🧠 5 Visuals for Your Next Video

Author

Rickie Ho
May 02, 2024

Happy Thursday everyone,

I just uploaded my first video in my new format! I spent a good deal of time on this (but nowhere near how long it took to make my previous videos). I think I’ve learned that I need to make the process way faster or else I won’t upload which is why you’ll see very little animation/motion design in this one. Give it a watch and leave a comment telling me what you think!

Enjoy today’s edition!

- Rickie

5 Visuals I Loved This Week

1. This Physical Lego Set Visual

  • I love finding new and creative ways to blend the physical world and the world of motion design.

  • It’s seemingly so simple, but what MacKelvie did was use the length of the basketball court to act as the scale for the chart he wanted to show.

  • The Lego figurines add a sense of familiarity to the video while the text provided simple context to the analysis.

    • Nothing is overly complicated, but I bet this took a decent amount of time to conceptualize.

      • You’ve probably heard the saying “simple is hard”, but that’s especially true in educational content creation.

      • You balance the complex nature of the topic with simplifying it down for a wide audience - an audience that possibly includes 15 year old high school kids and 40 year old senior managers in corporate.

        • In this case, everyone knows Lego and while the topic is highly technical, the Lego brings it down to earth in a sense.

  • This is one way to do this but blending data storytelling, videography, and motion design is going to be how you set yourself apart in a crowded YouTube space.

2. This Laptop Screen Motion Design

Video: It’s time to I/O//Google

  • As you know by now, I love taking inspiration from tech and this Google animation caught my eye because of how widely it can be used.

  • Of course, you don’t want to rip this off exactly, but so much can be done with a laptop, a screen, and something flowing into said laptop.

  • Another thing I noticed was the use of colors here.

    • Maybe I’m looking too deeply into this but I kind of see it like Google/the internet make a boring laptop so much more interesting.

    • Without the internet, a laptop is just black and white - boring.

    • But add internet to the mix, and the possibilities are endless!

3. This Vintage Video Game Look

  • I’m trying out an old school video game look on Humphrey’s channel and it’s seemed to be received well!

  • A few effects came into the work here to give it this look - all of which can be found in After Effects: CC Lens, CC Ball Action, and Posterize Time

    • CC Lens to give it that warped lens effect (you can see the text bend as you move further outside)

    • CC Ball Action to give it a pixellated look (if you look closely, you can see the pixels)

    • Posterize Time to make the animation choppier like how old school games are often on a lower frame rate (I set it at 12)

  • It was interesting to follow this theme because while on one hand it kind of boxes you into a specific design language, this one gives you more than enough room to play and experiment.

    • I find that the more abstract and open a theme is, the more you can do but you’re bombarded with the vast amount of options.

4. Using Gradients in Data Storytelling

  • I started to use gradients a lot more in my own work because they just add a layer of detail that you can’t get with a solid color.

  • Gradients when used in data storytelling can show us growth, decline, velocity, etc.

    • Think about a declining chart. You could have a solid red line going downward, or you can have a red line that gets richer in color as you go down.

      • It’s such a small detail but it adds so much!

5. This Style of Captions

Video: f**k it. build ur ideas.//buildspace

  • Captions are often an afterthought for many creators but when done right, they can be a part of the actual storytelling itself.

  • Consider the example above, the creator changes size, placement, tempo at which they appear on screen, how long words stay on the screen.

    • He could even change fonts, colors, fade-in, fade-out. There are so many ways to make captions more interesting

X to Inspire

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