Most logos are drawn to sit still. They are judged on a white page at a comfortable size, and then they are asked to spin, wipe, bounce and dissolve in a launch film. Some survive. Many do not.
Over the last few years I have started sketching motion before I sketch the mark. Here is what that changed.
Start with a verb
Before drawing anything, I write down one verb the mark should be able to do. A festival might rise. A bakery might fold. A research group might connect. The verb becomes a test: every sketch has to be able to do it.
Count the parts
Animators need parts to move. A mark built from three or four separable shapes gives them something to work with; a single complex outline does not.
/* A motion token shared by the web build and the edit suite */
--brand-ease: cubic-bezier(0.2, 0, 0, 1);
--brand-duration: 480ms;Respect people who switch motion off
Every animated version needs a still twin. On the web that means honouring prefers-reduced-motion; in a film it means the mark must read in its final frame alone.
If it only works while moving, it does not work.
None of this is new, but writing it down has made my first meetings shorter and my revisions fewer.