10 Tips on Corporate Video Production Process

1. How do you use font and colours in video?

For readability purposes, you may need to change the colour of your logo and the typography you use in your communications. This process, which you probably started when designing your site or your communications, should be extended to your videos. Test your logo and font! For example, test the embedding of your logo and font on a video recording and adjust them to ensure that the text is readable. Above all, don’t hesitate to do away with your usual fonts to achieve a clearer message. For example, the trend in 2019 is bold letters and serif fonts like Garamond, Georgia or Roman.

2. Why should you design your visual like a poster?

The principle of a video is to share information over time. So you shouldn’t overwhelm your audiences with too much information in a sequence. Our good practice guideline is to think of your visual as a print poster. The wording should be limited to an essential message.

3. What shapes and graphic elements should be animated?

First, you need to go through the set of graphic elements that can be used. The video charter is an extension of your company’s print and web graphic charter. So you need to start by determining all the elements that can be reused on video, like the logo and graphic elements from your communications (geometric shapes, banners, colour codes, pictograms, etc.).

4. Should video graphics be understated and secondary?

In BtoB, video graphics should remain relatively discreet, while featuring your graphic charter and branding. The graphics should be simple and legible and shouldn’t interfere with the content of the video.

The graphics in an interview should be informative. The value of the content is in the words that are spoken. Motion design should be used to enhance interviews with intros, outros and transitions. It should make audiences want to learn more about the content and the speaker.

5. Should you speed movements up or slow them down?

Motion design is about animating an intention, a feeling. With this in mind, you should consider the dynamics of your movements and the intention behind them when making your video charter.

In terms of dynamics, you can decide to speed up or slow down certain movements or sequences. Changing the perception of movement through speed enhances its quality and significance. Consider, for example, time-lapses used to analyse accelerated movements that occurred over a long period of time. In contrast, slow motion is useful for analysing the functionality of a product in a presentation video, or a company process.

Another aspect to think about in terms of your movements is if you should use fluid and linear sequences or jerky movements. Think of sports brands, for example. The editing in their videos is often choppy and accelerated. Editing and motion design are used to reflect the effort made while playing sports, the (heart) rhythm and the energy of the people and products that embody the brand.

The banking and insurance industries, on the other hand, traditionally choose slow movements, fluid editing and sequence animations with round graphic elements. The idea is to inspire feelings of confidence, reassurance and security.

6. What does it mean to put time in motion?

In any case, movement should improve the reading experience. To do this, make sure, for example, to animate your movements from left to right to represent the passage of time and the natural movement of reading.

For example, a shot of a face turned towards the future will turn to the right and not to the left. Time passes in a certain direction when using motion.

7. Should you choose fluidity or mechanical movements?

Should you animate your videos fluidly, as in the liquid motion that we described above, or mechanically? It all depends on the topic of communication. Apple’s marketing department has chosen mechanical movements for its animations. To break with convention, their video charter includes very dynamic editing that leaves no time for the audience’s mind to wander.

8. Should you break with convention or use a more traditional approach?

Obviously, the more well-known your brand is, the more you can afford to think outside the box, because your brand is easily recognised and identifiable.

If the goal of your videos is to get a message across to the greatest number of people possible, your video charter should be appealing to a mass audience and rather conventional. So you can decide to use a very strict, recognisable video charter for internal communications and a more creative charter for marketing campaigns or social networks.

Remember that the success of a good video charter lies in the consistency between the message and the brand image. The online bank N26 has used visually forceful and colourful marketing videos all in flat design with very well-paced editing to break with conventional marketing styles in the banking industry, creating an innovative and digital image of itself for its prime target: young executives who travel.

9. Should you use motion design in all your videos?

Motion design is a limitless means of expression. However, it requires a lot of technique and thought. As a result, it’s not the most appropriate tool for spontaneous content, instant reactions and messages aimed at simplicity. It’s primarily used in marketing and advertising.

10. How do you encourage inspiration in your productions?

Motion design is a fast-paced discipline. So it’s important to stay informed about trending formats. Sites like the design blog Codrops, Pinterest, Behance or 99designs.fr are a good place to start monitoring this trend. You can also monitor viral formats on social media (e.g. Brut, Konbini, Vice or Explicit).