Key takeaways
- Most logo animations take 2 to 10 hours: $150 to $750 at $75 an hour, or one 10‑hour block for $550.
- Moving parts, length, sound, a 3D look and extra versions add hours. A clean vector logo saves them.
- You see style frames before anything moves, and most projects are done within 2 to 3 days of starting.
- One-click AI apps tend to bend the letters. Your real logo file, animated in After Effects, stays exact.
- Ask for an MP4, a transparent MOV, square and vertical cuts and a web loop with its still image. They are yours.
Chapter 01What it is
What is a logo animation?
A short video, usually 3 to 8 seconds, in which your logo moves, builds or reveals itself, ready to open a video, a social post or your website.
It is the same logo you already use, brought to life. The motion should feel like your brand: a calm reveal for a law office, a punchy build for a gym, a glow for a salon. Here is where a logo animation usually plays:
- Your website
The header or the hero at the top of your homepage, as a short silent loop.
- Video openers and closers
The first and last seconds of YouTube videos, ads and presentations.
- Reels, TikTok and Stories
Square and vertical cuts, sized for each app.
- Email and signatures
An animated GIF, when it suits the design.
Our own animation in the hero above runs about 12 seconds because it is a showpiece for this site. Most logo animations for a business are shorter, so they don't hold up the video they open.
Chapter 02Cost
What does a logo animation cost?
Most logo animations take 2 to 10 hours. With us that is $150 to $750 pay as you go at $75 an hour, or one prepaid 10‑hour block for $550.
Prices online run from a few dollars for a template to thousands for a studio piece, so a single number doesn't tell you much. Hours do. After a free consultation you get an estimate in hours, and every hour shows on your own live report as the work happens.
Try an estimate
Pay as you go
$300$75 an hour, 2‑hour minimum10‑hour block
$5504 hours used, 6 left on your account20‑hour block Recommended
$8004 hours used, 16 left on your accountA 10‑hour block covers most logo animations, start to finish. A 20‑hour block fits a product or promo video, or a logo animation plus its intros, loops and social cuts. Changes come from the same hours, so there is no separate revision fee.
Chapter 03What adds hours
What makes it cost more or less?
How much moves, for how long, and how many versions you need. Sound, a 3D look and a logo with no vector file add hours; a simple reveal from a clean file takes the fewest.
- Moving parts
A wordmark that fades in is quick. A mark that draws on, fills, lights up and turns is several animations in one.
- Length
Every extra second is more motion to design and time. Most openers stay short for a reason.
- A 3D or textured look
Depth, metal edges, light sweeps and camera moves, like the gold and blue in our own, take longer than flat motion.
- Sound
Silent loops are simplest. Sound effects timed to the motion add a little; music comes from you as a royalty-free track.
- Extra versions
Square and vertical cuts, a web loop, an intro and an outro are each a version of the same animation.
- No vector file
If all you have is a picture of your logo, it is rebuilt as a clean vector first, so every edge stays sharp in motion.
Tip from Anthony
Tell me every place the animation will play before we start. Making the square and vertical cuts at the same time as the main one is much quicker than coming back for them later.
Chapter 04How it is made
How is a logo animation made?
In four steps: a free consultation, style frames you approve, the animation in After Effects, and the files for every place it plays.
An animation is planned before it moves. Your logo is split into its parts, each part gets its own layer, and every move is set with keyframes: where a shape starts, where it ends and how it eases between. Here is what that looks like in our own:
00:00.5The gold edge draws on- 00:01.9The camera glides along the ring
- 00:03.4Light sweeps the edge
- 00:04.8The blue fill and texture land
- 00:07.6The mark turns in 3D
- 00:11.2It settles on the final mark
- 1Talk it through
What it is for, where it will play and the files you have. A free consultation, then an estimate in hours.
- 2Style frames
A few stills of the look: colors, texture, light and the final frame. Your OK comes before anything moves.
- 3Animate
Built in After Effects, layer by layer. You review a preview and ask for changes.
- 4Deliver
Every file for every place it plays, and placed on your website if you want it there.
Chapter 05How long
How long does a logo animation take?
Most logo animations are done within 2 to 3 days of starting. Style frames come first, so you see the look before anything is animated.
What usually sets the pace is the back and forth, not the animation itself. Three things keep it quick:
- Send the vector file (AI, EPS, SVG or PDF) at the start, so nothing has to be rebuilt.
- List every place it will play, so all the versions are made in one pass.
- Answer the style frames quickly. They are the one decision that shapes everything after.
Chapter 06AI apps
Can AI animate my logo?
Yes, but one-click AI apps tend to bend the letters. We use AI as one part of the workflow and keep your real logo file exact.
AI video apps make a clip from a picture of your logo in about a minute, and for a quick social test that can be fine. The catch is that they paint each frame again, so lettering is usually the first thing to slip: a letter thickens, a line wobbles, a word turns into almost-words. That is not something you can put in front of customers.
One-click AI clipIllustration
The app redraws every frame from scratch. Letters drift, thin lines wobble and the mark changes shape.
Your real logo fileAfter Effects
The vector itself moves. Every letter keeps its exact shape, at any size, in every frame.
Here is how we use it instead. For a product or promo video we plan a storyboard, generate clips that stay true to your brand and products, then assemble and finish everything in After Effects. The logo itself is always your real file, placed and animated there. That is how KandyMan's product videos were made from one phone photo of each product.
Chapter 07Your files
What files will I get?
An MP4, a transparent MOV or PNG sequence, square and vertical cuts, a web loop with its still image, and a GIF when it suits. You own every file.
Where will it play?
You get: Web loop (MP4) + still imageSilent, short and compressed. The still shows first, so the page never waits, and the loop pauses for anyone who turns motion off.
You get: MP4The everyday video file, with sound if it has any.
You get: Transparent MOV (ProRes 4444) or PNG sequenceA see-through background, so the logo drops over any video, photo or color in your editing app.
You get: Vertical MP4Sized tall for phone screens.
You get: Square MP4Sized for the feed, so nothing gets cropped.
You get: Animated GIFPlays in most email apps without a play button, when the design suits a GIF.
Keep the transparent MOV somewhere safe even if you don't need it today. It is the one file a video editor will ask for later, and it is the hardest to make from the others.
Chapter 08What to send
What do I need to send?
Your logo as a vector file (AI, EPS, SVG or PDF), every place it will play, and a royalty-free music track if you want music. No vector file is fine; it is rebuilt first.
Logo animation brief
Print it, fill it in, and send it with your logo.- Your logo, as a vector
- AI, EPS, SVG or PDF. A picture is fine too; it gets rebuilt first.
- Where it will play
- Website, videos, socials, email, event screens.
- Two or three words for the feel
- Calm, bold, playful, luxury, techy.
- Sound or silent
- And a royalty-free music track you have rights to, if you want music.
- Animations you like
- Links to any you have seen and liked, from any brand.
- When you need it
- A date, or "no rush".
Don't have a logo yet, or want yours refreshed first? I can design it, animate it and put it on your site, so every piece fits. See Logo Design and our guide to the logo files you need.
Chapter 09Real work
What does a finished one look like?
Here are four we made, from a textured 3D build to a quick clean reveal. The Video & Motion page has twenty more pieces, newest first.
Dinsmore GraphicsLogo animation ยท After Effects ยท 2013
Visible MotorsportsLogo animation ยท After Effects ยท 2023
Divine Intervention DJsLogo animation ยท After Effects ยท 2019
IndiumLogo animation ยท After Effects ยท 2013
Free consultation
Want your logo to move?
Send me your logo and tell me where it will play. I'll reply with a plan and an estimate in hours, before any work starts.
Questions
Straight answers.
More of what people ask about logo animation.
Updated
How long should a logo animation be?
Usually 3 to 8 seconds. Short enough not to hold up the video it opens, long enough for the logo to build and settle. Showpieces and website loops can run longer.
Can I get my logo animation with a transparent background?
Yes. You get a MOV with a transparent background (Apple ProRes 4444) that drops over any video, photo or color, or a PNG image sequence if your editing app prefers it.
Can you animate a logo you didn’t design?
Yes. Most logo animations are for logos the client already has. Send the logo file and tell me where it will play.
Can you add music or sound effects?
Yes. Animations can be silent or have sound effects and audio. For music, you send a royalty-free track you have rights to, or I help you find one. Website loops stay silent.
Why not use an AI logo animation app?
For a quick test it can be fine. For your brand, AI apps tend to bend letters and lines because they redraw every frame. We animate your real logo file in After Effects, so it stays exact.
Who owns the logo animation?
You do. You get the final files to use anywhere, for as long as you like.
