Introduction
On-screen text can provide critical information in a video, whether it’s the title, a closing call-to-action, or the name of a person being interviewed. At HERE, we have specific design principles to guide the animation of everything from dividers to subtitles. On this page you’ll learn more about how text overlays and dividers look and behave in HERE video assets, and how you can use our templates to easily integrate these branded elements into your next video project.
Motion Principles
Following our three motion principles ensures a consistent look and feel across our diverse video productions. These principles apply to all categories of HERE overlays, including both graphic and text-forward overlays.
Speed
The animation of overlays should follow the “speed curve” shown in the following graphic: quick start, slow end.
Style
Animations of graphic and text overlays should use the “horizontal slide” by default, whenever it’s possible. Fade-ins/fade-outs should be avoided as much as possible, and vertical or diagonal slides should only be used when horizontal slides are not possible or would not be elegant.
Logo
Our logo animation is unique and appears in the same form across our animated assets. Its proportions and speed should never be altered, but the color can be changed depending on the context (see the section below for more information on color modes). The logo animation should not be overused, especially to introduce a video—we generally prefer to use one of our “intro templates” as an introduction, or no animation at all. But the logo animation can be used as an outro if you decide against using the “outro template”.
Animated Templates
The HERE animated templates are custom-built, 2D motion graphic templates for use exclusively in Premiere Pro. These templates live in Adobe Creative Cloud, and can be shared with any user who has a Premiere Pro license.
Once added to a user’s Creative Cloud library, they will automatically load inside Premiere, and can be accessed from the “Essential Graphics” panel in Premiere.
Add a template to your project by simply “drag and dropping” the template from the Essential Graphics panel into a sequence. These templates can also be shortened/lengthened to fit the needs of each video.
Modes/Styles
For each template, you will be able to select from four “Brand Styles”: Internal, Core, Developer, and White. Choose a Brand Style depending on the intended audience of your video.
Internal
This style is solely for internal videos that will not be published externally at any point in the future.
Core
This style is the default choice and should be used for external videos. If a video is used for both internal and external purposes, go with the Core style.
Developer
Use this style for any developer-focused/themed external video.
White
This style is mainly used for animated videos, where there is already a lot of color being used. It is therefore primarily used for external videos, but can also be used for internal videos.
Each Brand Style has its own set of gradients. Which gradient is used is up to the producer, but if any assets within the video already have a gradient included (i.e. a Powerpoint deck), the same gradient should be used throughout: each video should stick to a single gradient style.
Templates
Our templates were made with the needs of video producers in mind. Read on below to learn more about when you should use each template and how you can customize them!
Box Overlay
This template is used for text overlays that sit on top of footage or an animation. It can be used as a complimentary piece to add additional context or information to the visuals on screen.
Divider
This template is used as a transition, and shows the gradient “wiping” on/off screen in approx. 1 sec. It is commonly used to transition between clips in order to indicate to the audience that the video is moving to a different scene or topic. The overlay animates on screen from the left, and off screen to the right. This transition shouldn’t be used heavily, so don’t use it between every clip—it should rather complement hard cuts and dissolves.
Divider Text
This is the most common intro graphic used to open videos. It includes a main title (“headline”) and a subtitle (“subline”) for additional information. The default animation is 5 sec. long, but can be shortened or lengthened based on the length of the text displayed.
Intro Fullscreen
This is the most common intro graphic used to open videos. It includes a main title (“headline”) and a subtitle (“subline”) for additional information. The default animation is 5 sec. long, but can be shortened or lengthened based on the length of the text displayed.
If you’re going to use the “Intro Fullscreen” template, make sure you read the guidelines that govern headline and subline, located further down this page.
Intro Overlay
A second option for introducing a video, the Intro Overlay template is used in combination with footage that runs beneath it. The overlay itself should not dominate the frame, but rather act as more of a complementary piece. The logo can be positioned at the top or bottom of the overlay, depending on where it fits better with the text (headline and subline). As a general rule, the text should not be too close to the logo, as the logo should always have buffer room between itself and the other elements. A short, concise headline is always preferred.
If you’re going to use the “Intro Overlay” template, make sure you read the guidelines that govern headline and subline, located further down this page.
Logo
This template is rarely used but is available as an intro graphic if a video does not need a text title. In general, we try not to open any video with just the logo in order to quickly capture and retain the audience’s attention.
Lower Third
This template is used to let the audience know who a speaker is, as well as their title and company.
Similarly to the intro templates, keep the default headline default font, “FiraGo Bold”, except in the Developer mode, where it should be changed to “FiraGo Light”.
Outro
This template is used to end all videos. There are two versions: one with only the logo animation, and one with text and the logo (which is similar to the “Intro Fullscreen” template).
Typically, the logo-only version is used if a video doesn’t need a closing message (i.e. a call-to-action). The text version is most often used to push the viewer to additional resources: for example, one might include a simple call-to-action in the headline (“Find out how solutions from HERE improve urban mobility”) and a URL as the subline (“here.com/solutions/urban-mobility”). The outro should last a minimum of 5 sec. if there’s additional text, so that the viewer has enough time to read the CTA.
If you’re going to use the “Outro” template, make sure you read the guidelines that govern headline and subline, located further down this page.
Subtitles
This template is used when subtitles are necessary. There are a few best practices for including subtitles in a HERE video:
- Brand Style: “White” is the most preferred style, as it provides the best contrast and legibility. Grey is also commonly used if the visuals are bright or use a lot of white. The “Internal”, “Core” and “Developer” options are only used sparingly, and only if the subtitles are very short and quick.
- Box Adjustments: These parameters are used to scale up or down the size of the subtitles on screen.
Headine and Subline
Many of our templates include formatted headlines and sublines, When adjusting the headline and subline, make sure to follow these guidelines:
Headline:
- The font should always remain the default setting (“FiraGo Bold”), except for Developer mode/style videos, where it should be changed to “FiraGo Light”.
- The headline can be up to 3 lines of text, but a shorter headline is always recommended (i.e. 1-2 lines). When a headline is too long and runs offscreen, the text size can be reduced.
- Text should not run past the X-position of the logo in the top corner in order to keep the image balanced from left to right (in the accompanying graphics showing correct and incorrect headline examples, the white line marks the X-position of the logo). A little buffer room between the title and logo is preferred. (Note: this rule does not apply to the “Intro Overlay”, where logo is positioned differently.)
Subline:
- The default font (“FiraGo Book”) should not be changed.
- The font size of the subline should be 50% of the headline.