VCS PICKS: TOP 7 MOTION GRAPHIC PROJECTS THAT FIRED-UP OUR CREATIVITY
Here’s a well-guarded secret from your friendly neighborhood creative marketing agency: at TeamVCS, we’re mostly a bunch of grown-up children. It’s how we keep our lifelong curiosity, fresh ideas, and drive to explore new forms of storytelling and digital platforms. And like a lot of children, there’s a special place in our hearts for cartoons.'
What’s not to love about 2D animation and motion graphics? From an aesthetic standpoint, its bright colors and dynamic movements are attractive and engaging. It combines vibrant visuals, audio, and text in a way that captures many of our senses. Try to observe yourself the next time you step out to do your errands– when you notice an animated video playing on a billboard, screen, or even someone’s phone nearby, you can’t help but look.
This is what makes 2D animation a great choice for creating digital marketing videos. It’s a lot cheaper than mounting live shoots and requires less manpower to execute. At the same time, the possibilities of what animation can do are limited only by your imagination. Need a person to fly through a building wall? Done. Need the camera to start from one house and then zoom out into outer space? Easy. In fact, 2D animation has been a dependable and safe production alternative for many brands throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Even as the pandemic restrictions ease, 2D motion graphics still has a lot of advantages. Animation relies on simple and accessible visuals, making it easy to explain complex ideas and concepts to your audience. 2D animated videos are also easier to update compared to 3D visuals or live shoots. Additionally, 2D assets can easily be rendered as print and web materials.
And let’s face it: Creating and watching a 2D animated video is just plain fun.
In no particular order, here are 7 of our favorite 2D motion graphics animated projects that we VCS worked on:
1. CALD Smart City Assessment Video
What do we want our cities to look like? How can small changes to our cities improve our lives? These were the questions that the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) posed to us when they were laying down their project’s brief and objectives.
CALD is a regional organization of liberal political parties in Asia. They assess the possibilities of liberal solutions to problems faced by Asian democratic countries. In 2019, they launched the campaign and blueprint for Smart Cities, in the hopes of engaging individuals and organizations across the region to envision the future and potential of Asian cities.
TeamVCS took on this challenge and tried to imagine the future of our livable Asian cities. Using bright colors, distinct shapes, and dynamic movements, the motion graphics animated video taps into our collective imagination and desire for cities that are less chaotic but still full of vibrance and personality.
Through the talents of TeamVCS and the vision of CALD, we are able to show an idea of what responsive and democratic Asian cities could look like, where citizens enjoy participatory government and experience better quality of life.
2. CIAT Climate Policy Hub Explainer Video
Climate Change is an inescapable reality that will affect every single living thing on earth sooner or later. Scientists rung the warning bell decades ago, and we are now from every corner of the planet, we are experiencing the consequences of ignoring them. From historical heat waves to catastrophic droughts that have unearthed sunken warships, to flash floods and more frequent supertyphoons, climate change is affecting many aspects of our lives including food security.
This is why organizations like Vietnam-based International Center for Tropical Agriculture Climate Policy Hub, or CIAT CPH, are working on anticipating and managing the adverse effects of climate change.
CIAT CPH engages in climate action by analyzing situations, developing policy strategies, and monitoring policy implementation.
In 2018, VCS collaborated with CIAT CPH on an animation that would explain their efforts to address climate issues. This project had a unique set of challenges that VCS worked to overcome. The first is creating an engaging video that doesn’t utilize voice-over narration to get its message across. Through the use of text supers integrated into the animation, we are able to create a seamless narrative that delivers the client’s communication objectives through visual storytelling.
The second challenge was to visually communicate climate change in a way that was cautionary but not all doom and gloom. After all, the goal of the video is to encourage people to take steps toward mitigating the negative effects of climate change, so the video needed to have an underlying upbeat and hopeful vibe which was conveyed by the relentless movement forward.
3. BPI DOST SCIENCE AWARDS AVP 2017
Many of our country’s longstanding problems is exacerbated by the lack of innovation and creative thinking to find solutions. As the saying goes, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” This is the challenge that numerous Filipino generations have faced through the decades. We suffer through outdated systems and status quos simply because it has always been the way things were done, forever and ever and ever.
In defiance of this, BPI and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) want to inspire and motivate Filipino youth to pursue careers in science in order to contribute to the country’s scientific knowledge and research. When young people are encouraged to think out of the box while submitting through rigorous scientific discipline, they can come up with breakthroughs and innovations that push society to progress.
To do this, BPI and DOST hold an annual science competition that challenges students across the country to create and discover social innovations that can make a lasting impact.
VCS created an animated video using custom illustrations to attract and engage our targeted young audiences. The animation here is maximized as we present a brief history of scientific discoveries and innovations, established how these continue to shape the world that we live in, and show our young viewers their own important role in the big picture.
4. Aboitiz Superdupercon 2020
Here at VCS, we get excited by new and challenging tasks. So when Aboitiz Equity Ventures welcomed its new CEO, Sabin Aboitiz, in 2020, and this new CEO wanted an AVP that would introduce him and his style of leadership to the conglomerate, TeamVCS excitedly went to work.
Aboitiz specifically asked for a cartoon AVP in the style of the animated TV show Bojack Horseman. This was to communicate the new head’s fun, engaging, and forward-thinking direction that he wanted for the brand.
VCS worked on a short but punchy 2D animated video that shows Sabin Aboitiz paying quick visits to each of Aboitiz’ business units, working hard and playing hard as he interacts with company employees and customers alike, and welcomes the integration of technological innovations throughout the business.
The video was used as the opening billboard for Aboitiz’ Superdupercon 2020, the conglomerate’s annual event that brings employees, business unit heads, and upper management together to check in on the brand’s progress and align everyone with the vision of the company.
5. BPI Cash Deposit Machine Tutorial Video
2D animation is a great way to approach instructional videos because engaging, attractive, and colorful visuals are baked right into the medium. This is why, when BPI needed an instructional video that would raise consumer awareness about the step-by-step process of using their Cash deposit machine, TeamVCS flew into action to create a short, simple, and easy-to-understand motion graphics video.
6. Sun Life Financial Independence Infographics
While Filipinos in general can be some of the most hardworking and determined people, a lot of us still struggle with the concept of financial responsibility. That’s why Sun Life needed a simple and engaging video to make the idea of financial preparedness and independence more accessible to Filipino audiences.To meet Sun Life’s communication objectives of teaching its audiences how to prioritize long-term needs and maximize opportunities for financial solutions, TeamVCS created a lively and colorful video that breaks down the goals of different Sun Life products. This helps frame financial independence as an approachable concept that anyone can achieve.
7. Sun Life Project Online Hero Video
As with their promise to be a Financial Partner for Life, Sun Life had to pivot the way they were making their financial solutions available to the public when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. In 2020, the brand made its products and services available online. TeamVCS helped create Sun Life’s hero video, a 4-minute animated AVP designed to appeal to younger audiences– particularly Millennials and Gen Z who were beginning to enter the workforce and make their own money. Because TeamVCS are also composed of Millennials and Gen Z, it was easy for us to conceptualize a theme and narrative that would appeal to us as Sun Life’s target audience. Who doesn’t love video games? Using video game concepts of leveling up and preparing for battle, we created an upbeat and unique animation style that explains the value of financial literacy while putting Sun Life’s products at the forefront.
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Even as pandemic restrictions begin easing up and more brands are going back to live shoots for their videos, 2D motion graphic videos pack a lot of punch in terms of fulfilling brands’ communications and business objectives. 2D animation ticks off the following:
Lowered costs of production and an easy way to update video materials
Ability to capture and retain audiences’ attention
Engaging visual communication
Shareability of videos
Concept and execution are limited only by your imagination
Through 2D motion graphics videos, you can introduce new products to the market, explain a step-by-step process in a simple but engaging way, have a dynamic introductory video for your event, use animated infographics to show how your service or processes work, or simply communicate an idea.
More than that, 2D animated videos are a great way for your business to push boundaries while remaining on brand. Even if your brand is a small or medium enterprise trying to get to its feet, or an established corporate giant that is a household name, 2D animation can introduce or re-introduce your brand to customers in a fresh, stylistic, and very approachable way.
Got a project in mind that needs 2D motion graphics? Drop us a line at hello@vitalstrats.net and let’s talk about it!
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Vitalstrats Creative Solutions (VCS) is a creative agency based in Quezon City, Philippines.
VCS specializes in content marketing, advertising, and video production. We use strategic creativity to help our clients grow their brands.
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