Getting Effective Animation Feedback for Campaigns
Marketing teams are often tasked with creating engaging and effective animated content, whether it be for television commercials, social media ads, or explainer videos.
However, the process of giving feedback can be challenging, especially when animation teams seem to speak their own visual language.
Let’s outline a few solutions to help mitigate communication challenges.
1. Gain (Some) Technical Understanding
While familiarizing a marketing team with the stages of an animation production is helpful, they shouldn’t be expected to know every little technical aspect of what goes into a video.
That said, don’t be afraid to ask the animation team about any confusing terminology. Sometimes, the same word can be used differently, so it’s better to avoid costly misunderstandings down the road.
Anchor graphic by Will Colón
2. Communicate Emotion Through Tone
The tone of a piece, from script to visuals, to music and motion, must be aligned to convey a message to an audience clearly.
When giving feedback, use tone as an anchor point.
Identify the places where the tone is lost or could be misinterpreted. This will help to pinpoint whether the issue lies in design, sound, or dialogue.
3. Convey Pace and Time
Animation is a medium where every movement, action, and expression is carefully choreographed to deliver a message or a feeling.
Feedback on pacing and timing, in particular, can be difficult to communicate. What may be “faster” to one person might be a different pace to another.
In these moments, try to get descriptive about your goal. Do you need an icon to stay on screen longer because it was too hard to read clearly in a short time frame? Getting specific will go a long way toward adjusting the timing overall.
4. Understand the Limitations of the Medium
Animation can be a complex and time-consuming process. While advances in technology are making it easier and faster, certain things are impossible to achieve within the project constraints, be they budget, schedule, or personnel.
Remember both the time and resources required to bring your ideas to life.
Vocalize all your ideas, big and small, to the animation team while being open to seeing the possibilities and limitations of what can be accomplished.
Additional Pro Tips
Provide reference materials: Share videos, illustrations, or examples of other animations you like to help animation teams understand your vision.
Remember your audience. It’s easy to get lost in the creative content. Try to remember who the animated video is for and keep them in mind as you go through your feedback.
Marketing and animation are two different disciplines, but with their powers combined, they can make a huge impact!
Animation teams and marketers have a common goal: creating compelling and engaging content that connects with the audience.