This industry perspective is by Andrew Vucko, founder of motion design studio Vucko.
We all know the logos: the swoosh, the arches, the apple. But when it comes to how a brand moves, do we have the same instinctive recall?
To get a snapshot of where motion design sits today, Vucko designed a study to help us answer the question above. We isolated the motion behaviors of several well-known brands and asked more than 1,300 brand owners, managers and creatives whether they could recognize the brand from motion alone. At one end of the spectrum, 81% recognized Disney’s motion footprint; at the other, only 14% identified Uber, with many confusing it for Netflix.
Brands are investing more in motion and recognize its impact, but few make it truly strategic or distinctive. Too often, the focus is on execution over intent, resulting in work that has polish but lacks meaning.
Screens are the dominant touchpoint for brands, and motion is one of the most visible parts of that experience. Yet its impact on recognition, engagement and trust is often undervalued. Disney succeeds because its motion tells a clear story; it’s driven by intention. Others risk blending in without a defined point of view.
Here’s how to approach motion with intent so it can unlock and amplify your brand.
Connect Strategy to Motion
To use motion effectively, brands need to recognize that distinctiveness matters just as much in how a brand moves as it does in the rest of its visual identity, whether on a screen, a shelf or a pack.
A truly ownable motion identity starts with understanding the core traits, truth and behaviours that define your brand. Many teams know these well for the brand’s static expression, but the question is how they translate to motion. It’s important to ask: “What makes us inherently different, and how should that shape how we move?”
This approach ensures your motion identity is authentic and rooted in your brand’s DNA. Without that connection, motion risks becoming generic and disconnected.
More Than Just Animation
Brands need to move away from the notion that ‘motion equals animation.’ A motion identity is not an animated logo. A strategic motion system establishes a shared language for movement, providing the logic, behaviours and reason for why a brand moves. This foundation enables motion to scale, stay consistent, and adapt to any environment without fragmenting—on a device, at an event, in digital out-of-home, or on the Vegas Sphere. Any environment where the brand shows up across the globe.
This is where systems thinking matters. Animation cannot scale across touchpoints or adapt to different needs. A motion system is designed to flex with context while still feeling unmistakably like the brand. Think of this as the brand’s body language, shaping how the brand moves, interacts and expresses itself across every experience.
Just as body language conveys the personality of a person, motion does the same for a brand. It becomes a core pillar of identity that supports tone of voice and visual design. Without a system behind it, motion becomes ornamental. Disney’s motion identity illustrates this clearly. The castle, the arc, and the trail of light tell a story across its parks, films and products because they are rooted in a clear intentional system.
Set the Rules, So You Can Move Beyond Them
Motion is a tactical tool. It often appears in campaigns and product launches; however, without a system to support it, the impact fades quickly.
Consistency and time are the two pillars that help motion identities mature into recognizable signatures. Consistency ensures your motion shows up cohesively across touchpoints, and time builds equity and recognition year over year. For newer brands or startups, doubling down on consistency can accelerate the impact of their motion identity.
To achieve that, you need clear motion principles in place. The goal is to establish rules for how your brand moves that allow for creative flexibility without losing identity. When we worked with Google Cloud’s annual conference, Next, we built such a motion identity system rather than a moving campaign. This system allowed the brand to launch major activations three times faster than expected.
Clear rules also allow your motion to flex based on intensity and context. Is the moment one of inspiration or information, entertainment or education? With a strong motion system, you can dial key behaviours up or down while still producing an experience that’s unmistakably like the brand.
Hone a Holistic Approach
To get motion right, you need understanding and buy-in across teams, contexts and audiences. Motion is a tool for marketing and branding, but also innovation, events, product design, and even sub- and sister brands. Large organizations like Intuit, for example, often have dozens of sub-brands and small teams, each with unique needs. A scalable motion system ensures that all these teams can work cohesively while maintaining the brand’s core identity.
Most importantly, brands need to involve leadership across the organization early in the process. Understanding how motion will be used by different teams and for different audiences is critical to building a system that works for everyone.
Motion is becoming essential for brands. But it needs to be connected to strategy, to be built with intent, and with scale and flexibility in mind. Brands that double down on the ‘why’ and build the strong foundations to allow their motion to scale and flex will become the brands that truly stand out and build value over time.
Andrew Vucko merges a lifelong interest in motion and design with a passion for brand building. As the founder of Vucko, he leads a global motion studio that transforms brands like Google, Meta, and Spotify through award-winning motion identities, systems, and guidelines.
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