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Looking for motion design tutorials or animation inspiration? This post is for you.
Experienced, professional motion designers usually have a toolbox of handy resources to improve their workflow. Whether you’re a motion designer or a motion design newbie who just started experimenting a few weeks ago, you’ll need some tools in your toolbox.
Even the most skilled designers can learn new things, and the discipline is constantly evolving. Sometimes, you’ll need to know how to create an on-trend effect, or a client will ask you for a design aspect that’s new to you. Or maybe you just want to find a source of inspiration—there are many different reasons you’ll need to call upon motion design resources.
To help you on your journey, we’ve compiled a nifty list of the top resources for mograph designers.
1. Linearity Academy for marketing animation tutorials
The Linearity YouTube channel, with over 41,000 subscribers, is a great resource for anyone interested in learning how to create animations. Plus, the Linearity Academy is packed with tons of tutorials, templates, tips, and tricks.
If you're new to animation or specifically want to learn how to use Linearity Move, our tutorial videos are a perfect place to start.
You can enjoy a variety of tutorials, from "shorts" that introduce basic animation concepts to in-depth walkthroughs on animating logos, social media posts, and branded promotional videos.
Linearity Move boasts several features that make animation accessible and efficient. Our platform’s stellar feature is Auto Animate, which brings static designs to life with a single click. You can also make design tweaks directly within the animation workspace, eliminating the need to switch between software.
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For more experienced animators, node-based animation and masking offers precise control over complex movements. Finally, efficient scene and transition tools streamline the final output process.
You can get started with Linearity Move for free below or learn more about our Pro and Org pricing for professionals and teams.
Ready to create brand assets that pack a punch?
Visit our Academy for free marketing design courses.
2. Greyscale Gorilla for nifty tutorials
Founded by motion designer Nick Campbell, Greyscale Gorilla is a one-stop shop for budding motion designers. It’s been running for 10 years. In that time, it has developed and evolved into a kick-ass resource. The site features a huge library of motion design tutorials.
Nick is quite a hit in the mograph community because he doesn’t just cover the technical aspects (although he does this exceptionally well). He talks about topics relevant to any budding designer—like how to get paid—and shares graphic design projects he’s worked on.
Greyscale Gorilla also offers plugins and tools to help you with your workflow, so there’s much to explore here.
3. School of Motion for quality courses
Imagine if there was a design school specializing in motion design that you could enroll in from anywhere in the world. It offers a wide range of online courses on anything you need to know about mograph.
That place exists, and it’s called the School of Motion. This online learning platform offers a huge number of courses on all aspects of motion graphics, such as how to use graphic design software like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Cinema 4D, After Effects, and more.
There are also many courses that cater to different experience levels. If you’re a beginner, you could jump into one of the boot camps on animation or design. If you’re a mograph wizard already, you could take a VFX course or improve your rigging skills.
The School of Motion’s online motion design courses aren’t the only resource it offers. The site also hosts a podcast that has aired over 100 episodes, and a really good YouTube channel.
4. Motionographer for jaw-dropping inspiration
As part of the creative process, looking at what other motion graphic designers are creating can be very helpful. Seeing inspirational motion design can really help you generate new ideas and think of fresh approaches. Motionographer might just be the best inspiration resource for exactly this tactic.
This website is a treasure trove of videos showcasing the world's finest motion graphic design skills. It’s updated daily, so you can check in regularly and discover new work.
This could be your new go-to resource for motion design inspiration. We also encourage you to submit your work to Motionographer for the chance of being showcased.
Bring Your Stories to Life with Stop Motion
Discover the art of stop motion animation with Linearity Move. Create captivating, frame-by-frame stories that engage and delight your audience.
5. Mograph for a vibrant community
This website is a great resource for motion graphic designers for multiple reasons. First, it has tons of content and graphic design resources for you to explore.
There are podcast episodes and video features to enjoy and several good tutorials to learn from. The tutorials mainly cover Cinema 4D and Houdini software, and there’s a helpful tutorial on creating smoke and fire effects in TurbulenceFD.
If you join the Mograph Slack channel, you can access motion graphics professionals and experienced designers to get help with any motion graphic question you might have.
The vibrant and supportive community is always there to help you with motion design strategies and creative design solutions. Mograph's Slack community provides a positive and encouraging environment, no matter your level of expertise.
6. Motion Hatch for freelancing advice
What’s the next step in your design career? You might be intrigued by the idea of working alone as a freelancer rather than getting a job in a company or agency.
This is an attractive option for many, but it’s also a tough business model with a potentially long ramp-up time. Motion Hatch has positioned itself as the helping hand you need if you decide to work as a freelance motion designer.
It also offers one of the best freelancing crash courses, “Get Your Next Client.” This free five-day course promises to help you acquire new clients quickly.
Motion Hatch’s YouTube channel is also a great resource. It features videos relevant to the broader graphic design industry, like how to price correctly and deal with clients who don’t pay. If you’re an aspiring freelance motion designer, this is the resource for you.
7. Lesterbanks for detailed and advanced tutorials
We don’t know if Lester Banks is real, but we assume they are. Perhaps they’re an angel on earth—a veritable motion design angel. This site gives daily tips for motion designers, VFX artists, and 3D artists.
The previous tutorials are archived and organized according to the list of design software. There are After Effects tutorials, Cinema 4D tutorials, Blender tutorials, Maya tutorials, and more. Within each software category, the tutorials are filed by type. For example, there are categories for Modeling, Animation, Rendering, and Xpresso for Cinema 4D.
There are plenty of advanced tutorials for experienced designers and creative tutorials for other levels of design experience. This is an excellent free resource, so consider becoming one of Lester’s patrons.
8. Coolors for color palettes
As a motion graphic designer, one of the core tasks you’ll face time and again is picking a color scheme for your design. While any designer needs to understand color theory, it doesn’t make it that much easier to create an eye-popping color palette.
Sometimes, it can feel like there are just too many colors to choose from.
This is where an online tool like Coolors comes in. It’s a color palette generator that helps you to create the perfect color schemes incredibly fast. It’s one of our favorite design resources as it’s so simple and easy to use but also very helpful.
“Color plays an important role in creating high-impact designs. Regardless of the context—be it graphic design or the design of spaces, objects, or complete experiences—color stands as the primary tool for designers to capture and guide the user's attention while evoking emotional responses.”—Nastya Kuliábina, Designer and Marketer
You start the process by picking a base color, and then Coolors will cycle through complementary colors until you hit the Space Bar on your keyboard to lock the color in.
You keep doing this until you’ve built up your color palette. It’s really fun to use and solves a problem every designer faces almost daily.
9. Motion Design School for professional courses
While the School of Motion offers both introductory courses in motion design and more specific and advanced tutorials, the Motion Design School only offers courses geared towards more tailored topics.
You can take courses in different elements of character animation, how to use stop motion, how to incorporate sound design, and more.
“My top hacks for advanced users are: Using Masks to hide and reveal elements in a custom way, Using blur effect to add depth to my 2D composition and tweaking my animation timing curve for more bouncy movements”—Maddy Zoli, Senior Designer at Linearity”
One of the courses that sticks out is “Logo Animation in After Effects.” Animating company logos is one of the key uses of motion graphic design. If you're looking to work in professional logo design, then this is a skill you should definitely focus on.
Some of our favorite instructors are behind the school, including Ben Marriott (more on this in number 10 below), who has an excellent YouTube channel and is an experienced instructor. If you’re looking to take your skills to the next level, then the Motion Design School courses can help you.
10. Creative Cow to crowdsource answers
The Creative COW (which stands for Communities of the World) platform has been around for more than two decades, and it states its mission as servicing the professional video industry. There’s a large community of creatives behind Creative COW, and the site has many great tutorials, but that’s not the only reason why we rate Creative Cow so highly as a motion design resource.
There are forums dedicated to the main video production and editing software, like Cinema 4D, After Effects, and Final Cut.
In these forums, you can ask questions and share tips on whatever creative design issue you might face. The video makers and graphic designers community will help answer your questions and solve your problems.
Sometimes, we get stuck in our processes, and YouTube tutorials can only take you so far. Talking to real people may just be the help you need.
11. Ben Marriott for YouTube videos
YouTube is undoubtedly one of the most helpful resources you can access online. Whether you want to change the oil in your car, string a guitar, or poach an egg, there are millions of how-to videos you can watch to learn how to do so.
The same goes for motion design and graphic design tutorials—YouTube has plenty of them. But, of course, not all the videos are of the best quality.
This is why we love Ben Marriot’s channel—he provides high-quality tutorials and has rightly built up a loyal following of more than 780,000 subscribers. Ben, a freelance motion designer based in Sydney, Australia, posts a weekly video.
He mainly focuses on Adobe Photoshop and After Effects and has some good tutorials that will help you learn new skills. We also like his compilation videos of the best examples of motion design. As a motion design resource, his channel is a great space to learn and grow.
12. Animography for animated typefaces
Animography might not be your first stop for pure design inspiration, but it's a goldmine for anyone working with kinetic typography—the art of bringing text to life through animation.
Animography boasts a diverse collection, from playful and whimsical to sleek and sophisticated. You're sure to find a font that perfectly complements the tone and style of your project.
Unlike static fonts, Animography's creations are built for movement. They're crafted as vector graphics, making them adaptable and easy to tweak for your specific needs within Adobe After Effects.
13. Good Moves for daily inspiration
Breeder, a platform dedicated to motion design, has launched Good Moves. This innovative tool scours the internet daily to identify globally trending motion graphic videos, then handpicks the best ones for your inspiration.
You can get access to the world's top motion design with Breeder's "Good Moves" iOS app. This app keeps you constantly inspired, no matter where you are.
Here's what you get with Good Moves:
- See the hottest motion design videos going viral globally, updated daily.
- Explore the Good Moves archive easily by date to revisit favorites or discover new gems.
- Find the talented directors, animators, and designers behind the work you love.
- Every morning, a curated video of the day is delivered to your phone, ensuring you never miss a must-see piece.
14. Ordinary Folk for downloadable resources
Canadian studio Ordinary Folk is sharing the secrets of their success. They've released a number of resources—all free to download and explore. Here's what you can expect to find in Ordinary Folk's free resources:
- Full project files: Dive headfirst into complete projects, deconstructing every layer and animation to understand how the magic happens.
- Animation snippets: Get inspired by bite-sized animation examples, focusing on specific techniques or eye-catching effects.
- Pre-built rigs: Take advantage of pre-configured setups for characters, objects, or environments, saving you time and effort.
- Scripts: Explore the scripts that bring the visuals to life, gaining a deeper understanding of storytelling and communication in motion design.
This is an incredible chance to learn from the best. You can see exactly how the pros approach motion design by getting your hands on real-world files from an accomplished studio. They get their name from the legendary Lord Of The Rings character, Gandalf, and his quote sums up why they have no problem sharing their resources with the world:
“It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”—Gandalf
15. Panimation for a community of women, trans, and non-binary designers
Back in 2015, three visionary women—Bee Grandinetti, Hedvig Ahlberg, and Linn Frit— saw a gap in the animation industry. They decided to do something about it. What started as a Facebook group tackling gender imbalances, Punanimation (now Panimation) has blossomed into a global movement.
It's more than just a social space—it's a powerhouse of support and knowledge sharing. Members connect, learn from each other, and push the boundaries of creativity.
But Panimation doesn't stop there. Inspired by its talented members, they launched a comprehensive talent directory. This game-changer is actively challenging the industry's male dominance by giving these incredible artists more visibility and access to job opportunities.
Panimation empowers creators and serves as a resource for anyone seeking inspiration. Their diverse portfolio showcases the immense talent and unique perspectives often overlooked in the industry.
You’ve got the tools—now get creative
We hope this list of motion design resources has given you plenty of food for thought and some new go-to places to help you on your mograph journey. Motion design is one of the most exciting areas of the graphic design field, and we love seeing it grow and develop.
If you’re looking for more inspiration on all things motion design, check out our rundown of motion design trends you can try out in your work. The motion design community thrives on the constant evolution of ideas and styles, so remember to upskill with relevant courses.
As you refine your skills, consider sharing your creations with us. Your unique voice can inspire others and contribute to the ever-growing tapestry of motion design.
If you need a vector graphic design program to support your motion design work, Linearity Curve is the perfect workhorse. Not only is it compatible with a range of other design software like Figma and Adobe Illustrator, but it’s also seamlessly integrated with our motion design platform, Linearity Move.
Frequently asked questions
What kind of resources are there for learning motion design?
Many resources are available, including free tutorials on YouTube, in-depth courses on platforms like Skillshare or Udemy, blogs and articles by industry professionals, and even free and paid motion graphics asset libraries.
I'm a beginner, where should I start?
There are many beginner-friendly tutorials on YouTube and free courses that cover the basics of motion design principles, software like After Effects, and core animation techniques.
How much do motion design resources cost?
There's a range! Many resources are free, while others can have a subscription fee or a one-time purchase cost.
How can I stay updated on the latest trends in motion design?
Following industry publications and blogs, attending online conferences and webinars, and subscribing to motion design communities are all great ways to stay ahead of the curve.
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Emma Taggart
Emma is a Content Writer for Linearity in Berlin. Her hobbies include making ceramics, roller skating, drawing, and 2D animation.
