Buffer – The Social Media Management Tool

What is Buffer?

Buffer is a leading social media management platform that helps individuals and businesses streamline their online presence. With intuitive tools for scheduling posts, engaging with audiences, and analyzing performance, Buffer simplifies social media marketing. Their focus on transparency, simplicity, and human-centered design made this project especially exciting. I wanted the animation to reflect these core values while highlighting the seamless user experience.

Pre-production: Guiding the Process

Creating Buffer’s first explainer video was both a rewarding opportunity and a challenge. My role wasn’t just to animate—it was also to guide Buffer through the production process, helping them understand what goes into crafting an effective animated story. I collaborated closely with their team, reviewed storyboards, and played a key role in shaping the final look and feel of the project.

Creating a Playful and Positive Animation Style

Buffer’s illustrations embody their brand—human, friendly, and inclusive. Julia Jaskólska, the project’s art director and designer, developed a visual style that reinforced these values.

After several iterations, we refined a look that balanced minimalism and engagement, centered around the time constraints inherent in social media management. Julia designed a simplified version of the Buffer app in Figma, while the characters and illustrations were crafted in Affinity Designer and Adobe Illustrator.

To add playfulness, we embraced a bouncy animation style that enhanced the experience’s energy and movement. This approach helped create a positive, approachable tone, aligning with Buffer’s mission to simplify social media management. The music’s upbeat, rhythmic flow further reinforced this lively, engaging atmosphere.

We adhered to Buffer’s design system: Yellow represents general parts of the animation, while pink, blue, and green highlight specific products—Analyze, Publish, and Engagement. This thoughtful use of color helped differentiate features while maintaining a cohesive visual identity.

Simplifying and animating Buffer’s UI was a focal point. The goal was to make the platform feel intuitive and effortless while subtly reinforcing the brand’s polished design. Clean UI, vibrant colors, and dynamic animations combined to create a video that feels welcoming, engaging, and unmistakably Buffer.

Voice-over: Finding the Right Tone

Initially, the Buffer team considered recording the voice-over themselves. While a great idea for authenticity, the audio quality didn’t match the animation’s production value. We decided to pivot and opt for a professional voice actor. Sometimes, taking a step back to find a better solution makes all the difference.

Animating the Buffer Logo

Before this project, Buffer had never used an animated version of their logo—so I set out to change that. The goal was to create a dynamic, yet natural movement for the logo, ensuring a pixel-perfect transition.

Incorporating a subtle bounce effect added energy to the logo reveal, aligning perfectly with the upbeat animation style. Working with split shapes meant even the smallest misalignment could cause glitches, so I meticulously adjusted the timing and movement to ensure a smooth, fluid logo animation. The result was a polished, engaging logo reveal that stayed true to Buffer’s brand identity.

Opening Scene: Social Media Chaos

The first scene was one of the most complex and time-intensive. We wanted to visually convey the overwhelming nature of social media management—the struggle of juggling multiple roles.

I received a static composition: a main character surrounded by social media icons, avatars, and a maze of tangled lines. From that single frame, I had to create 20 seconds of animation. The real challenge came as new roles—photographer, designer, community manager, analyst—were introduced in the voice-over, dynamically adding to the chaos.

Microinteractions were key here. Each new role appeared with its own small animation, reinforcing the feeling of overwhelm. The final transition—where the chaos untangles into a smooth, circular flow—was incredibly satisfying to animate.

Animating Buffer’s Core Tools

One of my favorite moments was illustrating how Buffer’s products are seamlessly connected. The continuous, flowing line connected key product experiences: Analyze → Publish → Engage.

A standout moment was when the animated circle hit the UI element introducing Analytics. This small interaction reinforced the seamless transition between tools, making the user experience feel cohesive and intuitive.

Animating the UI: Simplifying the Experience

Animating Buffer’s UI was a rewarding process. The goal was to make the platform feel intuitive and effortless while subtly reinforcing the brand’s polished design.

One detail I enjoyed was the Engagement section. As the UI elements animated in with smooth transitions, the logo icon subtly animated in the corner—a small but effective touch for brand continuity.

Microinteractions—hover effects, button presses—brought the UI to life, creating a sense of dynamic motion without overwhelming the viewer.

Character Animation: From Overwhelmed to Relaxed

Social media is a 24/7 job, and the pressure of disconnecting—even on vacation—can be intense. This is why we included a scene where the hero, a social media manager, unwinds in a hammock, reading a book. This moment humorously captures the stress of the job while reinforcing the idea that Buffer makes social media management stress-free.

The key storytelling element was the transformation of our main character—from stressed and overwhelmed at the start to relaxed and at ease by the end. To achieve this, I built a custom rig for smooth, expressive movements, and seamless transitions between the two states. The contrast between tense and laid-back body language reinforced Buffer’s core message: social media management doesn’t have to be chaotic—with Buffer, it’s effortless.

Conclusion: The Effortless Buffer Experience

At its core, this animation was about more than just showcasing features—it was about illustrating how Buffer simplifies social media management into a smooth, interconnected process.

Every motion, transition, and interaction was designed to reinforce this message—from tangled complexity to effortless clarity. I’m incredibly proud of the final result and thrilled that it became a key part of Buffer’s launch campaign.

CREDITS