20 must-see examples of kinetic typography

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Kinetic typography can come in all shapes and forms. Usually crafted using the likes of Illustrator CS6, Photoshop CS6, and After Effects CS6, these animations bring font to life.

Whether it's an exploration of the typography itself or just a homage to a famous movie speech or song, these videos of kinetic typography are a feast for the eyes.

Here, we've picked 20 of our favourite kinetic typography video animations from the past year including music videos, movie tributes and more...

01. Husbands - Dream

This music video for Husbands' latest single 'Dream' sees the lyrics light up as they're sung. To make it, French design duo Cauboyz created individual boxes with each word placed on the front using laser cut and hand-cut stickers. Wires were then attached to each box, complete with a handy switch to press once the word came up.

02. The Edge

Hunter S Thompson has influenced a generation of film-makers, writers and designers and this homage to the author by Piotr Kabat combines an array of design disciplines to showcase some of his finest words.

03. Bob

Oliver Smith is a 3D animator and compositor who can turn his hand at many aspects of the moving image. Inspired by 'Weird Al' Yankovic's Bob Dylan parody 'Bob', the song features Yankovic's signature style and comical lyrics. Although the amusing tune is the main influence for the video, it's Oliver's stunning array of graphic titles and typography that really stand out.

04. Anonymous

This super-cool infographic kinetic typography animation tells the story of how online hactivist group Anonymous came together in 2003 and subsequently went on to stage various protest actions. The 90-second animation, which uses 3D effects, electronics and text to convey  the message, was created by multimedia designer Savva Tsekmas.

05. Shop Vac

Artist Jarrett Heather made this kinetic typography music video for Jonathan Coulton's Shop Vac. The humourous animation took Heather somewhere between 500 and 1000 hours to complete. At just under three-and-a-half-minutes long, the brilliant video features a number of different fonts, all perfectly suited to the story each tells.

06. Rolling Stones - Doom and Gloom

Celebrating their 50th anniversary with a series of comeback gigs last year, the old-time rock 'n' rollers even managed to release a new track that was pretty darned good. For the accompanying music video, Trunk Animation designed this great splatter style animation, which is reminiscent of Ralph Steadman’s typography artistry.

07. Karloff

Thibault de Fournas has combined the modern typefaces Bodoni and Didot in this beautiful animated video which explores the idea how two extremes could be combined into a coherent whole. Stylistically, the video is centred around a series of expanding and disappearing hairlines, with cuts complementing editorial typographic layouts.

08. Conan O'Brien

Working from one solid artboard, this entertaining kinetic typography video recreates the dialogue on the final episode of NBC's The Tonight Show presented by Conan O'Brien. The camera pans between nicely set type, ending with a shot of the entire piece. The combination of eclectic typography and modern 3D letter forms achieved in Cinema 4D provides a contrast between old and new.

09. Make it better

Colour and morphing typography is wonderfully used in this video created by Climent Canal with animation by Sebastián Baptista. A beautiful video brings an inspiring message to vivid life.

10. ALQUIMIA Animated Type

Pavel Paratov has constructed a mesmerizing piece of golden kinetic typography here. The letterforms reshuffle to the electro beat by Satoshi Yoshitake, integrating abstract shapes into the mix.

11. Back to the Future

If you're anything like us, you'll already be a huge fan of Back to the Future. So, what could be better than kinetic typography of this priceless conversation between Marty McFly and his mother? Created by Melanie Burgess, the designer is still in her early days of kinetic typography. We love this original offering!

12. Alphagames

This inventive animation was only uploaded three weeks ago but it has already become one of the most popular kinetic typography videos on Vimeo. It was created by freelance editor and animator Evan Seitz, who has worked on commercials for Coca-Cola and the American Cancer Society - one of which went on to win a Telly Award at the 32nd Annual Convention.

13. Fight Club

There's plenty of Fight Club kinetic typography hovering around the World Wide Web but this more recent offering from Adrian Moran is a belter. The visual FX, motion graphics, and 3D artist has created this animation to accompany Brad Pitt's infamous Fight Club rule listing. We love the colours too!

14. Hello Hola Hallo Bonjour Ciao Ola

This adorable kinetic typography animation was made by Spanish graphic and motion designer, Daniel Moreno Cordero. Created using After Effects, Illustrator and some Photoshop, Daniel also used a typography entitled 'Granaina Limpia.'

15. Wouldn't it be nice

Joe Humpay created this kinetic typography animation accompainment to the Beach Boys' 'Wouldn't It Be Nice' for his girlfriend last Christmas. He used After Effects CS5 for the animation and Illustrator and Photoshop CS5 for the graphics.

16. Elbow Grease - Habitat Promo

Motion design craftsman Joe Dunlap created this insightful promo for furniture giants Habitat. Through creative, kinetic typography and slick, dynamic animations this short public service announcement for Habitat for Humanity explains that it's easy for anyone to achieve something big. It's been getting a lot of love on Vimeo!

17. RocknRolla

Created by Siddharth Raj, this kinetic typography animation takes a speech from British action-thriller, 'RocknRolla' and brings it to life. We love how Siddharth has encorporated various font shapes and sizes to fit perfectly between each other.

18. Pulp Fiction

Gangster movie speeches seem to be cropping up a lot in this list but it's that they are the perfect accompianment for great kinetic typography. This Pulp Fiction number was created by Norweigian motion designer Christian Gjerde. Watch for the particularly clever 'car' moment at the end of the video.

19. Fusion Design

This animation combines motion graphics with kinetic typography to a faultless execution. There's not much information on this one by Dusan Tatalovic but we love the way he has managed to almost personify the typography throughout the musical accompianment.

20. 29 Ways to Stay Creative

Finally, we finish with an old favourite in the kinetic typography gang. Created by Japanese motion graphic design studio TO-FU the video is by far one of the most popular kinetic typography animations out there. It's easy to see why with its inventive graphics and helpful content.

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Words: Sammy Maine and Aaron Kitney

• Aaron Kitney is a freelance graphic designer and art director based in London and Vancouver.  He specialises in branding, identity, web design, publication design, album covers, packaging and book design.

Have you seen any inspiring kinetic typography? Would you like to share yours? Let us know in the comments box below!