The Challenge
Amazon Music's motion team and external agencies were spending 4+ hours per animation creating kinetic typography transitions between font weights. The manual process involved converting text to shapes, animating individual anchor points, and constantly adjusting kerning frame-by-frame—making creative exploration prohibitively expensive.
When our brand evolved to include kinetic text as a core element, I realized we needed a systematic solution. The old workflow meant designers couldn't iterate quickly, limiting creative possibilities and slowing down the entire team's output.
Conflux Presentation
Watch an excerpt of my presentation from Amazon's annual design conference, Conflux, where I demonstrate the plugin and explain the problem it solves:
Impact & Results
The Kinetic Text Plugin transformed how the entire Amazon Music motion team, and external agencies, approached typography animation. What previously required hours of tedious manual work became a few clicks, unlocking creative experimentation that was previously impossible.
4 hrs → 4 min
Time Reduction
90%
Productivity Increase
100%
Team Adoption
How It Works
Built as an After Effects plugin using JavaScript, the tool automates the complex process of transitioning between font weights while maintaining proper kerning throughout the animation.
As demonstrated in the video, the plugin reduced a task like animating "The Killers" (10 characters) from 4 hours of manual work to under 5 minutes—while actually improving the quality and consistency of the output.
Intelligent Kerning
Maintains proper character spacing throughout entire animation automatically
Per-Character Control
Slider-based system lets designers animate individual characters independently
Preset System
One-click access to common transitions (Book to Bold, Book to Black, etc.)
Key Features
One-Click Generation: Type text, press enter, get kinetic typography instantly
Font Weight Flexibility: Transition between any font weights (Book to Bold, Book to Black, etc.)
Per-Character Animation: Individual slider controls for each character with visual indicators
Real-Time Preview: See changes instantly while adjusting timing and easing
Keyframe-Ready: All parameters are keyframeable for complex motion choreography
Fast Iteration: Test multiple animation ideas in minutes instead of committing to one 4-hour approach
Reflection
This project reinforced my belief that the best tools emerge from experiencing pain points firsthand. I didn't build this because someone asked for it—I built it because I was frustrated spending 4 hours on something that should take minutes.
The 90% productivity increase is meaningful, but what matters more is how it changed our creative process. Designers started proposing typography-driven concepts they would have never attempted before. When iteration is cheap, creativity expands.
This experience shaped my approach at Amazon: identify repetitive pain points, build systematic solutions, and share them across teams. It's the same philosophy behind Project Rhythm and the NBA logo system—solve a problem once so it stays solved.