Here is something that peeked my interest: Kinetic Typography. This form of letter-setting first appeared in 1899 in George Melies’ advertising work. Since then, it has evolved from simple scrolling temporal Typography to fast moving, emotion expressing text often featured in advertising and film.
What is Kinetic Typography? Well, it’s exactly what it sounds like–moving text. That’s the beauty of this subject, it animates the static typeface in order to provoke an idea or emotion. Yes, it is used in film credits–it’s as simple as an actor’s name flying in from the bottom left of the screen and then fading out. But as of late, it has evolved into something that is much more exciting.
Kinetic Typography has become something of a dance within the last few years. With software like Adobe Aftereffects, Adobe Flash, or Apple Move, a fascination with choreographing text and audio has created a slue of great media pieces.
Take a look at this V for Vendetta animation by Chris Silich.
Did you notice how the text is a vessel for emotion? In the end it becomes a visual expression set within the audio clip. In many cases, the text is illegible as it runs off the screen. The words amplify the excitement and passion in the speakers voice because it becomes too big for the media board. If one was to turn off the volume and watch the video again, the emotion is still captured.
Bogdan Macoviciuc’s Citizen Cope takes the animation to the next level with some extra graphics. The play of color and typeface adds a style and visual feel to the audio lyrics.
http://vimeo.com/3661352
Research has shown that animating text stimulates the viewer’s attention and increases comprehension as well as reading rate. Because they text moves, the viewer automatically focuses all attention on the written word. Apparently, kinetics adds some interest to the textual communication.
Did this grab your attention? Check out Johnny Lee’s applications for choreographing your own text. Here are some additional example of the subject at hand for some inspiration. I highly suggest checking out 18 Creative Examples of Typography in Motion for great ideas.