2D Animation Services - 2D Animation Studio | iLogos

2D Animation Studio

As people who work in a game development company that takes up all kinds of tasks if the project is interesting enough, iLogos often acts as an animation studio for 2D titles. The 2D graphic is present across all kinds of genres — so, since 2006, we’ve collaborated with many publishers and smaller studios to provide them with 2D animation services — and we’re always happy to do more.
Our ART PRODUCTION clients

2D Animation Services for Games

iLogos offers different kinds of animation services for 2d games. Our clients sometimes provide game concepts and models themselves and we do animation only. Other times, we develop concepts, art pieces, and models, create ready-to-import art assets, — and then animate them. Now, let’s talk about the main branches of this service.
  • 2D Character
    Animation
  • 2D Environment
    Animation
  • 2D Props
    Animation
  • Illustration &
    Icon Design

2D Character
Animation

Such attention to detail in 2D character animation was vital in our collaboration with EA on Simpsons: Tapped Out. It’s an IP-based project, so being thorough meant not only presenting characters well but also keeping their microexpressions and movements recognizable & true to canon.

The fluidity of character animation affects the games’ UX, especially if the game’s core loop is based around movements: arcades, fighting games, and other action-related genres. We love animating distinct fighting styles for characters, VFX around their abilities, the ways they use different weapons, etc. We’re attentive to details when animating characters’ facial expressions and body language: subtle animation can and should convey a character’s mood & personality. It’s peculiar and demanding work, but we love it.

2D Environment
Animation

Another essential component of 2D game animation is environment animation — it creates a backdrop to a story or supplements it with new layers. iLogos’ environmental artists and animators establish the mood for the world, work with lighting/shadow, architecture and nature, items that are close and far away, and more. They also collaborate with level designers, for the complexity and change in games are often expressed via environment

At iLogos, we create game animation that does all that: we’ve done so for the Simpson: Tapped Out project we’ve mentioned, Bedtime Story: Night Train, and other cases.

2D Props
Animation

Props is a classic film from the theater and film industry — from “property” — and it’s a word for interactable objects within the scene. Weapons can be props, as well as cups of coffee, articles of clothing, letters, magazines, and other objects a player character can touch/use/look at/etc. Props are what makes the game world around the character seem filled and lived in, — and they’re also tools the character constantly uses. At iLogos, we do 2D props animation: from complex and majestic weapons to consumables, boxes with loot, equipment, various elements of interior design, and more.
One example of our project that includes props animation is our collaboration with Gram Games on Merge Magic, but we also enjoy crafting interactable object animations within detective and horror RPGs (some of us think it’s the niches where this kind of art can really shine.)

Illustration &
Icon Design

Icons (here) is an umbrella term for various UI elements on a screen (like menu icons) or weapons, currencies, and other in-game items that are displayed as small pictograms. You know what illustration is — and they are often used in cutscenes within 2d games. These two, too, are often a part of the animation.

iLogos did illustrations for Evilibrium by Orc Work and Choices: Stories You Play by Pixelberry. They are vital for storytelling — e.g., conveying noir & horror of game events in comic book style for the first. Our items & icon animations can be found, e.g., in a case about a collab with Wooga on Ghost Detective: Murder Case.

2D Character
Animation

Such attention to detail in 2D character animation was vital in our collaboration with EA on Simpsons: Tapped Out. It’s an IP-based project, so being thorough meant not only presenting characters well but also keeping their microexpressions and movements recognizable & true to canon.

The fluidity of character animation affects the games’ UX, especially if the game’s core loop is based around movements: arcades, fighting games, and other action-related genres. We love animating distinct fighting styles for characters, VFX around their abilities, the ways they use different weapons, etc. We’re attentive to details when animating characters’ facial expressions and body language: subtle animation can and should convey a character’s mood & personality. It’s peculiar and demanding work, but we love it.

2D Environment
Animation

Another essential component of 2D game animation is environment animation — it creates a backdrop to a story or supplements it with new layers. iLogos’ environmental artists and animators establish the mood for the world, work with lighting/shadow, architecture and nature, items that are close and far away, and more. They also collaborate with level designers, for the complexity and change in games are often expressed via environment

At iLogos, we create game animation that does all that: we’ve done so for the Simpson: Tapped Out project we’ve mentioned, Bedtime Story: Night Train, and other cases.

2D Props
Animation

Props is a classic film from the theater and film industry — from “property” — and it’s a word for interactable objects within the scene. Weapons can be props, as well as cups of coffee, articles of clothing, letters, magazines, and other objects a player character can touch/use/look at/etc. Props are what makes the game world around the character seem filled and lived in, — and they’re also tools the character constantly uses. At iLogos, we do 2D props animation: from complex and majestic weapons to consumables, boxes with loot, equipment, various elements of interior design, and more.
One example of our project that includes props animation is our collaboration with Gram Games on Merge Magic, but we also enjoy crafting interactable object animations within detective and horror RPGs (some of us think it’s the niches where this kind of art can really shine.)

Illustration &
Icon Design

Icons (here) is an umbrella term for various UI elements on a screen (like menu icons) or weapons, currencies, and other in-game items that are displayed as small pictograms. You know what illustration is — and they are often used in cutscenes within 2d games. These two, too, are often a part of the animation.

iLogos did illustrations for Evilibrium by Orc Work and Choices: Stories You Play by Pixelberry. They are vital for storytelling — e.g., conveying noir & horror of game events in comic book style for the first. Our items & icon animations can be found, e.g., in a case about a collab with Wooga on Ghost Detective: Murder Case.

Our Technology Experiance In 2D Animation

iLogos’ artists work with 2D game animation software. Each animator has their own favorite kit to use, but the most common are Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Spine 2D, Daz 3D, Blender, and Procreate. Of course, we can quickly master other software as well if you, for instance, already have pre-made assets in its format.

2D Animation Production Process

Not all projects will require going through all the steps below — we usually discuss what exactly needs to be done in the first few email exchanges with clients.
  • Understand the context & goals of the project
  • Figure out the project’s milestones & details of implementations
  • Collect materials & references for animation
  • Detail animation roadmap
  • Create drafts & submit them for review
  • Create final assets & refine them
Understand the context & goals of the project
Figure out the project’s milestones & details of implementations
Collect materials & references for animation
Detail animation roadmap
Create drafts & submit them for review
Create final assets & refine them
Step 1. Understand the context & goals of the project

We discuss what kind of animation you want and what kind of project it will be. For example, clients with IP-based games already have character design and animation sequences we’re supposed to recreate. For clients who want 2d animation services as a part of brand-new game development, the pipeline is different: we design characters/environmental details, pick the style, and so on.

Time to Deliver
~1 week (after all the input project data is received)
Step 2. Figure out the project’s milestones & details of implementations

During each project, we’re trying to answer the question of how to make 2D animation that would both serve players and gameplay. Having your needs and goals in mind, at this stage we’re figuring out what we have and what needs to be done. For a brand new game, it’s usually: figuring out art style, gameplay needs the animation is supposed to meet, and technical and financial limitations we have to account for when creating it.

Time to Deliver
~1 week (after all the input project data is received)
Step 3. Collect materials & references for animation

At this stage, our art team, collaborating with you or your in-house artist, collects references for animations, draft storyboards, and so on. It’s a preparation stage that’s meant to solidify the vision of the project for the team.

Time to Deliver
~1 week (after all the input project data is received)
Step 4. Detail animation roadmap

With an idea of priorities for the project (where character/fighting animation is usually on top of the chain), we create a roadmap for the project — along with all instructions, references, contextual clues, and deadlines assigned to each element of it.

Time to Deliver
~1 week (after all the input project data is received)
Step 5. Create drafts & submit them for review

Our animators create drafts for animations within established deadlines: figure out key poses, lines and arcs of actions, spacing and timing for each animation. Then, they submit draft assets for review to clients.

Time to Deliver
~1 week (after all the input project data is received)
Step 6. Create final assets & refine them

After receiving feedback (re-iterations are multiple; we’re partially cutting the description of the art production cycle for the sake of brevity), the animation team applies the edits and prepares the final assets that the development team can then integrate into whatever game development environment they’re using.

Time to Deliver
~1 week (after all the input project data is received)
Step 1. Understand the context & goals of the project

We discuss what kind of animation you want and what kind of project it will be. For example, clients with IP-based games already have character design and animation sequences we’re supposed to recreate. For clients who want 2d animation services as a part of brand-new game development, the pipeline is different: we design characters/environmental details, pick the style, and so on.

Time to Deliver
~1 week (after all the input project data is received)
Step 2. Figure out the project’s milestones & details of implementations

During each project, we’re trying to answer the question of how to make 2D animation that would both serve players and gameplay. Having your needs and goals in mind, at this stage we’re figuring out what we have and what needs to be done. For a brand new game, it’s usually: figuring out art style, gameplay needs the animation is supposed to meet, and technical and financial limitations we have to account for when creating it.

Time to Deliver
~1 week (after all the input project data is received)
Step 3. Collect materials & references for animation

At this stage, our art team, collaborating with you or your in-house artist, collects references for animations, draft storyboards, and so on. It’s a preparation stage that’s meant to solidify the vision of the project for the team.

Time to Deliver
~1 week (after all the input project data is received)
Step 4. Detail animation roadmap

With an idea of priorities for the project (where character/fighting animation is usually on top of the chain), we create a roadmap for the project — along with all instructions, references, contextual clues, and deadlines assigned to each element of it.

Time to Deliver
~1 week (after all the input project data is received)
Step 5. Create drafts & submit them for review

Our animators create drafts for animations within established deadlines: figure out key poses, lines and arcs of actions, spacing and timing for each animation. Then, they submit draft assets for review to clients.

Time to Deliver
~1 week (after all the input project data is received)
Step 6. Create final assets & refine them

After receiving feedback (re-iterations are multiple; we’re partially cutting the description of the art production cycle for the sake of brevity), the animation team applies the edits and prepares the final assets that the development team can then integrate into whatever game development environment they’re using.

Time to Deliver
~1 week (after all the input project data is received)

iLogos 2D Animation Team

You’ll be working with our incredible 2D animators who’ll work under the guidance of the head of art and art directors (who have major experience in both game animation and storytelling.)
Art Director
At iLogos, the Art Director handles communication with clients, evaluates the performance of the department, oversees the animation project’s delivery, and analyzes its outcomes. They also develop the visual style and aesthetics of the game’s graphics, animations, and UI, — and help maintain their consistency throughout the project.
In collaboration with Art and Animation Leads and game writers, they craft storyboards for quests and cutscenes.
Lead 2D Animator
Lead 2D animator, just like the art lead, closely works with Art Director, — to translate the game’s atmosphere, pacing, and visual style into the motion design within it. They choose or devise animation pipelines and make sure animations within the games are realistic and fluid; that they are built for players to feel in control of what their characters are doing and immersed in what’s happening around them.
Art Lead
An Art Lead teams with the Art Director and helps maintain chosen artistic vision for a game. They manage a team of 2D artists, validate concepts and art assets created for existing and forthcoming storylines / characters / environments (before sending them up to Art Director), mentor the team on the best drawing practices, and make sure 2D art assets are ready for animation in time.
2D Artists
2D artists draw concepts, illustrations, icons, and sometimes, partially, UI elements for the game — in the style you’ve agreed upon with the art director. They create character art and art for the environment, locations, weapons, consumables, and other props according to the game’s story and gameplay needs. They also render those assets, preparing them for animation.
2D Animators
And animation artists do! They these art assets & rigs and give them life within the game’s story, player’s experience, and artistic vision of the game. It’s time-consuming, but an immensely rewarding job: good animation makes the game feel magical, and they’re trying hard — and succeeding — to make them like that.
Tecnical Animator
Technical animator takes the art assets created by the team and uses their knowledge of animation & engineering within gameplay to put the rigs together and make the assets move according to storyboards/game mechanics that are underlying the scene, so animation artists would set them in motion.

Why iLogos 2D Animation Studio?

Partially, iLogos is a 2D animation studio. When we aren’t working on development for amazing game projects, our artists draw and animate for them.
Accelerate art production
Our process for art production and 2D animation in particular is streamlined, well-thought-out, and tested in multiple diverse projects. Involving us in your game if your team doesn’t have animation artists or if you don’t have enough hands helped many clients release the game on time or even gain a vital competitive edge over studios that develop in similar genres.
2D animation that fits your IP perfectly
Graphics in games that are based on another IP require attention to detail and care as character design and animation need to be accurately replicated from the source material. iLogos has worked on multiple IP-based projects, and we’ve been really good at recreating characters, motions, and environments the existing audience of the project already knows and loves.
Find niche animators quickly
Collaborating with iLogos, you can hire 2D animators with expertise in various genres, even the rarest ones. Contact us if you want animation 2D for, for instance, pixel art projects, games with graphics within isometric projections, or games where 2D graphics would feel like 3D. Any niche you like — we’ve probably worked within it.
Get an outside angle to boost creativity.
Getting animation artists from the iLogos team to yours will provide a new perspective on the project. Collaboration often proves a source of inspiration and design decisions that fit the mechanics of the game and its story better — and multiple games we’ve joined benefited because of it.
Accelerate art production
Our process for art production and 2D animation in particular is streamlined, well-thought-out, and tested in multiple diverse projects. Involving us in your game if your team doesn’t have animation artists or if you don’t have enough hands helped many clients release the game on time or even gain a vital competitive edge over studios that develop in similar genres.
2D animation that fits your IP perfectly
Graphics in games that are based on another IP require attention to detail and care as character design and animation need to be accurately replicated from the source material. iLogos has worked on multiple IP-based projects, and we’ve been really good at recreating characters, motions, and environments the existing audience of the project already knows and loves.
Find niche animators quickly
Collaborating with iLogos, you can hire 2D animators with expertise in various genres, even the rarest ones. Contact us if you want animation 2D for, for instance, pixel art projects, games with graphics within isometric projections, or games where 2D graphics would feel like 3D. Any niche you like — we’ve probably worked within it.
Get an outside angle to boost creativity.
Getting animation artists from the iLogos team to yours will provide a new perspective on the project. Collaboration often proves a source of inspiration and design decisions that fit the mechanics of the game and its story better — and multiple games we’ve joined benefited because of it.

Schedule a call with our team right now

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is Better: 2D or 3D Animation?

Well, it’s pretty unfair to compare these styles. Often, games would include both, for different purposes: 3D graphics would become a part of environmental and character design, while 2D would fit into maps, books, etc. But, if you’re trying to choose which one to use for your project, game studios pick 2D graphics for small projects or indies and 3D for large ones. That doesn’t mean large projects cannot be done in 2D, though: see Hollow Knight, Hades, or the original Ori. Creating 3D art and 3D animations is simply often a more complex, labor-intensive process, so 3D artists charge more than 2D artists. Compelling stories can be told via both of these mediums in games, and your choice depends on a) your budget, and b) what graphic is a better fit for your story/idea stylistically. 

How Does 2D Animation For Games Work?

2D animation is several two-dimensional pictures in a sequence — it’s all simple, really. For games, 2D animation artists prepare the assets (various characters, items, elements of the environment, and so on) — refine and render them — for import into the game engines of choice. Within game engines, they are tweaked and integrated into the game. Animation is done in various software suites: Spine 2D, Adobe Animate, Blender, Fusion Animator, Pyxel Edit, and others.

How Much Does 2D Animation for Games Cost?

Expenses are normally regulated by two factors: animation artists’ rate per hour — which usually derives from their experience in the field/with the genre — and the amount of work to be done. Complex character animations would require more than animating an item, for instance. The parameters of complexity will also depend on the number of re-iterations you and the animation artists would agree upon (how many times the animation can be revised before it’s ready for import). One minute of 2D animation may be priced somewhere between $3,000 and $50,000. 

Why Outsource 2D Animation Services?

Outsourcing animation gives you 

  1. a) flexibility (you can focus on other work while delegating animation to someone else), 
  2. b) saved costs (you don’t have to spend time & money on hiring, onboarding, and creating a working environment for in-house animation artists), 
  3. c) outside perspective on the project (useful, as we’ve mentioned), 
  4. d) talent you couldn’t find at home (with tech shortages being what they are, it’s often hard to find specialists you want quickly; outsourcing responds to that issue.)  

Outsourcing is also considered a more reliable and organized option than opting for hiring freelancers.

Which Styles Do You Have Expertise with at iLogos?

Honestly — all the styles you require. We create a cartoon, stylized, and realistic 2D art and animate it, work within various settings — from sci-fi and fantasy to horror and casual adventures, and can, if needed, develop your art style from scratch.  

Which Genres Do You Have Expertise with at iLogos?

We had a chance to work on more than 458 game dev projects across multiple genres. These include real-time strategies, role-playing games, survival and tower defense games, shooters and fighting games, puzzles and simulators, and more. We most likely have already worked in the genre you have in mind, so send us a word if you want to collaborate. 

Speak with Our Experts

We help you hit your goals faster thanks to our great expertise.

If you prefer to contact us, use this email: bizdev@ilogos.biz

Ready to conquer the gaming world with us?

    All information received will always remain confidential.
    This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
    Request sent!
    Thank you for submitting your interest!
    Our colleagues will be in touch soon.