In this article we showcase some of the most popular animation styles used in marketing and the entertainment industry.
Animation style changes how a story feels, how it flows, and what people actually remember afterward. Some styles are drawn by hand. Some are built digitally. Others use clay, paper, or a mix of live footage and animation. Each one gives the story a different kind of energy.
Once you understand the different types of animation, it becomes much easier to see what you can actually do with them. Every style has its own personality, strengths, and limitations. That’s important when you’re creating animated content for marketing, business communication, or entertainment, because the style you choose affects how the message comes across.
In this guide, I’ll walk through the most common animation styles, how they work, and where they tend to work best. The goal is to give you a practical sense of what each style is good at so you can choose one that fits your message and the way you want people to respond.
Traditional animation is where it all started. It’s created by drawing each frame by hand, one image at a time, then playing those drawings back in sequence to create movement. It takes a lot of time and precision, but when it’s done well, it has a warmth and expressiveness that’s hard to match.
This style shows up everywhere because it works. You’ll see it in explainer videos, training content, app videos, and social media campaigns where clarity matters. The visuals are clean, approachable, and flexible, which makes 2D animation a strong fit for brands that need to communicate ideas in a simple, engaging way.
What makes 2D animation so practical is that it keeps the charm of drawn artwork while making production far more efficient. Assets can be reused, edits are easier to make, and movement can be adjusted without rebuilding the whole scene. That gives businesses a way to create polished animated videos without the cost and complexity of more intensive styles.
We use motion graphics in a lot of client projects because they’re one of the most effective ways to explain information clearly. They’re especially useful for showing data, breaking down processes, and highlighting product features in a way that feels polished and easy to follow. For brands that need to simplify a complex message, this style does that really well.
Another reason it works so well is its flexibility. Motion graphics can be adapted for social media, websites, presentations, and larger screen formats without losing their impact.
If you need a clean, engaging way to tell a story without leaning on characters, this is often the strongest option. It’s a style we regularly use across SaaS videos, marketing videos, and corporate content.
3D animation gives you depth, volume, and a more realistic sense of space. Instead of drawing every frame, artists build digital models of characters, objects, and environments, then animate them inside a 3D scene.
Because those models can be lit, textured, and moved like real objects, the final result often feels more dimensional and true to life.
3D animation is use in all kinds of media, such as animated films, video games, architectural visualizations, and product visuals for marketing. It’s what makes it possible to show a character moving through a detailed world or to present a product from every angle with smooth, controlled motion.
It’s also a popular choice for children’s shows and feature films because the same character model can be used again and again without being redrawn for every shot. When a project calls for realism, flexibility, and a polished visual finish, 3D animation is usually a strong option.
Stop motion animation works in a completely different way from most other styles. Instead of creating movement with drawings or digital rigs, animators photograph real objects one frame at a time, adjusting them slightly between each shot. Played back in sequence, those still images create motion.
One of the interesting things about stop motion is how many materials it can use. Clay, paper, puppets, found objects, and even real people can all become part of the animation. Styles like puppet animation, object animation, and pixilation all fall under the same umbrella. Movies such as Coraline, Shuan the Sheep, and Fantastic Mr. Fox are great examples stop motion animation.
What makes stop motion stand out is its physical, handmade feel. You can actually see the textures, surfaces, and little imperfections in each frame, and that gives the work a lot of character.
Brands often use it in short ads and social content when they want something that feels creative, crafted, and visually unlike standard digital animation.
Rather than relying on polished scenes or complex character animation, this approach builds the message through drawn visuals that unfold over time, usually alongside narration. For companies, it’s a practical way to explain a service, process, or strategy without overcomplicating the presentation.
You’ll still see whiteboard videos used for onboarding, sales support, and internal training because the format is simple, direct, and easy to follow.
It may be surprising that some of the most popular animated movies were made from claymation animation. What gives claymation its appeal is the fact that it’s real, physical, and shaped by hand. Characters, props, and sets are sculpted from clay or plasticine, then moved a little at a time and photographed frame by frame. It’s a branch of stop motion, but with a softer, more playful look that feels unmistakably handmade.
My favorites are like Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit, where the fingerprints, slight distortions, and uneven movement add to the personality. That bit of imperfection is part of what makes the style unique and feels more human.
It’s especially strong for character-driven animation because clay can stretch, squash, and shift so easily. That flexibility gives expressions and movement a lively, almost mischievous quality. While it’s often associated with kids’ content, claymation also works well in quirky advertising and unusual story-driven videos.
Blending animation with live action gives you the best of both worlds. You get the realism of filmed footage, but with animated characters or graphic elements layered in to create something more stylized, imaginative, or unexpected. When it’s done well, everything feels like it belongs in the same world.
Films like Space Jam are classic examples of this approach, with animated characters interacting directly with actors and physical settings.
More modern productions often use CGI in a similar way, placing believable digital creatures into live-action scenes without breaking the sense of realism.
Image: Warner Brothers
One reason cutout animation has lasted so long is that it does a lot with very little. The style is built from flat pieces that can be moved in sections, like paper characters with separate limbs or digital layers rigged to rotate and shift in 2D space.
In older versions, those parts were physically cut out and repositioned by hand. The same look can also be created with software. Monty Python’s Flying Circus used cutout animation for its surreal humor, and the early look of South Park borrowed that same rough, handmade feel through digital tools. It’s not so much the actual animation, but the storytelling that makes South Park a popular TV show.
Because the process is relatively lean, cutout animation is a smart option for projects with smaller budgets or short turnarounds. It also has a stylized, slightly raw quality that suits playful, satirical, and intentionally offbeat content really well.
Image: South Park Studios
Kinetic typography is all about making words do some of the storytelling. Instead of sitting still on screen, text can move, build, snap into place, or disappear in ways that support the message. You’ll see it in product promos, brand videos, conference openers, social ads, and app explainers where the wording needs to carry real weight.
It’s especially useful when people are watching without sound, because the message still needs to land quickly and clearly. Text animation can guide attention, set pace, and make key ideas easier to absorb. It has been part of visual storytelling for decades, and it still works because movement gives plain words more presence.
In marketing videos, kinetic typography helps highlight numbers, headlines, taglines, and key takeaways without relying on characters or detailed scenes. When the timing is right, the text doesn’t just deliver information. It gives the piece energy, structure, and tone.
Anime has become a global visual language, not just a Japanese animation style. Its influence reaches far beyond film and television into advertising, branding, and merchandise, especially when companies want to connect with younger audiences through emotion, style, and strong visual identity. Because it covers everything from fantasy and sci-fi to romance and psychological drama, anime can handle stories that feel intimate, imaginative, intense, or surreal.
Anime refers to animation from Japan, and it’s known for expressive characters, strong linework, and richly designed worlds. Filmmakers such as Hayao Miyazaki helped shape that approach and define what many people now recognize as anime’s storytelling strength.
Studio Ghibli films played a major role in bringing that depth to a wider audience. Spirited Away, for example, showed just how emotionally powerful and visually immersive anime could be.
Since then, the audience for anime has grown dramatically around the world, turning it into both a major entertainment category and a style brands increasingly borrow when they want visuals that feel iconic, expressive, and culturally current.
Image: Studio Pierrot
The best animation style for your project depends the purpose of the animation and target audience.
Motion graphics and 3D animation are great when you want a more refined, high-production look. 2D and whiteboard animation tend to be more straightforward, efficient, and budget-friendly.
If you have a project that needs animation and can’t figure out the best animation style to you, we can gladly help.
