One critique from a client in Austin flipped my whole animation approach

I do motion graphics for a small studio and we had a client sit in on a review last month. She watched our 30 second explainer and said 'your timing is slick but the story is empty, you just made pretty shapes move.' That hit hard because she was right, I was all about easing curves and not about what the viewer actually needed. I went back and reworked the whole sequence with a clear narrative first, then applied the motion after, and the final cut got approved in one pass. Has anyone else had a client basically force them to rethink their process like that, or is it just me?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_terry9d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, are we REALLY gonna pretend story was the issue here? That client told you exactly what every non-designer says when they cant articulate why something feels off. You got lucky the fix worked, but now youll be chasing "narrative" on every logo sting and lower third for the rest of your career. Ive seen this play out, dude. Next project will be a product launch with zero story to tell, and youll be stuck building some fake emotional arc around a color palette while the actual problem was your pacing was too slow for the platform. Pretty shapes moving IS the work sometimes. The trick isnt story, its making the client FEEL like theres a story so they stop second guessing you. You swapped one boss for another, thats all.

the_aaron9d ago

Clients just need words to hang their feelings on, story gives them that.