When you want to get someone’s attention, you raise your hand. 

If you really want to get their attention, you wave it. 

When you need to explain a concept in depth or grab your audience’s attention in a crowded social media feed, the solution is simple: Animation. Movement. Video.

Our goal at Lemonly is to help our clients visually communicate their message in the clearest, most impactful way possible. Animated content relays in-depth information quickly (and beautifully, we might add ?). The human attention span today is shorter than ever, and a bit of motion can do wonders to catch that attention mid-scroll. 

Let’s talk through a few of the reasons we love animation—and why it might be the perfect choice for your visual content.

Make the most of your online real estate 

Motion can showcase multiple messages or features quickly while taking up the same amount of “space” on your site as a piece of static microcontent. You could show your audience one static image OR an eye-catching GIF that moves easily through multiple pieces of information. On most platforms, autoplay features mean your viewer doesn’t even have to click or tap a “play” button. 

Video is highly versatile and platform agnostic. It can live just about anywhere—embedded on your website, shared on social media, or posted on video sharing sites like YouTube or Vimeo. This makes it easy to share and re-share across platforms to get the most out of a single piece of content

Give your brand more depth

Movement can amplify the personality of any visual collateral. Are your characters bouncy walkers, or do they sashay? Do your icons slowly materialize into frame or appear with a “pop”? Video and animation allow your creativity (and your brand) to really shine, delivering surprise-and-delight moments or the perfect punchline. 

Here’s a word from Michael, our multimedia designer, about why he loves animation: 

“One thing I really love about illustration and animation is that there’s no limit to what you can create. The only true limitations are your own skill and imagination. 

“When creating a metaphor with live action video, you have to deal with budget, actors, contracts, people, weather, resources, etc. With an animated video, if the client decides they want to show a unicorn, you don’t have to hire a horse trainer and an art department—you just illustrate it into existence!’

Want to become a motion wizard like Michael? Here are a few resources to start with.

More control over your message 

An important advantage of video is that it gives your team more control over how your story comes across. How is the message seen, heard, or interpreted? You’re in charge. Adding audio elements like music or voiceover up the emotional appeal to ensure your video strikes just the right tone. Video can be especially effective if there’s a specific emotional quality you want to convey, be it somber or celebratory.

Let’s consider an example. Remember the Sarah McLaughlin ASPCA commercials circa 2007? Think about the…er…specific emotional quality of those videos. Would a static image have communicated that message in the same way or been as memorable? How might the tenor of the video have changed with a different background song or voiceover actor? This is an exaggerated example, of course, but you catch my drift.

Lastly, unlike a static piece, where a wayward glance can give away your special moment before its time, a video will make sure the timing lands just right every time. So, if you’re showcasing your brand personality with a touch of humor or a well-timed visual gag, video is the way to go.

From complicated to crystal clear 

Simply put: Video can show a lot of things a static image just can’t. We may not live in Harry Potter’s world of moving portraits, but animation can truly make it feel like magic is happening before your very eyes. Here’s a roundup of some recent animation trends that showcase just how versatile the form can be—characters, kinetic type, VR, 3-D, you name it.

Even small motions can explain complexity really easily. Just think: Changes over time? Timelapse. A process or procedure? Step-by-step. Scientific explanations? Simplified and digestible. No matter the industry or subject matter, technical information is more understandable when put in motion.

Your story in motion

Now that you’ve learned how animation can make your content more shareable, communicate your message in just the right way, and provide clarity for your target audience, what stories will you tell with animation?

Take a look at some of our past video projects below. Ready to get started? Let’s talk.


Here are a few highlights from some of our recent video work, all bundled up in one epic reel.


World Bicycle Relief Fund wanted to explain how the barrier of distance impacts people in developing countries, so we created this video to show the impact of a donation to their organization.


This animated video we created for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America explains how adults can signs of grief and depression in children.


We helped Plex, the manufacturing cloud experts, explain the industrial internet of things with this brief video.