Motion graphics for institutional spots: from line animation to 2.5D

The eternal problem: making complex things interesting

Tax bonuses, corporate welfare, bureaucratic procedures. Every company and institution has important messages to communicate that — let’s be honest — aren’t exactly thrilling. Written text isn’t enough, talking-head videos bore people. Motion graphics solves this problem: it transforms abstract concepts into images people actually enjoy watching.

In this article I share two projects where I faced the same challenge — communicating an institutional topic — with two completely different visual approaches.

PMI — The continuous line that never breaks

PMI asked me for a video to tell their mission: “We take care of you.” The message speaks of attention, care, a journey that accompanies the person. I needed a visual style that embodied these values.

The choice: a single continuous line for two minutes. Zero cuts, zero breaks. A line that continuously transforms — becomes a profile, then hands, then a tree, then a family — guiding the viewer in an uninterrupted flow. It’s the visual translation of care: something that doesn’t stop, that accompanies from beginning to end.

The technical challenge was serious. Every transition had to feel natural — every element had to be born from the previous one without forcing. I designed the entire storyboard as a single narrative line, then animated the critical transitions frame by frame in After Effects. Watercolor touches add emotion without breaking the line’s flow.

The result is a hypnotic video where the message arrives effortlessly. See the full case study.

Acea Acqua — The 2.5D mascot that guides the story

Acea Acqua needed to communicate the Water Bonus — a bureaucratic topic by definition. The challenge: maintain Acea’s institutional seriousness while making the content accessible and even likeable.

The choice: 2.5D animation with a water drop as mascot. 2.5D is a technique that gives 2D illustrations a 3D appearance through depth, shadows and multi-plane movements. The drop has personality and expressiveness — it winks, gestures, guides the viewer through the bonus steps with fluid transitions and animated typography.

The graphic style is clean and aligned with the Acea brand: blue palette, flat illustrations with that touch of volume from 2.5D, smooth animation. The result is a spot where a complex topic becomes simple to understand. See the full case study.

Two approaches, one philosophy

PMI and Acea are very different projects in style, but share the same principle: the visual language must serve the message, not decorate it.

For PMI, the continuous line isn’t a graphic whim — it’s the visual translation of continuity of care. For Acea, the 2.5D mascot isn’t a cute addition — it’s the tool that makes a bureaucratic topic human. In both cases, the style is born from the brief, not from an a priori aesthetic choice.

When motion graphics is the right choice

Institutional motion graphics works when the content is conceptual rather than visual. If you need to show a physical product, you probably need filmed video or 3D animation. But if you need to explain a process, tell values, communicate data or procedures — motion graphics transforms the abstract into concrete.

Advantages over filmed video for this type of communication: no set, no cast, no weather constraints. Changes and updates are simple. The message arrives even without sound (essential for social media). And above all: control over every frame is total.

My process for institutional spots

Every project starts with a question: what is the single thing the viewer must understand at the end of the video? From there I build the story backwards.

Storyboard comes first. I never start from animation — I start from narrative structure. Then I define the style: illustrative, geometric, typographic, mixed? It depends on the brand, the target, the distribution channel. Only then do I move to actual animation in After Effects, where rhythm and timing make the difference between a video you watch and one you endure.

Final post-production — color, sound design, optimized export for each platform — closes the cycle in an integrated workflow where everything passes through the same hands.