Interactivity and animation is being used more than ever in branding projects to create stunning digital publishing displays for screens. Whether it's a corporate digital brochure or a product page design, adding interactivity can elevate the brand's message while enhancing the user experience.
In this Adobe InDesign tutorial, we'll go over how to apply interactivity and animation to a branding design project for a fictional project company called Pessoa.
The goal of this tutorial is to create a seamless interactive viewing experience with animation and multi-state object buttons while also maintaining the brand colour schemes throughout.
The document size is meant for an iPad Pro screen (2048px X 1536px), however you can use the document setup of your choice.
Keep in mind that all the assets for this tutorial can be downloaded here so you can follow along.
The first step is bringing in the coffee product package images in by going to File > Place or dragging the three images on to your desktop. I have included the PNG versions called Light_Roast, Medium_Roast as well as Bold_Roast.
Setting up Multi-State Object to Coffee Bags
In the Layers Panel, reorder the coffee bag images in the order you'd like them to appear when setting up the button structures. For this lesson, I am going with Light, Medium and Bold.
With the Selection Tool, select all three images and in the Object States Panel – which can be accessed by going to Window > Interactive > Object States – create a new Multi-State Object.
Rename the Multi-State Object to Coffee Bag Images.
Let's add another cool transition to each branded coffee bag with a Fly in from Right animation when the button is triggered. For this, you'll have to drive into each state by double clicking and then adding the animation. Here are the steps:
Adding Fly in from Right Animation to Coffee Bags
In the layout, click on the Multi-State Object – any of the Coffee Bag Images – once.
In the Object States Panel, click on State 1 and then in the layout, double-click to drive into the selection.
With the State 1 selection active, shift to the Animation Panel and in the Preset dropdown, select Fly in from Right with a 0.5 second duration and in Opacity Dropdown, choose None.
Go back to the Object States Panel and click State 2.
With the State 2 selection active, shift to the Animation Panel and in the Preset dropdown, select Fly in from Right with a 0.5 second duration and in Opacity Dropdown, choose None.
Go back to the Object States Panel and click State 3.
With the State 3 selection active, shift to the Animation Panel and in the Preset dropdown, select Fly in from Right with a 0.5 second duration and in Opacity Dropdown, choose None.
I have added the colour codes for this branding project, so you can match the exact colour from the packaging to the background colour. Once you have placed the background and have set each brand colour, create them into a multi-state object and rename it Background Colours.
Remember to arrange them in the Layers panel in the same order you have the Coffee Bag Images!
At this point, you should have the first set of coffee bags with the Animation applied for each and the Background Colours also on the page.
Next, let's place the coffee bag images again at smaller scale. These will become buttons to trigger not only the main Coffee Bag Images, but also the animation for the bags and the Background Colours.
Here's a look at how the interactive project will look by the end – but there's still some work to do!
Place the bags at smaller scale under the main Multi-State Object so users can correlate that they are buttons to cycle through each package design.
I have also added a third Multi-State Object for the coffee brand titles and description to the left of the Coffee Bag Images in the layout. Call this Multi-State Object Roast Details.
Now you're ready to set up your buttons to trigger each state and animation with one click!
Adding Button Actions to Multi-State Objects
Click on the Light_Roast smaller image and in the Buttons and Forms Panel and create it into a Button.
In the Actions, choose Go to State.
In the Object, choose Coffee Bag Images and leave the State on State 1.
Add a secondary Go to State Action.
In the Object, choose Background Colours and leave the State on State 1.
Add a third Go to State Action.
In the Object, choose Roast Details and leave the State on State 1.
Add a fourth Action of Animation.
In the Animation, choose Light_Roast.png and set the Options to Play.
Repeat these steps for the Medium_Roast and Bold_Roast buttons, but setting each state and animation to its respective destination.
Be sure to follow along closely in the video tutorial as I go over these steps in fine detail. It may take some trial and error but be sure to test your work with the EPub Preview player before publishing it online or exporting.