An animated promo highlighting Spotify’s algorithm-driven 'Made For You' experience.
Spotify
November 2024
1 month
Role: motion designer
Introduction
Mood, Meet Music
In a world of endless content, personalization has become essential to how we listen. This 15-second animated ad spotlights Spotify’s "Made For You" playlists—custom mixes crafted from your unique listening habits. This motion piece brings Spotify’s tailored experience to life through bold, engaging 3D storytelling.
Behind the Concept
Design with Purpose
Research and the project brief helped uncover key challenges to keep in mind during the design process.
Telling a Story in 15 Seconds
With such a short runtime create a clear, engaging narrative that introduced the feature and left a lasting impression.
Brand Consistency
With Spotify’s strong visual identity, how can the design feel fresh while staying on brand?
Personalization Visual
How can Spotify’s personalized algorithm be showcased in a way that’s easy to understand and digest—all within 15 seconds?
Representing Emotion and Mood
"Made For You" playlists are built around how users feel. How to use motion, color, and form to reflect different moods in an abstract but relatable way, that also fits Spotify’s brand.
Challenge
Create a 15-second 3D ad that clearly showcases Spotify’s 'Made For You' feature in a way that’s emotional, visually engaging, and on-brand.
Design process
Design Principles
Design principles applied throughout the design process.
Timing & Rhythm
With only 15 seconds to work with, every second counts. The pacing of motion, transitions, and visual beats needed to feel intentional.
Clarity & Simplicity
Keep visuals clean and focused, avoid overloading the viewer with too many elements at once.
Narrative Flow
Even in 15 seconds, the ad should have a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Brand Consistency
The visual style needed to align with Spotify’s brand identity, with each element crafted to feel like a natural extension of its existing look and feel.
Project timeline
Details
Decisions with Purpose
This section unpacks how the final animation directly addresses the creative challenges identified at the start of the project—bringing the 'Made For You' experience to life in a meaningful and memorable way
How Challenges Were Met —
These key moments in the final piece were designed to meet the project’s biggest creative and storytelling challenges.
Story Arc
A seamless journey from tap to playlist—this arc was crafted to showcase how easily Spotify turns your listening habits into a personalized mix.
Emotion
The animation strikes a balance between playful and calming—using smooth transitions, soft gradients, and light motion to create a feeling that’s both effortlessly delightful and easy to understand.
Soundtrack Selection
Chosen from dozens of tracks, the upbeat soundtrack reinforces the ad’s tone by adding energy, ease, and emotional connection to the personalized experience.
Brand Consistency
The ad stays true to Spotify’s look and feel by using familiar colors, typography, and UI elements to create something fresh yet recognizably on-brand.
Timing Is Everything
With just 15 seconds, every moment was paced to the beat for impact, with smooth transitions and clear visuals keeping it engaging and easy to follow.
Keeping It Simple
With just 15 seconds, a clean and minimal design made the message easy to digest at a glance.
Considerations
Designing For Everyone
Here are a few accessibility-focused elements that were explored and applied.
Captioned Messaging
Short, readable captions like “playlist based on your listening habits” provide clear context, which supports comprehension even without sound.
High Contrast
Text and icons contrast well against their backgrounds, improving legibility for users with low vision or color blindness.
Reflection
Project Takeaways
Simplicity is Powerful
Conveying a message in just 15 seconds was a challenge, but with clear creative direction, clarity and focus became essential. I learned that simple visuals and storytelling can make a big impact when executed with intention.
Emotion Drives Engagement
Using upbeat music, soft motion, and playful visuals helped make the feature not just understandable, but memorable. Emotion added depth to the message.
Brand and Creativity Can Coexist
Working within Spotify’s established visual language challenged me to create something that felt both on-brand and fresh. It was a great opportunity to sharpen my creativity within constraints.
Exploring Accessibility Further
With more time, I would have loved to explored ways to make the ad more accessible. This project sparked my interest in designing motion content that’s more inclusive.
final notes
Lessons Learned
This project taught me how much intentional design and storytelling can elevate even the shortest format. Working within Spotify’s brand pushed me to be both strategic and creative, while the challenge of communicating personalization in just 15 seconds sharpened my visual clarity. It was also my first time working in 3D, and diving into Blender made the process all the more exciting—turning a steep learning curve into a rewarding creative journey.
