How to get clients on board with animation

"One thing clients sometimes worry about is whether animation will make their brand 'childish'," says Russ Etheridge, senior creative at Animade. "But you can have something that moves in a way that's akin to a kids' TV series, and at the same time you can have something that's extremely sophisticated – that's very much a watchword for us recently."

Creative director Ed Barrett agrees, adding: "Animation is everywhere. It's so versatile. It fits into all different moods and sentiments."

So how does the team build trust with clients? Russ and Ed share their best tips for showing clients how animation can benefit a brand…

01. Examples go a long way

"When a client approaches us, we send them a package," says Barrett. "They'll have given us an idea of where they're coming from, and we'll look at the work we've done in the past and send them examples – 'This shows this kind of mood', and 'This design changes it like that' and so on."

02. It's all in the movement

"Movement changes things," points out Etheridge. "You can have a design, and when you look at it, you feel a certain way. It might initially look very basic and naive, for example; but you can make it move in a way that doesn't feel like this at all."

03. Think about the edit

"The way you cut something together can completely change the feel of it," adds Etheridge. "It's so flexible. And it's often quite nice to show our clients different options as well, and potentially arrive at something even more interesting."

Want more? In the video below, Russ and Ed discuss the power of animation when used in branding, how to work with hesitant clients and why side projects are such an important part of studio life at Animade.

See our full set of interviews with the team from Animade. This article originally appeared in Computer Arts issue 262; buy it here! 

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