How to build a motion language for your brand (in 3 steps)

It’s been a while since my last newsletter, so I want to send a quick welcome to everyone who signed up this year. Thank you for following along. If you ever want to chat, just reply to this email. I read every single message.

We're having a rewarding year collaborating with some amazing clients. From explainer videos for AI tech companies and ad campaigns for retail, to UI motion for gaming. But my absolute favorite projects remain motion systems for new brand identities.

For brand identities, getting movement right comes down to one crucial component: the motion language.

The late Mitch Paone of DIA Studio fundamentally changed how our industry thinks about kinetic design. He championed the idea that motion isn't an embellishment applied at the end; it is a structural component of the identity itself. This philosophy has been on my mind a lot lately, and it remains a true north star for how a modern studio should approach motion.

Establishing a clear motion language builds brand consistency that amplifies awareness. It drastically reduces production time because designers aren't guessing or waiting for endless approvals. Most importantly, it frees up design managers to focus on strategy instead of teaching every new freelancer how the brand is supposed to move.

1. Brand Discovery

As a friend once told me, "Less design, more talk." This phase is all about sitting down with stakeholders and diving deep into the brand documentation. The goal is to understand the positioning, personality, and core values. Synthesizing this into a brief aligns the entire design team before a single keyframe is ever set.

2. Principles Definition

Principles act as the heuristics for the motion being built. They usually draw from real world physics to represent an inner quality of the brand. Principles are what make movement instantly recognizable. Think of the signature Netflix ribbon unfold and cinematic push in. To keep their identity cohesive across thousands of assets, their motion system relies on four core audiovisual behaviors: traveling, revealing, pulsing, and expanding. Those aren't just random animations—they are the structural rules that ensure every touchpoint feels unmistakably like Netflix.

3. Rules and Applications

This is where things get tactical. Does the text fade in by line or type out character by character? Are web interactions snappy (200ms) or smooth and lingering (800ms)? Tangible guidelines ensure any designer can pick up the playbook and know exactly how the brand behaves.

If you want to see this framework in action, there is a newly published Behance case study on the motion system designed for VHIO, an oncology research center at Vall d'Hebron.
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Full case study here

Want to talk about systems, motion design, or life in general? Feel free to drop me a line at hola@bisuala.com.

Thanks for reading.
Marc