What is dynamics in digital design, and how does it work?

Graphic designers use dynamics and movement to make their work more exciting. This can help draw people in and motivate them to take action. Here’s how to use it.

What’s the point of dynamics in design?

The primary goal of any design is usually to elicit a response. Dynamics can help designers achieve this goal and even get a specific action or reaction from the audience.

Guiding the audience

When designers want viewers to focus more on specific parts of their creations, they use entrance points to direct viewers to other details in the design. Designers often use arrows to achieve this goal.

Creating excitement

If the goal is to surprise and make the viewer look more deeply at the design, playing with the peculiarities of visual perception can help. This is especially true for designs that create a movement illusion when someone looks deeply at them. In this case, design elements seem to get bigger or smaller.

Engaging the audience

To get the audience involved, sometimes designers create scenes that are breaking the fourth wall. If you add dynamic methods to a scene like that, the engaging effect will grow exponentially.

Bringing the image to life

The most obvious impact of dynamics is the “vitalization” of the design. It is not just about demonstrating something but also about making the demonstration more engaging, emotional, memorable, and lifelike, so the audience can relate to it more.

Types of dynamics

Rhythmic

Rhythmic dynamics is the type that uses the principles of rhythm and repetition. These designs are static, but repeated elements in them imitate motion.

Apart from lines, designers can also use colors, curves, shapes, etc., to create rhythmics. The most critical aspect of knowing how to use rhythmics is knowing how the human eye works. The designer should know where the audience will look first and how to use this knowledge when integrating rhythmic motion elements into the design. More about rhythm in graphic design, you can find in this article.

The illusion of motion

The illusion of motion is also where a static design appears to be moving. In this case, the different elements or components of the design interact with each other in a way that makes them look like they are moving while they are not doing so. Optical illusions are the most common example of this kind of motion in design.

Kinetic motion

Kinetic motion is the type where different design elements physically change their position in space and time. For example, an animated GIF.

Animated elements on websites are becoming more common, but designers have to be careful when using them. It can easily become too overwhelming and confuse the audience while slowing down a website or app.

How do designers achieve dynamics?

Dynamics can be used in a subtle way, similar to microinteractions (here’s a good article on microinteractions), or it can be the defining aspect of a design. Here are some methods designers use for that:

Lines

Lines can direct the movement of the eye and show that an element of a design is in motion. Moreover, they can also show the direction in which the object is moving. For example, the main point here is not the big red arrow, but the tiny lines around it. These lines show intention and movement:

Repetition

Repetition has been mentioned before as a popular method used in rhythmic designs. Using patterns can also be a way to create motion feeling.

Disturbances

Medium disturbances can also create motion illusions. Designers use color, emphasis, shapes, etc., to separate a specific design element from the rest of the piece, which can infuse the element with motion.

Anticipated movement

Anticipated movement can be created by drawing an object in the initial stages of a specific movement. The audience understands what the designer wanted to convey and “imagines” the rest of the movement.

Transparency and blurring

Transparency and blurring can both be used for creating dynamics. Imagine a hummingbird: its wings appear blurred because they are moving. That is what transparency and blurring are about.

About the author

Odessa Powell has been copywriting and writing texts for business pages on social networks since her student years. She worked as an editor for the popular writing service review Best Writers Online. Currently, her range of professional interests includes the topics of self-development and motivation.