ANIMATION
Who says connecting with your audience can’t be fun? Animation is a great way to add personality to your brand, or to communicate something complex in a simple way.
Animation is a powerful tool that allows us to tell brand stories, and communicate emotions in a memorable, concise and easy-to-understand manner.
Animations are proven to engage audiences more effectively than static images and can significantly improve the effectiveness of your online marketing.
WHY CHOOSE ANIMATION?
Animation is a powerful marketing tool, especially when tackling sensitive or complex topics.
With animation, you don’t have to restrict your imagination; the possibilities are far reaching, and there is more scope to experiment with different styles and effects that are consistent with your brand - making something completely unique to you. Bespoke animations can help your business to stand out whilst looking consistently professional. Not only that, animation is universally understood by audiences throughout the world, from young children to adults - and leaves an equally memorable impression on all.
You might want to choose animation if you’re looking to raise brand awareness, explain a process to your audience, or launch new products. Uploading well crafted animations to digital platforms, in an age of heavy content consumerism, gives you a better chance to get people to stop scrolling and take notice, and ultimately increase your digital sales.
You might also find that once one animation has been created, elements of it can be reused or templated for other promotional items or marketing purposes, making it a cost effective option in the long term.
HOW DOES ANIMATION WORK?
We will kick off our animation project by discussing with you your goals and budgets. Depending on how much budget you have, we will recommend the right type of animation for you. We will discuss the purpose of the animation, such as where it will live, who the target audience is, what the main message we want to convey is, and so on. It’s important to fully understand why we’re creating this animation before we get started.
From there on we will collate ideas for the style, find a few potential soundtracks, and write a first draft script for the piece. Once those are approved, we will refine the script and create a storyboard to go alongside it. A storyboard is a document with roughly sketched out visuals to match the script. It helps us visualise how the final animation will play out.
We will then start designing the characters and/or graphic elements that will be later animated. Once the designs and style are signed off, we will deliver a 6 second fully-refined sample to showcase exactly how the final animation will end up looking.
When the 6 second sample is signed off, we will proceed to create a first cut of the animation. Finally, we will collate your feedback and deliver the final cut.
Paul
He / him. Paul is a tech lover. One of Rusty Monkey’s developers, he spends a lot of time playing with gadgets, and loves trying to fix broken tech. He’s an eco nut. Loves nature. Amateur triathlete, and an even more amateur musician. Plays too many computer games. He dreams of living in a futuristic utopia where we all get on and have a lovely time. Be excellent to each other.
Matt
He / him; yellow. Creative jack-of-all-trades, Matt is "dangerously knowledgeable" in almost every facet of marketing. His favourite field is branding, and he loves developing inspiring, daring brand identities for organisations who are ready to do something different. But he's equally talented at front end web development and developing digital strategies. He's also the front man and guitarist in local parody heavy metal outfit Evil Scarecrow, plus a huge fan of music, eating in nice restaurants, and going on holiday.
Zoe
She / her; green / blue. Zoe is a designer, daydreamer and self-anointed snack queen. Once described as “so awkward she’s charming” by a friend, there isn’t a day that goes by without her accidentally slipping in an innuendo. In winter, she hibernates in a blanket of books and netflix, but by late spring emerges with her trusty birkenstocks, ready to go on photography adventures and socialise with the neighbourhood cats. If she were a pokemon she would without a doubt be Pikachu, but a buzzfeed quiz has determined her to be a Magikarp. She’s a firm believer that buzzfeed quizzes cannot be trusted, under any circumstances.
Iulia
She / her. Iulia is Rusty Monkey’s animation, illustration and 3D expert. Responsible for making everything beautiful, she also dabbles in graphic design and UX design. Among her credits is an animated music video for local parody heavy metal band Evil Scarecrow. A talented artist, she showcases her work on her Instagram channel. She usually spends most of her time in some random corner of the house with a drawing tablet and a pen, scribbling away. Cat obsessed. Professional house plant killer. Autumn lover. Maker of things.
FEATURED PROJECTS
Some selected projects. Browse our portfolio for more.
Animation - NHS
The NHS is a Government-funded medical and health care service that everyone living in the UK can access cost-free. We were asked by the North East Yorkshire Primary Care Transformation team to create an animation that will explain the role of Social Prescribers within the NHS to the general public. The animation had to be accessible, inclusive and informative.
Animation - Spurgeons
Spurgeons are a charity organisation that offer support to children and families across the UK who have been affected by domestic abuse or imprisonment, and are struggling to cope. We created lovable and relatable characters in a series of animations to help educate parents and children about the difficult emotions that they might be going through.
ANIMATION SERVICES
Hollywood is calling and they're on the look out for the next best animation - let us help you turn your vision into a storyboard fit for the screen. Fill out this form and we'll get back to you in a jiffy. Worried about your data? We’ll treat it well. Take it out for breakfast, buy it chocolates. Read our privacy policy.
EXPLAINER ANIMATION
You need a way to explain your product and service to the world. This may show how a product works, or introduce your audience to something new.
Want to explain your product or service to your audience? Explainer videos are documented to get significantly better engagement than written manuals and documentation. Not only are they a useful tool, they can also be great marketing pieces.
Video and animation prove to be a lot more engaging than static content, driving significant traffic to social media channels and websites, offering a great initial boost of sales.
Find out more about explainer videos here!
We can create an animated explainer video that will bring your subject to life. The complexity of the animation will depend on your budget and the content that's available.
Sometimes the simplest explainer animations can be the most effective, as you don't want to complicate your content with overly flashy visuals.
On the other hand, you may need something more sophisticated, such as animated 3D renders of your product, to effectively communicate how it works.
CORPORATE ANIMATION
You need a top level visual piece that communicates your brand message to your key audience.
Corporate animations are a great way to connect with your audience. They help bring a little personality to your organisation that static content just can't achieve.
They can help you communicate your core values and mission to important stakeholders, and are great for both B2B and B2C engagement.
We've found that this kind of video performs particularly well on social media platforms, where we can put some budget behind paid ads and target very specific audience groups.
A corporate animation could be something as simple as some punchy captions over music and moving graphics - or something as complex as 3D animated characters alongside a professional voice over. The approach we take will depend on your budgets and goals.
If you need help promoting your animation online, we can help with this too.
CHARACTER ANIMATION
You need a mascot to help tell a story, or a suite of characters to bring your brand to life.
Animated characters add a ton of personality to your brand story. This is a great option if you don't want to produce a live action video (a video with real people), but still want to tell a story with moving figures.
Animated characters are perfect for guiding viewers through sensitive topics and representing diverse communities. They can be based on humans, reconiseable animals or made-up creatures. It all depends on the final effect you're going for, and what your audience will engage with best.
We use character animation for a wide variety of projects, from sales pieces to a story-driven video for charity.
The characters can be simple vectors, 2D hand drawn, or fully rendered in 3D. The style we opt for will depend on your budgets and goals.
Check out this amazing 2D animation Iulia created for Evil Scarecrow.
SOCIAL MEDIA ANIMATION
You want to stop people scrolling and gain more influencing power on your social channels.
Animated adverts convert on websites and social media way more than static imagery does, which is why short, marketing animation clips make a great investment into increasing engagement and ultimately, your sales.
They're eye-catching, fun to watch and can communicate your message quickly and effectively. If your audience is busy and time-starved, animated ads will perform better than other content.
PRODUCT ANIMATION
You want to show off your product in imaginative or challenging settings. You want to give your audience a dynamic view of your product, inside and out.
Product animation can showcase your product in a totally different way than static images.
A product animation can be made up of simple line drawings, hand-drawn sketches, or complex 3D renders. The style will depend on your budgets, goals and the complexity of your product.
3D animation is very powerful when it comes to product animation. Showcasing your product, especially when it might still be in the manufacturing stage can be tricky.
3D is a very cost-effective and versatile solution to filming your products, as you can use the 3D scene and camera to get certain shots of your product that would prove impossible to film in real life.
HOW-TO ANIMATION
You need visually engaging step-by-step instructions, tutorials or hacks to help your audience do something.
How-to animations and videos perform way better than written content when it comes to engaging your audience. Many people now use YouTube as a search engine when looking up how to do something, so if you want to get in front of people, that's where your how-to content needs to be.
How to videos, such as step-by-step installation tutorials, can be challenging and costly to film using real life actors and props.
Animation is a much more cost-effective and simple alternative. It gives you way more control over the content and environment, and it is just as engaging as video footage, if not more.
TYPICAL ANIMATION TIMELINE
FAQs
How much does an animation cost?
It all depends on the type of animation and the length of the piece you are hoping to get. A hand drawn, frame-by-frame 2D animation is going to cost considerably more than a short motion graphics animation.
A good rule of thumb is that explainer, how-to and social media animation will likely be cheaper than character, 3D and 2D animation.
The number of assets the animation needs creating from scratch, such as character designs, 3D models and backgrounds will also be reflected in the price.
The best thing to do is to give us a call and tell us your specific needs and we will give you an estimate.
What is an explainer video?
Explainer videos are online marketing videos used to explain your company’s product or service. They are the perfect way to communicate complex subject matters in a fun visual way. Explainer videos are often placed on a landing page, your website’s home page or a prominent product page.
Check out this explainer video we did for Gravita.
Is animation good for social media?
With such a large number of videos trying to get viewers’ attention, it’s getting harder and harder to cut through the noise. A static image or a simple text-based post just won’t do the trick.
Nowadays people are used to intrusive marketing ads. Animation, however, is less common and more engaging. So people are more likely to pay attention to animated videos than to traditional ads. Plus, it’s fun.
How long should a brand video be?
Somewhere between 60 and 120 seconds is the general guidance for brand and corporate videos.
However, while generally shorter is better, shorter is not always the best. Relevance is what matters the most. If your video is compelling, or inspiring, or thought provoking, the time duration doesn’t matter. People will watch it, regardless. (Short and relevant is a pretty powerful combo though.)
What type of animation is best for me? Motion, 2D or 3D?
We have an article explaining the main three animation types. We've also included a brief overview here.
Motion graphics animation consists of turning static graphic design into animation. This type of animation focuses on making dynamic and interesting presentations using basic illustrations, shapes and text. They can be used anywhere, from explainer videos and news, to commercials and TV productions.
Choose motion graphics animation if:
your deadline and/or budget is tight.
you have minimal narrative or storytelling.
you need to explain complex services or products.
3D animation, also known as CGI (computer generated imagery), is the most popular animation type for character-driven animation. It is used in both feature films and games. But it is also used commercially, often to visualize products that have not been manufactured or photographed yet.
Choose 3D animation if:
you need more complex animation.
you know you will be using the assets for a long time.
you need to see more angles of the subject matter.
you are dealing with narration or a story.
2D animation, also known as traditional hand-drawn animation, is the oldest type out of the three. While it is very time consuming, it has a specific charm to it. It stands out from all the other styles of animation that are out there.
Choose 2D animation if:
you are looking for something unique.
you have a narrative, a story to tell.
you are looking for short, engaging social posts.
emotion and character are your top priority.
How long does it take to produce an animation?
There are many steps to consider when talking about animation production. Script, asset creation, storyboard, voiceover, soundtrack, 6 second sample, first and final cut. Each is dependent on the style, length and complexity of your animation.
On average though, 1 minute of animation can take anywhere from one week to one month to create. With 3D animation, it could take up to one or two months of character development and world building before you start seeing a final result.
How do you make animation fit your brand?
We'll ensure your animation is consistent with your brand identity. If you've had animations made in the past, we'll try and match the style if possible. If this is your first animation, we can help develop your animation style in conjuction with your brand guidelines.
Taking the time to develop different styles and testing them in situ, before committing to one, is important. It’s best to get bespoke animations done as opposed to using stock assets, as it's difficult to find stock assets that fit your brand identity.
.png)
Is your inbox boring?
Subscribe to our newsletter for unique content, marketing insights and good times.