Does every brand need a defined motion identity?

While most brands benefit from a well-defined motion identity, the breadth and depth varies. Brands that mostly show up in static formats might use motion in a secondary fashion, while digital-first brands will need more in-depth motion design.

What's the difference between motion identity and general animation?

Animation is a technique, whereas a motion identity covers a brand's specific rules, behaviours, and styles of movement that it wants to be synonymous with.

Should motion identity be designed before or after the rest of the identity?

After the core concept is set, but before the design system is finalised. Motion needs something to express, while the rest of the identity needs to be developed with motion in mind. Otherwise, the two won't feel in tandem.

Does a motion identity need to change if a brand rebrands?

Usually, yes. Motion should articulate the same creative idea as the rest of the identity, so if that concept changes, the way the brand moves should also evolve.

How is motion identity different from sonic branding?

They're both about brand behaviour beyond the still image, but anything visual falls under motion while anything sonic falls under audio. However, the two often reinforce each other, like in logo stings, for example.

Branding Handbook

Visual Identity

Motion Identity

A motion identity captures how a brand behaves through movement, from the smallest hover state to the most elaborate animation.

What is a motion identity?

A motion identity refers to the system that guides how a brand moves, allowing it to express its personality in a more visually dynamic way.

A core part of any brand in the digital era, motion takes a design language and interprets it through transitions, animations, loading states, or any moment where an identity behaves in time. If a brand can separate itself by the way it moves, then it can truly call itself distinctive.

The specifics of a motion identity are determined by the platforms a brand lives on. Online-first brands tend to have more elaborate motion than physical ones, for example. Either way, a strong motion identity ensures every snap, slide, and sweep is choreographed correctly and consistently.

How does a motion identity get built?

Define the behavioural character

Decide the underlying quality of movement itself. Should it feel weightless and elegant, or blunt and mechanical? These characteristics should naturally emerge from the rest of the brand identity and the strategy behind it.

Translate those behaviours into motion principles

Establish the specific movement styles that embody that behaviour, detailing variables like speed, rhythm, duration and intensity so that they can be easily replicated. Show how this flexes between applications, such as UI components or animated graphics.

Choreograph the hero elements

Put the system into practice with signature motion assets that set the standard. This could include logo animations, kinetic typography, or intro and outro idents.

Document the guidance

Motion identity rules should be covered in brand guidelines, so movement doesn't run loose from one application to the next.

How motion identity works in practice: More Than Equal

Driven by hard data and cutting-edge performance science, More Than Equal has one clear, ambitious aim: to find the first female F1 world champion.

To do that, they needed an experience fine-tuned to the circuit, capable of inspiring a whole new generation of champions. Static wasn't going to cut it.

Giving their movement some movement, More Than Equal's motion identity centres on an interactive ASCII layer applied to all illustrations—a style reflective of a brand that, much like their data, never stands still.

Paired with an electric neon green and a chevron motif built to signal forward progress, the brand feels like it's in constant, deliberate motion wherever it appears.

Outcome: A brand with momentum at its very core, reinforcing their promise of levelling the playing field.

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