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What Are Lottie Animations and Why Designers Love Them

  • Feb 13
  • 2 min read
lottie-files-logo-excited-girl-with-a-phone

Lottie animations are lightweight, scalable animations that run using JSON files instead of heavy video formats like MP4 or GIF. They are widely used in modern websites, mobile apps, and user interfaces because they load fast, stay sharp at any size, and cana be made interactive. Lottie was originally developed by Airbnb, and the official ecosystem now lives under Lottie by Design Barn (lottiefiles.com and lottie.github.io), which provides tools, libraries, and community resources for working with Lottie animations.


(an example of a looping lottie animation)


How Lottie Animations Are Made


Lottie animations usually start as motion design projects inside Adobe After Effects. Designers create vector-based animations, UI motion, icons, loaders, and transitions — then export them as Lottie JSON files.


Method 1 — Bodymovin Plugin (Most Common Way)


One of the main ways to create Lottie files is using the Bodymovin plugin in After Effects.

Workflow:


  1. Design and animate using vector shapes in After Effects

  2. Avoid unsupported features (like effects or complex expressions)

  3. Install the Bodymovin extension

  4. Select compositions

  5. Export as .json (Lottie)


Bodymovin converts your animation data into code that apps and websites can play in real time.


Method 2 — LottieLab


LottieLab is a newer browser-based tool that lets designers:


  • Create animations directly in the browser

  • Edit existing Lottie files

  • Add interactivity without code

  • Export production-ready Lottie files


It removes the need to fully rely on After Effects and is becoming popular for UI/UX teams who want fast iteration.


Where Lottie Animations Are Used


Lottie animations are used in:


Websites


  • Hero animations

  • Micro-interactions

  • Icons that animate on hover

  • Scroll-based motion


Mobile Apps


  • Onboarding animations

  • Success/error states

  • Loading indicators

  • Interactive UI feedback


Product & SaaS Interfaces


  • Empty states

  • Feature highlights

  • Button animations

  • Navigation transitions


Because they are code-driven animations, they integrate directly with app and web performance.


LottieFiles Platform


LottieFiles is one of the biggest platforms for Lottie users. It provides:


  • A huge library of ready-made animations

  • Preview tools

  • Plugins for After Effects and Figma

  • Testing and optimization tools


It helps designers share and test animations easily.


Limitations of Lottie Animations


Even though Lottie is powerful, it has limitations:


  • Not all After Effects features are supported

  • Heavy use of effects can break exports

  • Large complex animations may cause performance issues

  • 3D layers and raster textures don’t export well

  • Expressions are only partially supported


This means Lottie works best with clean vector motion, not cinematic motion graphics.


Why Lottie Is So Important Today


Lottie sits between design and development. It allows motion designers to create animations that are:


  • Developer-friendly

  • Lightweight

  • Interactive

  • Scalable


It’s one of the key technologies behind modern UI motion design.

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