Animated Icons in PowerPoint

Icons are simplified/stylistic images used in presentations to represent or amplify a concept. Acme Corp. presents its value proposition using animated icons:

I have pontificated about the value of using PowerPoint objects rather than downloaded clip art as icons in an earlier post. Briefly, you can get the precise image you need and the colors and style to match your branding/theme. Also, you can edit them and use them to build new objects.

Why would you want to animate icons? First, motion is a powerful tool for grabbing attention (the old predator-prey thing) and animation can elaborate the actual meaning of the icon. (See this post for more on rational PowerPoint animation.)

Before I show you some additional examples, here are a few guidelines:

• Keep icons simple. They should be instantly recognizable but, since they are often relatively small, not detailed.
• Search the internet for inspiration and image ideas. Search for the concept (“security icon”) rather than the object (“lock”) if you want to see other metaphors for the concept. Remember to keep it simple; you don’t need to try to reproduce images created by professional designers.
• All of the icons shown in the post have been constructed using combinations of PowerPoint Autoshapes with only occasional use of PowerPoint drawing tools.
• Use your branding/theme colors; occasionally an odd color may be used if it enhances the icon (like the stack of bills in the video above).
• Use animation that amplifies the concept; think of verbs (locking, growing, etc.) and common visual metaphors (light bulb illuminating for idea, etc.).  However, keep the animation simple; don’t expect too much from PowerPoint.
• Animate the object for only a short time immediately after it is introduced; repeated animation is distracting and doesn’t add anything. If you use the icon again (for example, to tie later material to the first appearance), don’t animate it.
• I usually construct icons at a large scale and then reduce the size for the actual presentation. This means that point-measured components will cause problems when reduced (text, line widths, shadow parameters, etc.) . If you use these components, convert to png before reducing.
• A motion path associated with an object will not scale when the object is resized.  Resize the icon before adding the motion path or edit the path after resizing.

Security Icon (Lock)

The lock icon with the closing hasp represents security as in the Acme presentation above.

The lock is constructed mostly of Autoshapes:

The slotted end of the hasp is constructed from a Rectangle, converted to a Freeform and point-edited.  You can also use the Shape Subtract tool in PowerPoint 2010.

Here’s the lock with the shapes filled (with brand colors, naturally). The elements of the hasp and the elements of the body form two Groups.

Although it’s not strictly necessary in this case, I’m going to show you a way to accurately set the end point of a motion path.  The idea is to duplicate the object, move the duplicate to the desired location, and set Drawing Guides to the center of the duplicate.  A motion path can then be defined and edited so that the endpoint is located at the center of the duplicate.  Here’s what the construction looks like for the lock (the duplicate is in red outline):

The complete animation includes the Fade In of the body and hasp, followed by the motion path. The Smooth End box is unchecked so that the hasp “snaps” into place. Here’s what the animation pane looks like:

As I noted above, the motion path will not scale when the lock icon is resized.

Profit Icon (Stacking Bills)

A growing stack of currency represents profit or other financial gain (also in the Acme presentation).

The bill is constructed from Autoshapes:

Next apply a 3d Rotation/Perspective Relaxed to the group and add a few points of depth to the outer rectangle. Adjust the Lighting angle to get the right color:

Since the dollar sign and the depth are measured in points, the bill will not scale well – convert the image to a png.

Now scale and stack the bills:

The animation is Enter/Descend, bottom bill first:

You can convert this icon to represent to loss of cash by using Exit/Ascend animation, top bill first.

Productivity Icon (Gears)

There’s more than you want to know about animating gears in PowerPoint here.

Success/Accuracy Icon (Target and Arrow)

Here’s how this one looks:

The trick is to build the target in two pieces and animate the arrow so that it lands in front of one piece and behind the other.

The target half is constructed from standard Autoshapes (Block Arcs and Pies); duplicate the first half and rotate it to form the second half:

The arrow is similar (Chevron, Rectangle and Triangle):

Group each half of the target and arrange them with the arrow like this; set the ordering so that the left half of the target is in front of the arrow and the arrow is in front of the right half:

Apply Enter/Fade and a motion path to complete the animation.  Use the technique discussed under the Security icon (above) to determine the end point of the motion path.

Data/Document Storage Icon (File Folder)

This icon is the usual file folder but animated with a document being stored in the folder:

The folder consists of the front and the back (not grouped) and the document is a Folded Corner shape with rectangles to suggest text lines:

Here are the pieces with color:

This is the animation path:

The document is behind the front of the folder and in front of the back piece.  The animation path was created by selecting the Arc Up built-in motion path and then editing the points to the desired shape. A 90 degree Clockwise Spin occurs with the motion path.  Here’s what the animation pane looks like:

Epilogue

This post has demonstrated four animated icons; I plan additional posts in this series.  If  you want a PowerPoint file containing the icons discussed in this post, use the link below and click on the PowerPoint icon to download a “source” PowerPoint file:

PowerPointy blog – animated icons

See this page for more on downloading files.

If you have questions, praise or complaints, please add a comment below. If you appreciate my efforts, liking or following this blog might be a good idea.

Drawing and Animating Gears in PowerPoint

Meshing gears are a useful metaphor for an activity or a process and can be used as an icon for thought, intelligence or expertise. Rather than search for gears clip art, you can create gears as PowerPoint objects and animate them for more impact. (Why bother? See this post.)

If you want a copy of the PowerPoint files associated with this post, see the end of this post.

Since this post was written, I have added a couple more on animating gears: more gears and planetary gears.

Basics

This video demonstrates some gear “physics:”

It’s pretty easy to generalize the relationship between diameters, number of teeth and number of rotations, but if you’re intimidated by the algebra, here are  some combinations that will work:

Note added 8/2014: A reader sent me a gear animation with 8 (!) meshed gears that he used as part of a video introduction to his theater’s production of “Willie Wonka.” Kudos!

Drawing the Gears

Next, we’ll build the gears shown in the video. The design of real gear teeth is complicated and since we aren’t limited by reality, we’ll eyeball the tooth shape and size. Here’s the first step in adding the teeth; the blue lines are the center lines for the teeth:

Add some additional layout lines:

The outer circles (red) are 1/4 in larger than the original wheels; the inner Doughnut shapes are 1/4 in smaller  (these dimensions are fairly arbitrary). Also, the small gear-to-be has been rotated half a tooth.

Now, create a Trapezoid shape,  rotate and size it, and position it on the larger gear as shown below.  Rotate and position two duplicates of the shape on the smaller gear:

The teeth are centered on the blue index lines and are positioned flush with the outer circle and extend into the inner shape. The tooth shape and size is adjusted so that there is space between them for the meshing teeth (but not too much space). Don’t obsess with this; it doesn’t need to be perfect to look OK in the final result.

Next, duplicate the tooth on the large gear and rotate/position it on the opposite side of the gear. Group the two opposite teeth together:

Now, copy, rotate and position this group at the appropriate locations on the gears. Repeat the process for the small gear. Use guidelines and the default  Rotates and Flips to make this easier:

Now, delete the layout lines, group the gear parts and apply outline and fill colors:

The smaller gear can be moved to engage the larger gear at a different point:

You can create a three-gear train using the parameters in the table above:

Variations are possible; these  use “3D” format and gradient fills:

And, you can apply “3D” rotation:

PLEASE NOTE: there are issues with animating these variations – see below.

You can combine the gears with other shapes; here’s my favorite icon for “expertise:”

Animating the Gears

Apply animation as shown below (click on picture to enlarge):

The Spin animation is applied to both gears. The larger gear rotates 360 degrees (1 rotation) clockwise. I have selected Very Slow (5 sec duration); slower speeds seem to look better. The smaller gear rotates With the larger gear – 720 degrees (2 rotations) in the counterclockwise direction at the same speed.

This video shows the result and includes a 3-gear animation based on the table (the smallest gear rotates once at a Very Slow speed):

To rotate the gears continually, apply the Repeat Until Click or Repeat Until Next Slide option (in the Effect Options pane). There are some problems with this – see below.

Some Issues

Spinning gears with gradient fills or “3D” effects are not, strictly speaking, realistic since the shadows and highlights spin with the gears. And, clearing the Rotate with Shape option doesn’t help (a different kind of rotation). You can ignore this particular nit with little danger.  On the other hand, spinning an object with “3D” Rotation might make you ill; this video demonstrates these issues:

I suggested above that you can use the animation Repeat option to continue an animation. Unfortunately, this option resets the spinning object’s position each time it repeats.  For some simple gears, this is not a problem. For gears with asymmetric features, this restart will be noticeable; this video demonstrates:

You can work around these problems by using simpler symmetric gears or by increasing the number of rotations for each gear (preserving the ratios) until each gear rotates one or more full rotations. By the way, the Smooth Start/End options will cause a problem here.

If you want to see more details, use the link below and click on the PowerPoint icon to download a “source” PowerPoint file containing these objects:

PowerPointy blog – drawing and animating gears

See this page for more on downloading files.

If you have questions, praise or complaints, please add a comment below. Liking or following this blog might be a good idea if you think I should keep doing this. If there are other topics you would like to see in this blog, please leave a comment or click on “Contact the author” in the banner above to email me.