Define a reusable brand motion vocabulary

Use an illustrative educational identity with three attributes: composed, curious and precise. “Composed” becomes one active movement at a time. “Curious” becomes revealing a relevant detail after establishing the whole. “Precise” becomes elements settling on shared alignment guides with no decorative wobble.

These mappings are creative choices for this fictional brief, not universal definitions of those adjectives. Write the intended impression and the observable rule beside each other. If two reviewers interpret an attribute differently, compare a concrete specimen rather than debating the adjective alone.

For entrances: labels arrive over a short, bounded distance and settle before the next important label appears. For transitions: retain one shared anchor when the subject continues; use a clear cut when the subject changes. For settling: text finishes on its approved baseline and stays still during reading.

Add a counterexample to each rule. A label bouncing three times conflicts with this brief’s composed behavior. A sudden full-frame zoom before any overview conflicts with its whole-to-detail order. A heading that keeps drifting after arrival conflicts with its precise resting state. Counterexamples should isolate the rule, not ridicule another style.

Apply the same rules to a heading, an abstract diagram and a source-note scene. If the rule only works for large decorative shapes, it is not yet a reusable content vocabulary. The source-note scene may need no entrance at all, because readability takes priority over demonstrating the brand’s motion signature.

Record exceptions explicitly. For example, “A traveling marker may move continuously when travel itself explains sequence; all reading labels remain fixed.” This makes the system flexible without turning every scene into an exception. Keep timing recommendations as starting points that can expand for longer copy.

Package a short specimen showing approved entrance, transition and settling behaviors, plus a still final frame for each. Add filenames, font versions, spacing rules and a one-page decision card: What is moving? Why? What must remain readable? Where does it rest?

For a more playful campaign, change one property at a time and review the effect: introduce a small overshoot while retaining the existing layout and pace, for instance. If every campaign changes path, duration, hierarchy and color simultaneously, the vocabulary no longer helps collaborators make decisions. Revisit the rule sheet when new formats expose a legitimate gap.