The typographic kinetic poem look
Published 28 September 2026.
In the kinetic poem look, the words are the pictures. Type fills the frame at enormous scale, letters split, stretch and flip on the beat, and the copy is written with rhythm, like a short poem. The product itself appears once, as a single strong moment, and it lands harder because it's the only image in the reel.
Where the look comes from
Moving type as the main event owes a lot to Saul Bass's film titles. The BFI quotes Bass on The Man with the Golden Arm (1955): "Why not make it move? It was as simple as that." His titles for North by Northwest (1959) send the credits speeding across the screen, and Art of the Title notes that sequence is often credited as the first to use kinetic type, or simply type in motion.
The idea has since spread from cinema titles to adverts, music videos and social clips, where a line of text that moves well can hold attention without a single picture.
What's in this reel
- A stack of words that stretches and squeezes like an accordion.
- Letters on tiles that flip over to become new words.
- A line of text that curls along a path.
- The hole inside a letter opening up as a window onto the next scene.
- Words assembled from slats, and letters that drop in with a squash and stretch.
Brands it suits, and ones it doesn't
It suits anything whose product is words or ideas: courses, newsletters, writers, podcasts, coaches and guide sites like the one above. It's also a good choice when you don't have striking screenshots, since the reel doesn't lean on them.
If your product's screen is the whole pitch, say a design tool or a game, you'll want more of it on screen than one moment. The split screens or the cinematic dark glow looks give real screens more time.
Music that pairs with it
- Lo-fi hip-hop (the reel above): the lazy swing gives the words time to breathe.
- Boom bap for culture, media and confident founder stories.
- Neo-soul for coaches, creators and premium services.
- Ambient piano for a thoughtful explainer.
Make one like this
Start from this reel and yours keeps its look, its scene order, its pacing and its kind of music. The words, facts, colours and logo are yours, only facts you've approved go on screen, and nothing from howtogetaito.com carries over. It's priced like any other reel: the Short is £9, the Reel £29 and the Bundle, cut for 16:9, 9:16 and 4:5, £49.
No website yet? Start from your logo and a few facts, then pick this look on the style step.
Sources
All checked on 28 September 2026.
- BFI: Celebrating Saul Bass's centenary: 10 essential title sequences
- Art of the Title: North by Northwest (1959)