills or links to videos). Many companies host this online for easy access. The documentation is critical because it turns the motion strategy into something that can be shared and consistently applied. It often covers the “why” behind choices too – explaining how these motion decisions tie back to brand values or user needs (e.g., “Our motion is helpful: like a hand opening a door, animations should welcome users and guide their attention”).
   
   
6. Toolkits & Templates: To complement the docs, brands often provide designers with actual assets: template files, animation presets, or code libraries. For instance, a startup might provide an Adobe After Effects template for the intro/outro of all videos, or a JSON animation library (Lottie files) for developers to use in apps. These resources make it easy to implement the guidelines without redoing work from scratch, ensuring faster adoption across teams.
   
   
7. Training & Governance: Finally, rolling out motion guidelines might involve training sessions or workshops so that marketing teams, designers, and external agencies understand how to use them. Over time, a brand may also appoint a “guardian” or team (sometimes the brand or creative director) to review major new motion pieces for compliance and evolve the guidelines as needed. The digital nature of these guides means they can be updated periodically – as one expert noted, having them online “makes it more flexible to be able to update and change” as the brand or technology evolves.
   
   

By following these steps, organizations end up with a living motion design system: one that aligns perfectly with their brand and provides clear direction for any future animated content.

Using Motion Guidelines in Practice

Having a shiny set of motion guidelines is only half the battle – the real value comes when they are actively used to shape content and campaigns. Here’s how startups and enterprise teams can put motion brand guidelines into action effectively:

• Integrate Guidelines into the Creative Process: Treat the motion guide as a starting point for every project involving animation. For example, when planning a new marketing video or app feature, review the relevant sections (logo usage, transitions, etc.) during the briefing stage. This ensures designers and videographers approach the task with the brand’s motion principles in mind. Many companies integrate their motion rules into their project checklists or creative briefs (e.g. a brief might state: “Use the standard bumper animation for the outro, and apply the Engaging/Purposeful motion style as per guidelines”). By baking it in from the start, you reduce revisions later.
  
  
• Ensure Consistency Across Teams and Partners: Motion guidelines are especially useful when multiple people or agencies are creating content. Share the documentation widely – not just with your internal design team, but also with any freelancers, video producers, or ad agencies you hire. A good practice is to have a central brand portal (many use tools like an online brand center or design system site) where the latest guidelines and downloadable assets are available. For instance, Slack has an extensive online brand center for all its elements, including motion, which external partners can reference. Making it easy to access means everyone speaks the same animated language.
  
  
• Leverage Templates and Libraries: Speed up production by using the provided motion templates. If your guide includes, say, a social media post animation template or an After Effects file for lower-thirds graphics, use them. This not only saves time but guarantees each piece of content adheres to the brand’s motion style. Startups can particularly benefit here: rather than custom-animating every Instagram Story, a small marketing team can reuse a handful of pre-made transitions or text effects from their library, keeping output high-quality even with limited resources.
  
  
• Balance Creativity with Consistency: Guidelines shouldn’t stifle creativity; rather, they set boundaries within which creators can innovate. Encourage your team to experiment within the motion system. For example, if one of your principles is “Expressive” (like Indeed’s guidelines encourage moments of delight and energy), designers can brainstorm new delightful animations that still follow the core rules (correct color usage, timing, etc.). As long as the experiments align with the defined principles (e.g. not being “superfluous or distracting” per Indeed’s helpful rule), they can add to the brand’s repertoire. Over time, good new ideas can even be folded back into updated guidelines.
  
  
• Apply Motion Thoughtfully to Each Medium: Use the guidelines to determine where motion will have the most impact. For a website, that might mean subtle UI animations and an on-brand loading indicator. For a mobile app, it could involve navigational transitions or feedback animations when users complete an action. For social content, it could guide how text and graphics animate in short videos. The key is choosing motion moments deliberately – the principles should help decide when to use motion versus when to keep things static for clarity. For example, Slack’s guidelines state “every movement should direct the eye to where it needs to be”, which reminds creators to use animation purposefully (like highlighting a button) rather than animating for its own sake.
  
  
• Maintain Accessibility and Inclusivity: Make sure to implement the accessibility recommendations from your motion guide. If the guideline says not to loop an animation indefinitely, ensure your web developers add the code for it to stop or include a “replay” button. If the guide sets a maximum animation speed to avoid disorienting users, heed those limits. The goal is to reap the benefits of motion without alienating any segment of your audience. Test your animated content with real users if possible – gather feedback on whether it enhances or distracts from the message. Many enterprise teams incorporate accessibility checks as part of content QA now, especially with guidelines in hand.
  
  
• Measure Impact and Iterate: As you roll out motion-enhanced campaigns or features, pay attention to the metrics and feedback. Are videos with the new animated style getting higher engagement? Do users say the app feels more intuitive or delightful after adding the guided animations? Use such data to validate the effectiveness of your motion branding. For marketers, A/B testing animated vs static versions of an ad, for example, can quantify the lift in click-through or recall. This also closes the loop for the guidelines: if certain rules aren’t delivering the expected results (or new platform norms emerge), you can adjust the guide. Motion guidelines are living documents – in a fast-changing digital environment, brands should refine their motion standards as they learn what resonates best with their audience.
  
  

By actively using and iterating on motion brand guidelines, companies ensure these standards truly drive value – creating content that is not just consistent, but also engaging and effective. The payoff is a brand experience where every subtle animation collectively builds a stronger, more memorable impression on customers.

Examples of Brands Utilizing Motion Guidelines

Many forward-thinking brands – from nimble startups to global enterprises – have already made motion design an integral part of their branding. Let’s look at a few notable examples that illustrate motion guidelines in action:

• Slack: The workplace messaging platform is famous for its fun, friendly brand, and that extends to motion. Slack’s motion design guidelines (publicly available on their brand center) are exceptionally detailed. They articulate Slack’s animation values (“Engaging, Purposeful, Clear, Delightful”) and lay out principles borrowed from classic animation. For instance, Slack emphasizes staging (focusing attention on what matters) and anticipation (preparing the viewer for an action) to keep their animations useful and not gimmicky. They even cover specifics like how to animate their logo without distorting its iconography and how to use branded geometric shapes in motion as transitions and backgrounds. The result is a playful yet polished motion style you can see in Slack’s product videos and in-app animations – subtle bounces, smooth eases, and friendly slide transitions that all feel cohesive. Slack’s approach has been influential; their publicly documented system offers a blueprint for other brands aiming to humanize enterprise tech through motion.
  
  
• Indeed: Indeed.com, the job search giant, ties its motion philosophy directly to its mission of helping people get jobs. According to their brand guide, “Indeed’s motion identity focuses on quick, intentional, and well-choreographed movement,” reflecting the urgency and optimism of job seekers. Their core motion principles are Helpful, Authentic, Expressive – meaning every animation should serve a purpose (guide the user, highlight info), feel human and welcoming, and inject a bit of color and energy where appropriate. Indeed’s guidelines include practical rules: UI elements like menus should “expand and shrink in a paced, subtle manner” (Scale), new elements should “move in respectfully without overwhelming” (Segment), and overlays “slip on/off screen to keep users grounded” (Slide). Notably, Indeed has a strong stance on accessibility: no motion behind text, and all GIFs or looping animations must stop after a brief time. You can see these rules in their marketing – for example, a recent “World Can Work Better” campaign animation used the dot of the “i” in Indeed’s logo as a kinetic element driving a transition, a “purposeful forward motion” that aligns with their optimistic brand message.
  
  
• Klarna: The fintech and shopping service Klarna has a bold, quirky brand image (“Smoooth payments” is their tagline). Klarna’s motion guidelines (available on their brand site) reflect this with three guiding pillars: Simple, Purposeful, Playful. They’ve outlined specific motion formats (standard 2–3 second animations vs. basic 1–2 second ones) to ensure content fits time constraints without losing the brand feel. Klarna’s guide details how to animate their logo “badge” in intros and outros of videos for a consistent start and finish to every piece. They also provide a suite of text animation presets inspired by their app’s UI interactions (e.g. Push and Scroll text effects) so that typography on social or ads echoes the familiar motions from the Klarna app. Like many brands, they include a “Misuse” section – Klarna forbids certain trends like animated gradients or motion blur that don’t fit their clean style. The clarity of Klarna’s motion rules has enabled their marketing to be very recognizable: their ads often feature minimalist animations with witty, playful timing that matches the irreverence of their copy, all while feeling distinctly Klarna.
  
  
• IBM: As a long-established enterprise, IBM might not be the first name you associate with funky motion design, but their IBM Design Language includes robust animation guidelines to ensure even a company of IBM’s scale maintains consistency. IBM divides its motion approach into productive vs expressive motion – a concept that balances utility with emotion. Productive motion is functional (quick, efficient feedback, guiding the user through tasks) while expressive motion is more about delight and brand personality (vibrant, attention-grabbing moments). IBM’s designers aim to harmonize the two for a nuanced brand feel. For example, a data visualization might use productive motion to smoothly animate a graph (clarifying changes in data), but an intro might use expressive motion with the IBM 8-bar logo assembling in a clever way. IBM’s principles – Effective, Concise, Simple, Engineered – stress that motion must “serve a purpose, embody precision and communicate clearly”. They avoid any frivolous animation that doesn’t add value. Their design system (Carbon) even provides specific easing curves labeled “productive” and “expressive,” and guidance that “IBM motion is essential and efficient, guiding users to value as quickly as possible”. This disciplined approach shows how even a serious B2B brand can leverage motion in a consistent, on-brand way (e.g., interface animations in IBM’s software feel smooth and supportive, never cartoonish).
  
  
• Startups & Tech Brands: Many startup brands built in the last few years treat motion as core to their identity from day one. For instance, Spotify and TikTok have both worked with studios to develop motion systems that extend their brand feel into motion – so much so that design communities often point to them as benchmarks. The motion studio Vucko, which helped craft motion identities for Spotify and TikTok, is “at the forefront of creating motion systems”, demonstrating how a coherent approach to movement can be a differentiator in tech. Airbnb is another example: while their motion guidelines aren’t public, their apps and marketing consistently use gentle, calm animations in line with their brand of “belonging and ease.” On the other end, Crypto and Fintech startups often use snappier, futuristic animations to signal innovation. The key takeaway is that many young companies design a motion language alongside their logo and color scheme, knowing that a lot of their touchpoints (mobile apps, explainer videos, etc.) demand motion. It’s becoming common for brand identity projects, even for startups, to include a short motion logo reveal or animated prototype during the branding phase – a signal that motion design is considered part of the brand’s DNA from the get-go.
  
  
• Agencies & Culture Brands: In the creative world, agencies and cultural institutions are also embracing motion guidelines. A notable case is the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), which collaborated with a design agency (Order) and a motion studio (PepRally) to create a motion system for the museum’s identity. This system ensured that MoMA’s iconic logo and minimalist aesthetic translated to dynamic media in a “contemporary way”, codifying how things like exhibition graphics and digital ads should move uniformly. When even a prestigious art museum updates its brand guidelines to include motion, it underlines how universal this practice is becoming. Another example is design agency Motto, which publicly declared “Motion Guidelines are the new Brand Guidelines,” reflecting that for their clients, defining how a brand moves is just as crucial as the static style (they even showcase their own internal motion guide on social media to evangelize this idea).
  
  

These examples highlight that motion guidelines are being used across industries – tech, finance, culture, and beyond. The unifying theme is that brands big and small recognize the value of delivering a cohesive experience. They invest upfront in thinking through their motion style, and it pays off in marketing that’s both creative and consistent. If you’re looking for inspiration, the resources from companies like Slack or Klarna are great starting points, as are showcase projects like MoMA. Studying these can spark ideas for how to tailor a motion identity to your own brand’s needs.

Agencies and Resources Leading the Way in Motion Branding

As demand for motion branding has surged, a number of creative agencies and resources have emerged as leaders in this space. These experts are shaping best practices and offering learning material for teams looking to up their motion game:

• Specialist Motion Agencies: Boutique studios such as Vucko (headed by Andrew Vucko) and PepRally focus specifically on motion branding. They’ve worked on high-profile projects (e.g. Vucko on Spotify, TikTok, IBM; PepRally on MoMA) and often share insights with the community. Vucko’s philosophy is summed up on their site: “The media landscape has evolved... brands seek consistency across platforms while striving to uniquely stand out. We partner with in-house teams to define dynamic motion identities, systems, and guidelines that enable differentiation and consistency.”. Agencies like these often publish case studies or speak at design conferences, explaining how they develop motion systems. Following their work (through blogs or social media) can provide advanced pointers on motion theory and process.
  
  
• Branding Agencies Embracing Motion: Traditional branding firms (Pentagram, Wolff Olins, Landor, etc.) now nearly always include motion deliverables in branding projects. Many have started to promote motion in branding as a key service. For example, some agencies produce what they call “motion guidelines” or “motion toolkits” for clients, acknowledging that a brand refresh isn’t complete without movement. Order, the agency behind MoMA’s rebrand, explicitly collaborated on motion rules – showing how motion design and brand design are now intertwined. When evaluating agencies to help with branding, it’s wise to choose ones with motion expertise if you want a future-proof identity.
  
  
• Educational Resources and Communities: There’s a growing pool of content for those who want to learn motion branding:
  
  
  
  • Design System Documentation: Public design systems like Google’s Material Design (Material 3) and IBM’s Carbon include sections on motion (e.g. Material’s motion page demonstrates expressive vs. standard motion schemes). While these are geared toward product UI, many principles apply broadly, and they’re free to read.
    
    
  • Industry Blogs and Webinars: Agencies often share knowledge via articles. The Everything Motion agency’s blog post “The Importance of Motion Guidelines for Brands” is a prime example, covering why and how to invest in motion standards. Similarly, the Role Creative article “Elevating Your Brand: The Power of Motion Design Guidelines” offers an overview of key components to include. These articles, often written in 2024–2025, are up-to-date and insightful for marketers and designers alike. Subscribe to design blogs (Creative Boom, UX Collective, Smashing Magazine, etc.) – they frequently discuss motion design trends.
    
    
  • Subreddits and Forums: The design community on Reddit has threads like “Motion design system” where users share references and links to existing motion guidelines. In that thread, a senior designer recommended looking at Material Design 3, Slack’s brand motion page, and Vevo’s brand motion site as benchmarks. Another user pointed to IBM’s animation language and work by studios like AthleticsNYC and Vucko. Online forums can be gold mines for discovering examples and getting peer feedback when crafting your own.
    
    
  • Courses and Workshops: While still an emerging field, some design schools and online course platforms now offer modules on motion in branding. Look for courses that cover motion graphics for brand design or UI/UX animation. These often teach tools like After Effects or Principle in a branding context. Additionally, conferences like Adobe MAX, SXSW, and design meetups increasingly have talks on motion branding where you can learn from experts.
    
    
• Motion Design Communities: Websites like Motionographer, Behance, and Dribbble showcase top-notch motion work. While not all is brand guideline-specific, you can filter for “brand animation” or “logo animation” to see how designers are pushing the envelope. Sometimes, designers share personal projects of hypothetical motion guidelines for known brands – these can be inspiring to review. Social media channels (Twitter, LinkedIn) have active discussions too; for instance, the hashtag #motiondesign often surfaces interesting commentary. An Instagram post from agency Motto in 2023 boldly stated, “Motion Guidelines are the new Brand Guidelines,” generating discussion among branding professionals. Engaging with these communities keeps you on the cutting edge of what’s becoming possible with tech (like 3D motion, AR effects, etc.) and how other brands are evolving their motion styles.
  
  
• Whitepapers and Market Research: For a more data-driven perspective (especially useful for getting executive buy-in), there are reports on the growth and impact of motion design. For example, market research forecasts show the motion graphics market growing at over 12% CAGR into the 2030s, reflecting how investment in motion content is booming. Case studies often highlight ROI: improved engagement metrics, higher conversion rates with animated content, etc. If you need to convince stakeholders of the importance of motion guidelines, citing such stats or case studies can be persuasive.
  
  

In short, you’re not alone in the journey to master motion branding. A vibrant ecosystem of agencies, experts, and resources is out there. Studying existing motion guidelines (from companies like those mentioned above) is one of the best ways to learn. And if you seek professional help, there are now agencies that specialize in crafting motion identities from scratch. The collective wisdom says one thing loud and clear: motion in branding is here to stay, and those who embrace it early will have a competitive story to tell.

Why Motion Guidelines Will Remain Relevant in Coming Years

Looking ahead, the trend is unmistakable: motion is set to play an even bigger role in branding in the coming years. Here’s why motion guidelines will continue to be highly relevant, if not essential, for brands moving forward:

• Pervasive Digital Interfaces: We are interacting with more screens than ever – not just phones and computers, but watches, AR glasses, vehicle displays, and interactive billboards. These interfaces thrive on motion. A static brand asset won’t be enough for these contexts; brands will need predefined animated behaviors to ensure a seamless presence everywhere. Motion guidelines ensure your brand can gracefully jump from one digital medium to another. As new platforms emerge (imagine branded content in the Metaverse or on smart appliances), having a core motion DNA means you can adapt quickly without fragmenting your identity.
  
  
• Higher User Expectations: Audiences, especially younger generations (Gen Z and beyond), are growing up with polished motion experiences as the norm. They expect smooth animations and lively interactions – anything clunky or static might be perceived as outdated or low-quality. In 2025 and beyond, a brand that doesn’t utilize motion might appear stale. Conversely, brands that integrate motion thoughtfully will be seen as more innovative and in touch with modern user experience standards. Motion guidelines help you meet and exceed these expectations consistently, rather than doing one-off flashy campaigns.
  
  
• Continuous Storytelling & Content Streams: Marketing is moving toward continuous storytelling – think Instagram Stories, TikTok feeds, YouTube vlogs – where content is always on and evolving. Brands need to maintain identity in these fast, transient content streams. A set of motion rules acts like a storytelling framework, so even if you’re producing daily short videos or interactive stories, there’s a thread tying them together. For example, a consistent transition or text animation in all your Instagram Stories can become a recognizable signature for your brand. As ephemeral and live content grows, motion guidelines become the glue that holds the brand narrative together across time and formats.
  
  
• Advancements in Technology: New tools are making motion design more accessible and powerful. Frameworks like Lottie (for easily embedding animations in apps and websites), improvements in CSS and web animations, and more user-friendly animation software mean it’s easier for teams to implement motion – and thus easier to misuse it if ungoverned. Guidelines will be crucial to prevent “animation anarchy.” Moreover, tech like AI-driven design might automate some motion generation in the future; having clear rules will ensure any automation still aligns with your brand style. Also consider personalization: we might soon tailor animations in apps to individual users (for accessibility or preference). A robust motion system will allow such flexibility without losing core brand characteristics.
  
  
• Integration of Motion into Brand Identities from the Start: We’re seeing branding agencies and companies include motion as a fundamental part of brand creation (not an afterthought). The Creative Boom article by Andrew Vucko (March 2025) encapsulated it well: “Rather than being a mere add-on to brand identity, motion needs to be integrated into the brand identity process from the very start.”. This philosophy means any rebrand or new brand in coming years is likely to come with motion guidelines baked in. So if your brand doesn’t have one yet, chances are your competitors will the next time they refresh their image. To stay competitive and contemporary, developing motion guidelines is a logical step in brand evolution.
  
  
• Emotional Branding and Experience Design: Marketing is increasingly about experiences, not just communications. Whether it’s a user’s experience in an app or the feeling they get watching your ad, motion plays a huge role in shaping that experience. The subtle joy of a smooth animation can increase user satisfaction (think of how satisfying it is when a payment app has a little “success” animation versus just a static checkmark). These micro-experiences add up to brand preference and loyalty. As brands focus on customer experience (CX) holistically, motion guidelines become part of the CX toolkit – ensuring every motion contributes positively to the overall impression.
  
  
• Global Brand Cohesion: Enterprises operating globally will rely on motion guidelines to keep regional marketing aligned. In the past, you might worry about a franchise using the wrong logo or colors; tomorrow, you’ll worry if they use off-brand animations in a local social campaign. By codifying motion, you make it easier to enforce brand cohesion worldwide. Digital brand centers can distribute motion assets just like logos. We’ve already seen companies like Netflix and Google enforce consistent UX animations across their suite of products, creating a familiar feel no matter which country you’re in. Brands will increasingly treat motion the same way.
  
  

In essence, motion brand guidelines are not a fleeting fad of the 2020s – they are set to become as standard as visual styleguides have been for the last century. The context in which brands operate – digital, interactive, experience-driven – demands a thoughtful approach to motion. Those guidelines will ensure brands don’t just use motion, but use it in a way that’s purposeful, on-brand, and effective at connecting with audiences.

Conclusion

Motion design has firmly established itself as a core pillar of brand identity in the digital age. For startups looking to differentiate and engage, and for enterprises aiming to modernize and remain consistent, motion brand guidelines provide the roadmap to success. They translate brand values and personality into the language of movement – ensuring that every animation, from a tiny icon hover state to a full-screen video, sings in harmony with the brand’s voice.

In this guide, we’ve explored how motion guidelines bring benefits like stronger engagement, consistency across platforms, and scalable creative workflows. We’ve delved into how to create these guidelines, from defining principles to documenting do’s and don’ts, and how to implement them across your marketing and product efforts. Real-world examples from Slack to Klarna show that this isn’t just theory – it’s happening now, with tangible results in brand recall and user delight. And as we look to the future, the importance of motion in branding is only set to grow, driven by evolving technology and consumer expectations.

The key takeaway for any brand leader or marketer is this: If your brand isn’t in motion, it risks being left behind. Developing motion brand guidelines is an investment in your brand’s longevity and relevance. It ensures that as you tell your story through ever richer media, you do so with clarity and consistency. As one agency aptly put it, “Incorporating motion design guidelines into your brand strategy is no longer optional – it’s essential for standing out in today’s competitive digital world.” By embracing motion, you’re not just adding flare to your visuals; you’re crafting a more engaging, memorable, and human brand experience.

So, whether you’re a startup founder sketching your first animated logo, or an enterprise marketer revamping global brand standards, consider making motion a foundational part of your branding. Use the wealth of resources and examples out there, learn from the pioneers, and start small if needed – even a simple animated touch can make a big difference. Over time, build up a comprehensive motion guideline that can guide creators for years to come. In doing so, you’ll unlock a new level of storytelling and connection with your audience.

Remember: A brand in motion tends to stay in emotion – capturing hearts and minds in ways that static designs simply can’t. Keep your brand moving (with purpose), and you’ll keep your brand growing. Here’s to a future where every brand has its own unique dance, and where motion guidelines help choreograph those moves flawlessly across the digital stage.