Typography Video : Make Engaging Content with Dynamic Text Videos

History of Typography Video

Funny, persuasive, and to-the-point, typography video nowadays is widely used for ads, speech, lyrics, and educational purposes, etc. However, if you think it is a new baby in the world of today, please think again.

The typography video vividly displayed in the horror movie “Psycho”

It’s widely believed that the early history of typography video dates back to around the mid-twenty century when Saul Bass creatively combined animated texts with bizarre scene transitions, and suspenseful music to give credit to movie makers and highlighted the theme in the movie “North by Northwest” (1959) & “Psycho” (1960).

As time went by, the early typography video gradually evolved from static texts into motion and fluid typography, two of the major forms of typography videos you can see today.

Motion typography video

Fluid typography video

The difference is that the moving texts in motion typography video take varied shapes and can move or jump freely into the 3D space while in fluid typography video, texts often move one after another like running water.

Overall, it takes more professional skills to make a motion typography video than a fluid one.

How to Make a Typography Video

Nowadays, making typography videos yourself becomes fairly easy. Mostly, three ways are available: do it online or use apps in your smartphone to edit it. Another alternative is to use powerful software for more complicated design.

Let’s take a close look.

a.Create Typography Video Online Free

If you are a computer novice or an individual with limited time and a small budget to meet the deadline, then making typography videos online with Flexclip would be the best choice for you. And guess what? It's free, without a watermark.

Fun typography video designed with Flexclip

Loaded with 500+ typography video templates, including dynamic widgets, artistic fonts plus tons of royalty-free videos and music, etc, Flexcip is an all-round typography video maker built to satisfy your needs.

Make a typography video with Flexclip in the following 2 steps:

Step 1 Open Flexclip and Click on “Start from Scratch”

Access the Flexclip editor landing page

This step will take you to the editing interface of Flexclip and start editing your new project.

Tips

• Apart from working on a new project from scratch, you may also scroll down and choose the multiple premade typography video templates to quickly edit the fonts and effect you want. The expertly-designed templates are super easy and user-friendly to all users.

Step 2Create Your Typography and Animate the Text

Firstly, replace the original black background with a new color and then create many words individually. Next, choose the font you like.

Make typography with Flexclip

Then, edit the texts and resize and put them in the right place. You may also add lively widgets, next to the "text button", to enrich the typography video.

Edit and align typography with Flexclip

Finally, adjust the timing for each word to animate the text. You may add another storyboard to make your typography video longer. Then, preview your project before pressing the "Export Video" button on the right corner to download it to your PC.

Animate the typography with Flexclip

Tips

• Besides the text and widgets, Flexclip also offers you awful lots of royalty-free photos, music, and videos in the stock media/library. You can use them to give full play to your creativity. You may also add music, photos, and videos from your local computer when needed.

b. Make Typography Videos with Apps

For instant sharing on your social posts, nothing works better than using user-friendly apps on the mobile phone. You can use them anywhere, anytime.

We handpicked the top 3 reputable apps for making typography videos. Hopefully, you will enjoy using them.

a. Textro: Animated Text Video (IOS, Android)

Textro is a popular and easy-to-use app for all users. You can add text, choose your ideal fonts, and apply premade animation styles, and play with fun color combinations and gradients.

Use Textro to make animated texts

Besides, you can add music and photos from your storage and easily use them to add intro and outro for your youtube channel, Instagram post, WhatsApp as well. Just by watching an Ad, the built-in watermark can be removed. How cool, is it!

b. PixelFlow: Intro Maker and Text Animator (IOS, Android)

What makes PixelFlow different is that it allows beginners to make complicated 2D text animations plus animated backgrounds within 30 seconds, which normally takes quite a while to be made with computer software.

Many premade animated text templates in PixelFlow

With 25+ animated text templates, 15+ dynamic backgrounds, and multiple video ratios, fast rendering, etc, PixelFlow is exactly what you've been looking for to make your intros look professional. Just feel free to experiment with different effects.

c. Type Art: Animated Text Videos (IOS)

Type Art is such a versatile app, offering beautifully-designed animated typography. You can easily add your photos, music, and videos to make a slideshow or a movie adorned with arresting moving fonts, stickers, and artistic filters.

Use Type Art template to add text animation

Anyone who wants to get more likes and followers on social media or prefer to share your stories through textual and graphic animation, it's worth having such a great app.

c. Create Typography Video with Adobe After Effects (Pro-level)

Look for the ultimate tool for making a typography video? Just go for Adobe After Effects. It has everything you need for the detailed control of the fonts, audio and text animation, and dazzling special effects you couldn't possibly imagine.

In the following 12-min typography video tutorial, you will be following Avnish Parker to learn how to create a new project on AE, select color background, and match audio with fonts, and how to animate the text groups, etc in a professional way.

Just enjoy it.

Great typography video tutorial with AE on Youtube

Make Typography Videos with Battlefield-tested Tips

If the "typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed," as Wikipedia says, then as you design a typography video, some of the same rules shall also work.

Here are a few of the battlefield-tested tips for making greater typography videos:

a. Pay Attention to the Kerning (the spacing between characters)

Adjust the space between characters for a typography video

Adjusting the space between two or multiple characters makes a huge difference. It brings a subtle order to a cluster of chaotic words and makes your typography visually pleasant.

So, when making a typography video, do create every character on a single layer, which will make it much easier for repositioning the words later.

b. Use the Contrast to Draw Viewers' Attention

Highlight certain words with contrast in a typography video

One of the biggest features of a dynamic typography video is that it conveys the emotions and ideas directly to the audience.

Keep most of the words in the same size while making certain words bigger or smaller to draw your audiences' attention. Use your imagination and feel free to play with different fonts, complementary colors, and weight (bold, italic,), widgets, etc.Check the Top 8 Fonts for Videos.

c. Make Your Design Simple

Use simpler fonts for typography videos

Simple typography is less distracting. There is no point having more than 3 fonts in a single frame of your video. Just use one or two primary fonts consistently. Only use a customized font or color to mark the keywords when needed.

Besides, don't use too many words to make your audiences feel overwhelmed. And always prefer the same color background for the smooth video transition.

d. Match the Audio with Texts

Match the audio with text

When you try to make a lyric typography video or for a speech, you may use Adobe After Effects to match the audio when the corresponding character appears.

Simply find the beginning of each word (usually in the lowest point) in the audio track and match it with the corresponding layer of the word. Then, the word can pop up exactly the same time with the right audio.

Get Inspired by Exemplary Typography Videos

Well, having discussed so much about the technical part, let's face it: one of the most difficult parts for making a great typography video is the inspiration.

To that end, we have chosen six well-made typography videos for you to enjoy. Hopefully, you will get inspired by these masterpieces before getting started.

1. "Curiosity", Made by Dan Palmer (1min)

Student Design Awards winner's typography video

Gee! In this typography video, Dan Palmer masterfully employed animated typography, charts, graphics, photos, animation, music, etc. to illustrate the importance of curiosity.

Pay attention to how capable he was by highlighting the main ideas with contrasting colors, sizes of the words, and font and animations in this video.

2. "Here's to the Crazy Ones--by Steve Jobs", Made by Apple (1min)

Steve's inspiring speech made with typography video

The simple yet powerful speech made by Steve Jobs echoed through the constant movement of dynamic typography.

Please notice how Apple intentionally use different sizes of the words like "misfits, rebels, and troublers, craze ones" to salute to those who can challenge the authority by thinking differently.

Compared with speech alone, the dynamic typography video does leave viewers with a deeper impression of the key points of Steve's speech.

3. "Creative Fitness Ads", Made by Flexclip (29 sec)

Make typography video fast with Flexclip

For small businesses, using typography videos to promote your products and services is an effective way to reach your target customers.

In this video, the idea of the "healthy lifestyle", and services & pricing of the fitness center are articulated through fluid typography. For beginners of typography videos, it's just a handful template to be used.

4. Opening of the Big Blockbuster Movie: Spider-Man (2min)

Classic display of typography video in Spider Man

Though this movie had its premiere in 2002, the unique opening typography still looks phenomenal. The Columbia Picture creatively designed the animated fonts and put them on the cobweb.

The dramatic visual presentation, together with engaging audio, effectively gave audiences a clue that a spider hero was about to get onstage.

5. Lyric Video: You Need To Calm Down--Taylor Swift (2min)

Fancy typography lyric video

Colorful, bold, and captivating, Taylor Swift's fancy lyric video is a great example of how typography can go wild in a unique music video.

This typography video breaks the rule by using multiple colors and gradients background, gigantic fonts and graphics, etc. to urge a total stranger with a fiery temper to calm down in the early morning.

So in this case, so long as the exaggerated fonts and colors fit your theme, sometimes rules can be broken.

6. "Love Is…", Made by Jeremiah Warren

A typical example of how typography video evokes viewers' emotion

The best typography video we could find online to express what love is. The consistent warm color of fonts, vivid photos, and great background with texture and angelic voice and philosophical words touch your heart and make this video timeless.

If you want to evoke viewers' emotions and have themselves identify with your idea, in this case choosing the right topic also matters.

The Bottom Line

Well, having said so much about typography video and the tips to making a good one, we do hope that you can find your best way to reach your target audience with powerful typography videos.

Again, making typography videos with Flexclip is the best choice for computer novices and individuals with limited time and budget,for it is free of charge and has tons of royalty-free music, stock videos, and templates, etc.

While many apps are still available and for advanced effects, Adobe After Effects shall meet your needs.

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