In this time of everything going digital, continuing old obsolete ways of design and marketing are just going to bring in losses. That has provided businesses with the need to go digital in every aspect of their marketing and designing plans. From the product, design prototypes to explain to the workforce the complex processes and methods. So, everything has been digitized, and rightfully so. Even products are marketed through animated videos to keep the interest of the audience intact. This has led to a huge spike in the design industry and the motion graphics industry. And 2D design and 2D animations have become all the more necessary.
What is a 2D design?
The D in the 2D design represents dimensions, therefore 2D refers to 2 dimensions, the dimensions being length and width. These designs are also often famous flat designs. 2D design serves as the basis of entire graphic design as well as visual communication. The whole idea is to construct visually appealing designs using the essential elements and principles of 2D design. 2D designs are an essential part of drawing, painting, photography, illustrations, graphic design, and videos.
Elements of 2D design:
The best way to communicate any idea or information to the audience is to use visual communication, and hence using graphics and animations. This marks the importance of the use of 2D design in digital media. The graphic designer is crucial in providing proper communication through the designs. There is a saying that goes “Less is More”, similar is the case with 2D design. So, overloading the design with elements will result in a jumble of there such through the art, and the original particular message may be neglect in the swarm of elements. Therefore, makes sure to employ as few pieces as possible, while remaining in sync.
The most basic and essential elements of 2D design are:
- Line
- Color
- Shape
- Texture
- Space
Line:
The line is what makes or breaks the entire design. Seemingly plain and simple, the line has a huge and dominant impact on the audience. The line can be thin or thick, continued or broken into parts, and curved or straight. The line is what defines space, edges, weight, and volume.
Color:
Color is the defining point of the entire design. A miss-placed shade of color can negatively impact the whole design. Color stimulates responses in the viewer, both mental and physical. The colors are also categorized as warm colors and cold colors. Warm colors are often associated with exciting emotions and cool colors. So, on the other hand, bring out calming responses from the audience.
Shape:
A shape consists of straight lines, curved lines, or at times, both. There are geometric shapes and then there are also free-form shapes. Triangles, circles, ovals, ellipses, and hexagons are some of the most common geometric shapes. Free-form shapes, on the other hand, take the form of clouds, trees, rocks, fire, stones, leaves, and so on.
Texture:
The look and feel of how a surface is perceived to feel are known as the texture. If you are thinking about how designers can use something that is purely tangible, hold on. The secret is that the designers use something famous visual texture. So, which is the design on a flat surface and gives the illusion of texture. The texture can be smooth, shiny, matte, hard, rocky, rough, and so on.
Space:
Space refers to the area that surrounds, or is above/below an object. It is the key element as it is responsible for creating the illusion of a third dimension in the 2D design. The space can be created by sizes, different colors, overlapping, and using shadows. You can use space to make the object or the graphic seem near or far away.
What is a great 2D design?
A great 2D design is based on how effective and aesthetically appealing it is. To achieve a successful and great 2D design. So, these aspects have to be kept in mind.
- The design should be cohesive.
- The design has to be balanced, either symmetrical or asymmetrical.
- The repetition of elements makes the design boring.
- Combine similar and related visual elements to create a sense of harmony.
- The emphasis should be on the center, that is where the most important element has to be.
- The image or graphic can be highly contrasting, drawing importance where needed.
- The entire proportion of the image or graphic has to be perfect and carefully planned.
Taking 2D design a step ahead in 2D animation, 2D animations are commonly famous in the digital world. It would be unfair to discuss 2D design and not talk about 2D animations at all.
What are 2D Animations?
In 2D animations, different 2D pictures of the same length and width are able to mix to create an illusion of movement. It should be can see that the movement is total without any depth to it, as we are talking about only two dimensions here, i.e. length and width.
Traditionally, 2D animations used to be design on pen and paper through drawings. So, where multiple frames of slight movement pictured on the drawings were used together to create an illusion of the pictures moving.
Fast forward to the modern era, where computers are able to use to create 2D animations. Modern animations are okay through proper specialize animation software that let you create special characters, elements, and backgrounds.
Where is 2D Animation used?
2D Animations are fairly popular and used widely across many mediums;
- Animated advertisements
- Educational movies
- Web animation
- Animated videos
- Television bumpers
- Video games
- Social media advertisements
- Social media pictures and reels
- Architectural animation
- Logos
- Introductory videos
- Explainer videos
- Web advertising
- Mobile phone graphics
Now is the time to look at the various kinds of 2D animations.
Computer Animation:
Computer animation is also widely famous as CGI animation. This animation uses the computer to generate animated images or graphics. Computer animation also divides into two categories further which are 2D animations and 3D animations. To animate pictures and images in a computer, special computer software is necessary.
Stop Motion:
Stop motion animation is also famous for one-stop frame animation. This is a process that involves using real-life images and objects to appear animated and moving. These objects are photographed each time they are moved, creating the illusion of the objects moving. When the sequential images move at a rapid speed, they appear as if they are moving.
Motion Graphics:
Brands commonly employ motion graphics to produce explainer films for their audiences. It takes the form of logo animations, explainer videos, titles, and so on. Primarily, motion graphics are used for product videos.
Whiteboard Animation:
Animated black graphics drawn on a white background to explain and illustrate concepts and ideas are called whiteboard animation. This is a fantastic type of 2D animation that common can use to deliver extremely complex concepts to the audience. The nicest thing about whiteboard animations is that the audience is always active while readily absorbing the tough topic. The videos made by using whiteboard animation are to the point and precise.
Infographics:
When a business aims to convey diverse messages and complex information to the audience, infographics are a great way to do that. Animated slides and infographics convey the message perfectly.
What Importance do 2D Designs and 2D Animations hold?
2D design and 2D animations hold great importance in the field of digital marketing. They reap those benefits to the businesses and enterprises that no other marketing tool can. For this very reason, 2D designs and animations have become THE marketing tool when it comes to social media marketing and other kinds of marketing. Let us have a look at some of the main benefits it brings to the business.
- It appeals to, attracts, and grabs the audience’s attention.
- It highlights your brand and makes a specialized place for it in the market.
- It ups the search engine optimization game for your business.
- Ensures effective communication with the audience.
- Boosts the revenue through higher sales of your business.
- Extremely cost-effective in comparison to other marketing tools.
- Gets your business the best returns on investment in design and animations.
Conclusion:
In the digital realm, using 2D design and 2D animations to boost your business revenue and sales is the only way forward. So, It gets your business the correct kind of exposure and engagement. Innovation is the only way out in this ever-changing digital world. And Also, getting ahead of the others is the only way forward to be ahead of the competition and secure a high-ranked place for your business.
