Webpages were mostly based on graphic design and layouts from the print world. How Web Animation Got Started, the Rise of GIFsĭuring the early days of the World Wide Web, things were rather static and boring. Web animation can be used to visualize various steps in a complex process or idea, to illustrate a simple marketing message, or to move things on a web page in a natural and fluid way as people scroll-again, to draw attention to something.Ī landing page with motion and web animation (by Mason Yarnell for Mixpanel). Web designers are hoping to capture and hold our attention, and maybe add an unexpected jolt of delight. If a static picture is worth a thousand words, how much is an animation worth? First, by capturing our attention, and second, using video and animation to get the message across. The technique is a one-two punch effect designed to deliver marketing messages. As we catch something moving fast out of the corner of our eye, the brain alerts us in a split-second because our subconscious brain has already reacted to the danger before our conscious mind has had time to process the information.Īdvertisers know this, and it is why we have animated street advertisements at bus stops and on subway platforms, video ads popping up in social media streams, and electronic billboards with full-motion video.
The split-second reaction to movement in our environment was developed out of the need to survive and triggered by environmental stimuli perceived as potentially threatening or harmful people pay extra attention to things that move. As we go about our daily lives, the endless stream of visual stimulation gushing at us from animated ads on the street, videos on our mobiles, not to mention our social media feeds, creates a sense of constant movement that is vying for our attention. In this fiercely competitive environment, companies are frantically looking for ways to capture and retain people’s attention.