Crunchyroll Motion Toolkit
Defining an anime-inspired motion system for a global fandom
Goal
Immediately communicate scale, ownership, and anime-first motion thinking.
Overview
Crunchyroll needed a cohesive motion system that felt unmistakably anime. One that could scale across marketing, product, social, and experiential work while remaining flexible for creators.
I led the creative direction and motion design for Crunchyroll’s Motion Guidelines, establishing a unified language rooted in anime principles, emotional storytelling, and expressive movement.
The Challenge
Crunchyroll’s brand spans hundreds of creators, teams, and touchpoints. Motion existed everywhere, but without a shared foundation, the work risked feeling inconsistent, generic, or disconnected from anime culture itself.
The challenge was to create a motion system that:
Felt authentically anime. Not techy or corporate
Could scale across teams and formats
Balanced consistency with creative freedom
Motion Vision
More than just movement, it’s fan connection.
The motion vision centered on emotion first. Every movement needed to resonate with fans’ love of anime. Creating moments of joy, confidence, and playful mischief.
Motion wasn’t decoration. It was storytelling.
Core Themes
These themes guided every animation decision from timing curves to typography behavior.
Motion Principles
To translate anime energy into a scalable system, we grounded the work in five core principles.
Motion Curves
Custom animation curves were developed to support both standard and playful motion. Giving creators tools to control energy, anticipation, and release.
Glyph System
A custom glyph kit of over 150 stylized characters was created to inject personality, texture, and movement into typography. Allowing text to feel animated even before it moves.
Graphic Elements & Accents
Cel animation, accents, and corner elements were designed as modular components. Enhancing motion without overwhelming content.
System in Action
By combining motion curves, glyphs, typography, and principles, teams could create expressive, on-brand motion across campaigns and platforms.
Results & Impact
5.8M media impressions
100K fans engaged
17M social impressions
Gold Clio Award
The Motion Guidelines became a foundation for Crunchyroll’s brand motion, empowering teams to create work that felt unified, expressive, and unmistakably anime.