Creatively engage your audience with 2D animation services

2D animation evokes a nostalgia reminiscent of classic cartoons and comic artwork. Filled with character-driven imagery, bold colors, and expressive visuals, 2D video animation is a fantastic medium for consolidating detail-oriented messaging into a cohesive and visually compelling story. Its familiar feel instantly hooks audiences, helps ensure they retain critical information, and can present your brand in a lasting and impactful way.

2D Video Animation Overview

How Does It Work?

Example #2

Example #3

Screenshot from a 2d animated video that depicts a businessman standing in front of a bank

How Does 2D Animated Video Production Work?

We create hand-drawn, raster-based digital 2D illustrations that produce an illusion of animated movement. Illustrative characters, vibrant colors, and scenic imagery create a whimsical feel designed to captivate audiences by telling a rich, visual story. For educational content, an "animated hand" can be added to mimic a whiteboard-style video. This traditional animation style is ideal for big-picture storytelling and adding maximum impact to a message.

Screenshot for animated video about Refugee Coffee Company

Refuge Coffee: Job Training Overview

As part of our Sketch Effect "Drawing Good" give-back program, this video was a pro-bono work for our friends at Refuge Coffee to explain the scope of their job training program for the refugee population in and around Clarkston, Ga.

Acuity Brands: Holophane XVOLT

This video was created to explain the XVOLT Tank Driver for Holophane by Acuity Brands, and market the solution to new customers.

Our 5-Step Video Production Process

01 Kickoff Call

We begin with a call to get aligned on the project at a high level. We’ll discuss your overall goals for the video, messaging, audience, channels, and call-to-action. We’ll also dive into the creative process, discussing color palette, branding considerations, voice-over preference, and more.

02 Script & Voice-Over

Working with our team of writers, we will take all the material from the Kick Off Call, as well as other materials, documents, and references, and turn it into a wonderful script that matches your preferred voice and tone. Once approved, we will also source voice-over talent based on your preferences.

03 Storyboard

After scripting, we jump right into the storyboard. In this step, we break down the video panel by panel, sequence by sequence, and create rough, loose sketches to convey the overall visual direction. Here is when the video begins to come to life visually!

04 Illustration

Depending on your video style, we will create the polished final illustrations, graphics and assets that will go into the video animation. This is when our in-house team of illustrators get to really shine.

05 Final Edit

Once everything is ready, we generate the final animated edit. Everything is sequenced together, music and sound effects are added in, the voice-over is synced up, and the final video is rendered out. Congrats! You now have a final animated video.

2D Video Animation Services

are a Great Fit For:

Corporate communication & internal presentations

Concept overviews & explainer videos

Customer-facing marketing, promotions, and sales

Product rollouts and launches

Educational, instructional or training materials

Change
management

The Value for Audiences

The Value for Clients

More Efficient Messaging
Entertainment & Engagement
Increased Comprehension
Longer Retention

More Efficient Messaging

Animation has become one of the most efficient ways to consume information. In a digital world filled with near-constant distractions, animation helps streamline your messaging in an appealing format.

Entertainment & Engagement

Due to its nostalgic and familiar style, 2D animation is a terrific medium for engaging and capturing an audience's attention.

Increased Comprehension

Science shows that people learn best visually, by consuming of pictures and images used in tandem with text and audio. Video animation is one of the most impactful ways to deliver digestible content that your users can quickly understand.

Longer Retention

Science also shows that visual communication helps audiences remember content far longer than if they simply heard or read it. Long after your audience has moved on from your video, they will retain the big ideas and be more likely to take appropriate action as a result.

Clear Call-to-Action
Maximized Shareability
Ease of Production
Cost-Effective

Clear Call-to-Action

With such high levels of engagement, video animation is an effective and appropriate medium for encouraging your audience to take specific actions like sign-ups, product purchases, registrations, engaging in further learning, and more.

Maximized Shareability

Visual content is by far the most shared form of communication online. Because of this, animated videos offer serious potential for amplifying existing marketing strategies or communication plans. From social media posts & email marketing to product demos and more, animations are highly shareable due to their engaging and consumable nature.

Ease of Production

Compared to live-action production, animated videos are much more efficient to produce. Video animation eliminates the need for on-screen talent and the many expenses associated with live-action videos like renting a production studio and hiring a full production crew.

Cost-Effective

In addition to production efficiency, animated video services are significantly more cost-effective than typical video production. Hiring an experienced animation agency is a less expensive way to create high-quality content that maximizes your messaging power.

TESTIMONIALS

In the Words of

Our Partners

"We partnered with The Sketch Effect to create an animated video to explain our team management platform and are very happy with the results! From the initial script to final animation, the team made the entire process easy for us and delivered a creative and effective final video. Our Pickle Juice platform has only benefited from utilizing this video and look forward to continued growth, thanks to our new animated explainer video!"

Kellie H.

Customer Support & Onboarding Specialist

Pickle Juice

"The Sketch Effect is awesome! The animated video they made for us at Cure VCP Disease will be instrumental in spreading awareness about our important cause. The Whiteboard Animation helped communicate a complex and serious issue in a clear, understandable way, and guided viewers towards actionable next steps. This video will help us further our mission in a profound way. Thanks Sketch Effect!"

Nathan Peck

CEO

Cure VCP Disease, Inc.

"I came to The Sketch Effect with a rough idea for an animated universe to house a new product family and they brought it to life! As someone who is not a designer, it can be very difficult to get ideas out of my head and the team at Sketch Effect are so good at asking the right questions to get a feel for what I’m looking for and deliver it so well, and then some! They are creative and responsive and always eager to problem solve!"

Hannah Higerd

Marketing Services Manager

Acuity Brands

"Our business is complex. In looking for simple and shareable means to communicate our issues, we found The Sketch Effect. The relationship started with several illustrated videos explaining the workings of power plants and the electric grid. We have also advanced to using the team for Live Sketching at internal meetings and training sessions. Their ability to simplify messaging into layman’s language and visuals has been astonishing to see and beneficial to our success. We value the partnership."

Ronny Just

Governmental Relations Manager

Southern Company

"We cannot thank The Sketch Effect enough! Our team was really pleased with the illustrated video and how well it communicated the vision for our project. The Sketch Effect team did a phenomenal job turning our long winded elevator speech into something people could grasp and get excited about quickly."

Tresa Sharma

Field Marketing

Chick-fil-A

"Having artists from The Sketch Effect join our virtual meeting was a huge hit. In a season full of virtual meetings and staring at our screens, every meeting can begin to feel the same. The Sketch Effect made this meeting stand out. The live-sketching helped participants stay engaged added a unique creative element to the presentation, and provided tangible takeaways for all of our participants. "

Kevin Scott

Co-Founder

ADDO Worldwide

"Our animated video with the Sketch Effect turned out wonderfully and we were very happy with the entire process. It was great working with the Sketch Effect team – they really understood the assignment and our goals for this communication effort! We launched the video to the entire Staff and have been receiving compliments ever since! As our work in this space continues, I’m sure we will be back in touch for more animation projects with The Sketch Effect."

De’Johna S. Council

Corporate Legal

Chick-fil-A, Inc.

"Our video has been a big hit and we've received a lot of positive feedback. It’s such a great storytelling technique and way of visually engaging our stakeholders. As you can imagine, with a company our size there is a lot of “noise” when it comes to communication – this is a great way to stand out."

Douglas Bremner

Global Quality & Food Safety

The Coca-Cola Company

Companies who trust The Sketch Effect

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Animation Services FAQs

How long does it take to create an animated video?

On average, between 6 and 9 weeks (depending on a variety of factors)

Do you help with scriptwriting?

Yes! We have a team of professional script writers who will draft an excellent script for your video (with input and approval from you, of course!)

How many revisions do we receive?

Our standard Scopes-of-Work include one round of revisions each for the scripting, storyboard, and final edit step. We can build in additional rounds of revisions if needed.

What type of animation style is right for my business?

This depends on a number of factors, including your audience, goals, message, and more. Our team will be happy to consult with you on what type of video will be best based on your needs.

What sets you apart from other animated explainer video companies?

First, we don’t use any stock imagery or assets pulled off the internet…everything we make is entirely custom! This includes our Whiteboard videos, which are created by a real human being in our studio. This makes each of our videos entirely unique and tailored to each specific client and their specific needs. Also, our price point is in the “just right” zone. We won’t be the cheapest (because our work isn’t cheap), but we also won’t break the bank.

Do you offer 3D animation services?

Not currently.

How do I know if my business needs explainer videos?

If you want your business to be successful, you need an explainer video!

How much do animated videos cost?

We price out each project individually based on a variety of factors (including style, timing, length, and more). Book a call with one of our sales representatives to get a more specific idea of how much your video animation project might cost.

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