To Animate logo or not?

[malice95]

I am in the process of finishing up my new website design and I have been
doing a ton a reading.. design, usability, copywriting, etc. I want to ensure the
new site meets all the needs of my customers and really sells our product.

One item I am in a quandry over is our sites new logo. I was planning on
using an animated version of the logo for the home page (static version on
other pages).

Then I read this in "Homepage usability" by Jakob Nielsen

"Never animate critical elements of the pag, such as the logo, tag line, or
main headline. Not only do users tend to ignore animated areas because they
look like ads, they're also difficult to read. Animation tends to have a hyponetic
effect on people"

Now that I think about it.. I cant think of one ecommerce site that has an animated
logo. Would it be wise to buck the trend? What do you think?

Mike

[MuNKyonline]

I think you could get away with a subtle non-repeating animation but I would avoid anything more than that.

[coder]

This is going to depend on other factors, I doubt very much that anyone is going to say 100% of the time do this and 100% of the time don't do this.

I created a site about 9 months ago Birds For Sale and almost the entire homepage and sub-page headers has an animation on it and for them, in their situation it works very well.

Would I do that for a B2B insurance company or a credit union, of course not. The point being it depends on what kind of site, your audience and if the animation serves a purpose or not.

[malice95]

Well beyond being cute/interesting, the animated logo really doesnt serve a
purpose. The logo is one of the first things people look at when entering a
site if not THE first thing. I figured a simple animation that runs once would
make them go.. ooohh neat.

Here is the actual animation I am talking about...

http://www.tv-armor.com/logo.html

Thanks,
Mike

[advancedmerchant]

I would use the animation. It is not like you have the atom bomb endlessly exploding over and over like some people do.

The guideline of "never animate on homepage" is like "Never use Black backgrounds". 99% of the time, they are right. Sometimes it enhances, and makes the presentation you are shooting for.

[deepsand]

Given that the important elements of the logo are static, with the dynamic portion changing at a very low rate, such that it is quickly and easily scanned by the eye without requiring over-scanning, which is what causes eye strain, this particular animation is not problematic.

As for the "neat" or "cool" factor, bear in mind that neither is what your visitors seek, and is therefore of little to no value here.

[gwhite]

Can you name a fortune 500 company with an animated logo? hmmm... I wouldn't do it.

[deepsand]

Originally Posted by gwhite

Can you name a fortune 500 company with an animated logo? hmmm... I wouldn't do it.

Microsoft

[confettiguru]

Originally Posted by malice95

Well beyond being cute/interesting, the animated logo really doesnt serve a
purpose. The logo is one of the first things people look at when entering a
site if not THE first thing. I figured a simple animation that runs once would
make them go.. ooohh neat.

Here is the actual animation I am talking about...

http://www.tv-armor.com/logo.html

Thanks,
Mike

I like your animation. It's simple and reinforces both what you do and the name of the company.
Good luck

[SEO]

Your logo animation is very subtle and non repetitive.
I think it is quite tasteful.
Animation & the multimedia industry go hand in hand.
Just make sure that you don't place an animated version of your logo near your 'call to action'.

[MuNKyonline]

I agree that would be fine and wouldnt distract from the rest of the page. Nice animation

[nidmark]

Most of the popular brand dont have animated logos e.g. Adidas, nike, Apple etc. Try to keep the logo simple rather than using animation.

[LeilerDee]

I'd say go for it. It's nicely done, so what if its not what everyone else does...good on you for trying something most people won't go for. You did it the right way for your site.

[development]

I think it would be a great idea to have! Kinda unique and attention-grabbing.

[krnl]

Originally Posted by malice95

Well beyond being cute/interesting, the animated logo really doesnt serve a
purpose. The logo is one of the first things people look at when entering a
site if not THE first thing. I figured a simple animation that runs once would
make them go.. ooohh neat.

Here is the actual animation I am talking about...

http://www.tv-armor.com/logo.html

Thanks,
Mike

I like it. Nicely done. I like that it moves slowly and for a long enough period that you won't have users going to your page and going "Hey, did something move up there?" when they miss it out of the corner of their eye.

It's a very nice logo.