A huge share of your audience watches muted, in a vertical frame, with a thumb ready to scroll. Motion built for a landscape TV spot rarely survives that jump. Designing for the feed isn't a resize job — it's a different craft with its own rules.
The first three seconds decide everything
In a feed, you earn the next second or you're gone. The opening frames have to establish subject, energy and reason-to-stay immediately — no slow logo builds, no patient intros. Front-load the hook; save the payoff for people who stayed, not for people deciding whether to.
Design for silence
If your message needs sound to work, it doesn't work — most viewers never hear it. Motion, on-screen text, captions and visual rhythm have to carry the whole meaning. Sound becomes a bonus for the minority who have it on, not a dependency.
Vertical is a composition, not a crop
A 9:16 frame changes where the eye goes and how much fits. Type gets bigger and bolder, layouts stack, safe zones dodge the UI overlays. The best vertical motion is composed for the format, not squeezed into it from a landscape master.
Motion earns the scroll-stop
Movement is the attention magnet in a static feed — but it has to be purposeful. Clear, punchy animation that communicates fast beats busy motion that just decorates. The goal is legibility at speed, not maximum activity.
The bottom line
Design for how people actually watch: muted, vertical, and one flick from gone. Hook in three seconds, carry the message without sound, compose for the vertical frame, and your motion works in the place it'll actually be seen.