Humans tend to notice or be drawn to things that move. Movement catches our eye.

So it’s no wonder that the magic of movement is making an impact on animated logo design.

The Use of Animated Logo Design is on the Rise.

When we talk about animated logos, we’re not just talking about a figure moving across the screen or a symbol exploding onto it.

As the animated logo design field has grown and expanded, so too has the ingenuity in creating new logos that are one-of-a-kind and will be remembered.

Listed below are five of the most unique and “colorful” elements in animated logo design.

1. The expansion

Keeping a brand dynamic is challenging. Especially when it has to stay in limited parameters.

Animation allows for freedom from this. An animated logo can fit within any dimension or scale. From there it can grow or shrink, as needed.

An architecture firm found the use of an expanding and contracting animated logo within a grid to be a great metaphor for the work they do.

A furniture designer who works with wood decided to have his logo expand by adding lines and layers of plywood one at a time to build toward the finished product. Another great metaphor.

2. The rotation

An investment company with an “X” in their name has an animated logo where the “X” rotates, as well a rises upwards and to the right. They all indicate profit.

The “X” turned sideways indicates addition. On its side it’s multiplication. And when it rises up and to the right, there’s that additional nod to “moving on up.”

But rotating elements can also give animated logo design a playfulness.

There’s a company with the word “Time” in its name. They’re actually a duo of directors who specialize in comedic short films and their static logo is that of a clock.

But their animated logo puts all of the elements of that clock into a silly and rapid spin. It takes the modest logo and turns it into something wacky and fun.

3. The hide and reveal

Whether it’s a magic show, a joke or a story, we’re all waiting for the “big reveal.”

A company with a two part name starts their animated logo cycle with the first letters of their name. The two letters sit for a little bit until they slide wide enough apart to allow the other letters in to fill out the whole name.

It makes for a seamless transition between their full name and their “shorthand” name.

4. The transformation

Many are the logo designers who’ve been asked to put two elements of a business into a logo. A big order for a static logo, but much easier with animated logo design.

Now designers can believably morph two elements such as a microphone into musical notes, the company name into its product, even an elephant into a coffee cup.

5. The rearrangement

Moving existing logo elements around into different compositions can be very effective.

Especially if you’re a modular home company. Their animated logo is actually built of individual modules that come together and rearrange themselves in a central location on the grid. It’s perfect.

This list is by no means exhaustive and there are many other exciting elements for animated logo design. Have any you’d like to share? Let us know!