Motion Designer vs Animator: What’s the Difference and Who Should You Hire?

If you’re here, you’re probably either trying to hire the right creative or you’re a creative figuring out what to call yourself. Animator? Motion designer? What’s the difference?

Either way, welcome. We’re Motion The Agency, and this is a conversation we’ve had more times than we can count. Our team is full of talented motion designers, and we’ve written about this before in Understanding Motion Graphics, Motion Design, and Animation.

This time, we’re going deeper by focusing on the people behind the work. What actually separates an animator from a motion designer?

Motion design brings graphic elements like text, icons, and UI to life. It’s often seen as a subset of animation, which covers a much wider spectrum — from character performance to cinematic storytelling in film and games.

So no, they’re not the same. And if you’re hiring, collaborating, or just trying to make sense of the creative roles around you, it’s worth knowing the difference.

What Makes Them Different (and Where They Overlap)

CategoryMotion DesignerAnimatorMain FocusAnimates graphic elements like text, icons, UI, shapesBrings characters, creatures, and objects to lifePurposeCommunicate visually through motion designTell stories and evoke emotion through movementTypical WorkExplainer videos, UI animations, ads, promos, logo revealsFilms, TV shows, game cutscenes, animated seriesSkill SetGraphic design, typography, layout, animation principlesAnatomy, physics, traditional animation, character performanceTools UsedAfter Effects, Cinema 4D, Illustrator, FigmaMaya, Blender, Toon Boom, HarmonyComplexitySimpler, design-driven animationsMore complex, performance and story-drivenBackgroundOften from graphic design or multimediaOften from film, 3D animation, or classical art

In general, both fields rely on the same core animation principles. But the focus and purpose behind the movement are completely different.

An animator's goal is to use movement to tell a story and evoke emotion. It’s about performance, expression, and character-driven motion.

A motion designer, on the other hand, is focused on visual communication. Their work is more design-led, using movement to support clarity, and brand messaging. Between the two, motion design leans more into design than narrative.

Motion Designer

Motion designers are the ones bringing graphic elements to life — things like type, icons, UI, and branded visuals. The goal isn’t just to make stuff move. It’s about communicating clearly. You’ll usually find them working on marketing, product, or brand content where the design needs to be clean, functional, and engaging. It’s not really about telling a story. It’s more about helping people get the message or interact with something in a smarter way.

Now think about one of those slick ads that popped up on your feed and actually made you stop scrolling. The ones with bold type, smooth transitions, and tight visuals. That was probably a motion designer doing their thing.

Animators

Animators specialize in movement-driven storytelling. They’re the ones behind characters, creatures, and environments that feel alive. Their work leans heavily on emotion, timing, and physicality — everything needs to feel believable, even if it’s stylized. You’ll mostly find animators in film, gaming, and cinematic projects, where the goal is to create immersive, narrative-driven experiences. Your favorite cartoon growing up? Yeah, that was probably created by a team of animators, not motion designers.

Animation is the broader discipline, and motion graphics is one style within it. But in practice, the tools, timelines, and creative goals aren’t the same. Each field requires a different mindset, and knowing which one you need depends on what you're trying to create.

But, Is It Possible to Be Both?

Well, technically everything is possible, and yes that include this case. As we have mentioned before, their basic is the same, skills like timing, easing and even visual storytelling.

But although their basic is very much similar, in real life cases might not be so similar. Motion design leans heavily into layout, typography, and clean visual design. Animation, on the other hand, focuses more on movement, physics, and expressive performance, which quite different from one another.

For example if they are asked to animate the same thing, a chicken crossing the street. Animator will focus on telling the story of why the chicken crossing the street. On the other hand motion designers will focus on making the graphic as clear and as easy to understand possible that the chicken is crossing the street.

And while the two disciplines are connected, the intent behind each one is different. Motion design is about communicating a message visually. Animation is about telling a story over time. Being good at one doesn’t automatically mean you’ll be great at the other.

The tools they use are different too. Motion designers tend to live in After Effects, Cinema 4D, and Figma. Animators go deep with Maya, or Toon Boom, depending on the style and complexity of the work.

So When Do You Hire an Animator vs a Motion Designer?

Now, this is the question you need to ask yourself with. What do you need?

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can you make table similar to this but divide into 2one is motion designer: and insde it design led project, marketing, tech, explainer video

Animator: film animation, emotional video, narrative based

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Hire a Motion Designer when:

Projects handled by motion designers usually fall within marketing, tech, or product spaces. Think explainer videos, product promos, or launch content where UI elements, data, or features need to be animated clearly and on-brand. Motion design is design-led, which means storytelling and emotion aren't the priority. Instead, the goal is to communicate information clearly, guide attention, and make static visuals more engaging and functional.

Hire an Animator when:

On the flip side, hire an animator when you need to bring a character or mascot to life. This is where storytelling and performance really matter. If you're creating a short film, game cutscene, or anything that relies on realistic or expressive movement, you need an animator. Their work is about building emotional depth and narrative flow — the kind that connects with viewers on a different level.

Conclusion

Okay, although the very basic is the same, but motion designer and animator is a completely different job. One focus more on the design and the messaging the other focus on telling a story and movement.

But one thing you need to remember no one of them is less than the other, both require craft and hard work. And both play a big role in how we communicate visually now.

Whether you're hiring, learning, or collaborating, knowing the difference helps you make the right creative choice. If you have a project in mind and you want know mora what we can do, feel free to book a call with us! And let’s create something great together!

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