Making an explainer video without a motion designer

Explainer videos turn one idea into a short sequence of visual arguments: a claim, the evidence, what it means. The Vox style made a recognisable look for it: paper textures, pinned clippings, a yellow highlighter, red ink circles and hand-drawn charts. It works because every device points at something. Nothing is decoration.

Start from one point

An explainer that tries to say five things says none of them. Write the single sentence you want people to remember, such as "most of the week's meals are decided on Sunday", and make every beat support it.

Plan the beats

A reliable shape for 30 seconds:

• The hook. A question or a surprising claim on a pinned card: "Why the office never came back".
• The evidence. A chart or a number, with the important part circled or highlighted.
• The explanation. Two or three short cards giving the reasons.
• The takeaway. The one sentence, and where to learn more.

Name the device for each beat

Explainer devices are concrete, so name them: "a hand-drawn line chart falling from 100% to 52%, with the drop circled in red", "three numbered cards that pin up one after another", "'Sunday' highlighted in yellow". The Vox explainer style supplies the paper and ink; your brief says what goes on it.

Use real numbers

Charts in an explainer are read as evidence. Use figures you can source, and say where they come from in a small label. If you are illustrating a trend without data, say so in the brief and label the chart as illustrative.

Other explainer looks

Not every subject suits newsprint. The flat vector style uses friendly characters and diagrams for science and how-it-works pieces; paper cut-out tells a story in layered cut-paper scenes; and map stories handle anything about places. Browse the examples to compare them.