One of the main parts of my role at zendesk is creating an animation system each year for our flagship event, Relate. The system has to work for an in-person conference, as well as an on-demand web broadcast.
The animation system takes design from the creative direction, and builds an engaging run of show that supports keynote speakers. That system, apart from looking top tier, also has several requirements to make things more challenging.
Relate - Animation Kit
Let's be honest, everyone is on their phone. Let's keep the audience's attention.
We team up with tertiary agencies to create assets using these kits. They don't know the brand inside and out. I build each component in a way that makes it easy to be on-brand, and quite difficult to go off the rails.
This is an extra benefit when sending the system out to localization, and we can be confident the kit will look just as clean in Portuguese as in will in Japanese.
A mesmeric countdown is a great way to encourage people to be in their seats at showtime. If we're speaking openly, many event attendees have traveled great distances, perhaps slept poorly or partied too hard the night before. On top of that, they're probably looking at their phone. The right kind of wayfinding can cut through some of that.
If used intentionally (and judiciously), an animated transition can delineate sections, just as a new paragraph can punctuate the beginning of a new idea in print.