Motion Graphics Artists

Flipbooks—which create an illusion of movement of the characters and scenes drawn on their pages when the pages are flipped—are considered the first type of motion graphics. The Kineograph, which was created by John Barnes Linnett in 1868, was the first patented example of a flipbook.

The first documented use of the phrase “motion graphics” occurred in 1960 when animator John Whitney co-founded Motion Graphics, Inc. to create motion picture and television title sequences. Whitney is considered one of the fathers of computer animation.

Before the widespread availability of computer technology, it was time-consuming, challenging, and expensive to create motion graphics. Many industry pioneers built their own motion graphics technology or augmented existing technology with their own improvements. The release of motion graphics and digital visual effects software such as Adobe After Effects and Adobe Flash in the 1990s and other software in the following decades made it much easier to create motion graphics and expanded the creative horizons of motion graphics artists.