Cinemagraphs in Website Design: How Your Brand Can Capitalize On This Trend
Team Branex
If you’ve been following up on the latest web design trends that are predicted to make big waves this year, you have likely got the wind of magical moving photos - Cinemagraphs.
But do you know what cinemagraphs are, and why they matter?
Not exactly an image, not quite a video, cinemagraphs are visually attractive elements that can keep you riveted just long enough and make you turn your head for a second look. A cinemagraph is basically a GIF that looks like a still image with subtle, continuous movements that entail vigilance to detect.
Cinemagraphs have great potential to make your website attention-grabbing by combining beautiful still photographs with some moving elements. The best part of cinematography is that it brings your photos to life. Thus making the image more realistic, striking, and sometimes even thought-provoking. If the waving photos in Harry Potter newspapers caught your fancy, cinemagraphs are sure to make you go down memory lane.
Cinemagraphs are known to hold viewer’s attention up to 10x longer than still photographs since they allow a glimpse of time to be preserved and experienced again and again. The unique and conspicuous aesthetics of cinematography have led to their popularity in several mediums, such as web design and advertising campaigns.
Some established brands such as Coca-Cola, Netflix, Walmart, and Budweiser have already started incorporating cinemagraphs on their websites and social media marketing campaigns. Recently, many web design agencies have also jumped on this trend and included cinemagraphs on their home pages, product pages, landing pages, and about pages.
In this digital age, brands are striving hard to make users stop and pay attention- even for just a few seconds. Human eyes cannot resist motion, and by leveraging engaging moving photos, you can satiate their need for motion while impressing your website visitors.
Cinemagraphs go a long way towards creating powerful and exceptional stories that are truly fascinating, serving to make your online audience stay longer on your website, and making them look through all the pages. This is a compelling web design strategy that has the power to narrate stories while imprinting your message in the minds of your audience.
Here are some amazing ways of making your website visually attractive by incorporating cinemagraphs.
Take The Deep End as an example. This web consulting and internet marketing agency used a cinemagraph on their landing page to convey their brand message and a sense of professionalism and intelligence, by portraying a man in glasses at work on his laptop, with a subtle backdrop of a bookshelf behind him. This is when you notice a subtle movement; a reflection of a moving train glinting off the window glass. This unique framing is a smart play on “the train of thought” and keeps the audience riveted!
Similarly, Weltrade’s homepage has also made a classy use of cinematography. As you hover over the models in the hero image, they subtly come to life, completing a chic, formidable setting.
Adding cinemagraphs to your landing pages is indeed a worthwhile option to coax visitors into checking out the actual contents of your website.
If you peruse through the website of Tiffany & Co., the brand has leveraged a cinemagraph on their product store page to showcase their Rubedo metal collection. The striking image of a gorgeous woman standing in the open air, with her hair whipping in the air, instantly grabs the eye. This is when your eye flits from her waves to the scintillating neckpiece she is sporting over a chic plunging neckline. The neckpiece is subtly swinging about her back, perhaps caught in a gust of wind, and keeps you hooked in its glamor.
E-commerce businesses can also leverage the power of cinematography and showcase their products with a bit of motion. Look at this amazing example of Bloomingdales, where the brand has used cinemagraphs on Instagram to display its clothing line.
Cinemagraphs are also a great option for your restaurant business to showcase the details of dish preparation by using a more interactive image series. The dripping of a sauce from a succulent-looking burger, or tendrils of steam wafting off from a cup of coffee, remind users of their dining experience and whet their appetite.
Using the right visual elements on your About page can help convince your future clients and customers about your expertise. Adding a cinemagraph of your entire team can help you earn their trust. The human mind can remember and recognize faces. Using cinemagraphs of your team along with the complete bio and their names can work best for your prospects.
You can also use moving testimonials to build customer trust and show potential customers a positive brand history. In addition, you can leverage behind-the-scenes of your workplace to flaunt your future clients how the magic happens.
Make Your Landing Pages Attention Grabbing
Whether you are an eCommerce business or a service-based agency, you can use cinemagraphs on your landing pages. Adding visually appealing cinematography at the start can grab the attention of your visitors and make them scroll further down. The first image on your landing page serves as a hero image. It is the perfect place to showcase your top products in the limelight and draw the attention of your viewers, so they are compelled to read on. A cinemagraph can dominate the entire landing page, which users click through to access more information. You can also combine cinemagraphs with catchy and interactive elements to make them more interesting.
Take The Deep End as an example. This web consulting and internet marketing agency used a cinemagraph on their landing page to convey their brand message and a sense of professionalism and intelligence, by portraying a man in glasses at work on his laptop, with a subtle backdrop of a bookshelf behind him. This is when you notice a subtle movement; a reflection of a moving train glinting off the window glass. This unique framing is a smart play on “the train of thought” and keeps the audience riveted!
Similarly, Weltrade’s homepage has also made a classy use of cinematography. As you hover over the models in the hero image, they subtly come to life, completing a chic, formidable setting.
Adding cinemagraphs to your landing pages is indeed a worthwhile option to coax visitors into checking out the actual contents of your website.
Create Convincing Product Pages
When visitors browse through your product pages, reel them in with powerful, interesting cinematography. You can offer more detailed views of your products by using cinemagraphs along with the static image of your product, perhaps to flaunt the gorgeous flair of a dress or the smooth turning of a watch. Cinemagraphs are something new that our brains haven’t yet been trained to comprehend. While your brain takes those two extra seconds to compute the phenomenon, you do a double take and stay on the image a little longer.
If you peruse through the website of Tiffany & Co., the brand has leveraged a cinemagraph on their product store page to showcase their Rubedo metal collection. The striking image of a gorgeous woman standing in the open air, with her hair whipping in the air, instantly grabs the eye. This is when your eye flits from her waves to the scintillating neckpiece she is sporting over a chic plunging neckline. The neckpiece is subtly swinging about her back, perhaps caught in a gust of wind, and keeps you hooked in its glamor.
E-commerce businesses can also leverage the power of cinematography and showcase their products with a bit of motion. Look at this amazing example of Bloomingdales, where the brand has used cinemagraphs on Instagram to display its clothing line.
Cinemagraphs are also a great option for your restaurant business to showcase the details of dish preparation by using a more interactive image series. The dripping of a sauce from a succulent-looking burger, or tendrils of steam wafting off from a cup of coffee, remind users of their dining experience and whet their appetite.
Tell Your Brand Story
You have a great opportunity to tell your brand story by using catchy cinemagraphs. Visitors are curious about your brand history, what you do and other important information about your company before they actually decide to do business with you.
Using the right visual elements on your About page can help convince your future clients and customers about your expertise. Adding a cinemagraph of your entire team can help you earn their trust. The human mind can remember and recognize faces. Using cinemagraphs of your team along with the complete bio and their names can work best for your prospects.
You can also use moving testimonials to build customer trust and show potential customers a positive brand history. In addition, you can leverage behind-the-scenes of your workplace to flaunt your future clients how the magic happens.
L.L.Bean has decided to incorporate a friendly tone in their emails to pique the curiosity of their inactive subscribers. While their dormant members may have missed a lot by not keeping up, the Email reassures them that they still have time to catch up. Considering that most people may not want to be bugged by a constant stream of Emails. They also offer their subscribers other ways of connecting with them, such as Twitter and Facebook. The wander-lust-inducing picture in the Email also serves to create interest in their outdoor gear.
This is another great example of a re-engagement email which shows a unique yet creative way of knowing your target audience. Urban Outfitters used a format that perfectly caters to a generation that loves texting. This way, the brand succeeded in capturing the attention of its readers. The format is easy to comprehend and encourages their subscribers to read on and respond. It perfectly suits their communication style. Phrases such as “come back” and “miss you” in the subject line can resonate with your audience and make them feel special.
Pinkberry came up with a creative idea of re-engaging their subscribers and incentivizing them by offering a free product, a sweet seduction to be sure. They used the term “miss you” to make their readers feel emotionally connected. After all, there’s nothing like a free froyo to say “Welcome back bro”!
Grammarly used an interesting way to re-engage its inactive subscribers by giving them a badge called a “Wrinkle in Time badge”. They used a persuasive CTA button GO to encourage its users to click the button and use the service again. They also persuaded their readers to check their premium version and encouraged them to check the special price.
Habitat came up with a creative way to keep their email subscribers engaged and in the know at all times. They gave them the option to engage and encouraged them to connect on Facebook to stay abreast of their latest developments.
Who doesn’t love surprises? Surprises come with a lot of emotional baggage, ringing a distant bell and making us feel almost childlike again. Birch Tree has beautifully leveraged this sentiment in their re-engagement email by providing their subscribers with two amazing options which they can garner at subscription. What a rewarding way to re-engage!
Feelunique tries to win back its inactive subscribers by giving them a plethora of exciting offers. They offer their subscribers a chance to join their VIP shopping club and avail 10% off on every product for a lifetime. For subscribers, it’s rather impossible to resist these exciting offers.
Lowe’s sent a re-engagement email to capture the attention of their inactive subscribers by informing them that they have made some improvements in their products since they have been away. They have smartly highlighted how millions of satisfied members are using their services. They also incorporated social media buttons in the footer to create more engagement across multiple platforms as well.
Cross strives to win back its inactive subscribers by offering an exclusive discount of $10 on their next purchase. They have adorably humanized their brand with the “sniff sniff” microcopy. They tried to sway their subscribers by highlighting a message at the bottom of the copy training to their shoe donations, showing how they are bringing comfort to people in need.
Moving images such as GIFs are taking the online world by storm. An image with movement attracts more people than a static one. That’s why people are expecting to see more GIFs across their news feeds and emails. A GIF is basically made up of several images that are combined together to create a short looping visual. Not only is it interactive and absolutely riveting, but a GIF conveys information much more effectively than a single image.
GIFs and animations play a key role in communicating ideas, concepts, and processes while making content more engaging for users. You can take advantage of this trend and grab the attention of more people with your emails, newsletters, illustrations, icons, logos, and even ads.
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