Animation Vocabulary (Animations.dev)
Emil Kowalski's named glossary of motion patterns — the prompt vocabulary layer for telling AI (and humans) exactly which animation to build.
@emilkowalski: "To get good animations from an AI you need to get good at telling it what you want" — stagger, direction-aware transitions, spatial consistency, crossfade, layout animation. Published at animations.dev/vocabulary (5,300 likes, 7,726 bookmarks). The broader course/source page is Animations.dev. Source: X/@emilkowalski, 2026-06-01; Source: animations.dev/vocabulary, 2026-06-13
The 2026-06-29 /animation-vocabulary skill adds an executable reverse-lookup layer: when a user can describe the sensation but not the term, the agent should answer with the exact glossary phrase first, then disambiguate nearby terms such as Morph vs Crossfade vs Shared element transition. This reinforces the existing local decision: Kevin's active executable owner stays design-engineering-polish; this page is the glossary/source authority. Source: X/@emilkowalski, 2026-06-29; Source: GitHub emilkowalski/skills, 2026-06-30
Local artifact review confirmed the visual taxonomy, not just the text link: the video/screenshot shows the glossary moving through state transitions such as Crossfade, Morph, Shared element transition, Layout animation, and Direction-aware transition, plus Sequencing & Timing and Feedback & Interaction sections. Save this as vocabulary Kevin's agents should use before asking for "smooth animation." Source: X/@emilkowalski visual artifact, 2026-06-01
Source Snapshot
As of 2026-06-30, emilkowalski/skills is MIT licensed, defaults to main at a47903a06a05d2e24c483bd8961c85969a51a494, has 3,858 stars and 292 forks, and has no public releases or tags. Brin returned caution for both repo and skill scans (repo score 65, skill score 58), so the repo remains a curated source/candidate rather than a blind bundle install. Source: GitHub API; git ls-remote; Brin API, 2026-06-30
Glossary sections
| Section | Example terms |
|---|---|
| Entrances & exits | Fade in, slide in, scale in, pop in, reveal |
| Sequencing | Stagger, orchestration, keyframes, fill mode |
| Movement | Translate, origin-aware animation, 3D tilt |
| State transitions | Crossfade, shared element, layout animation, direction-aware |
| Scroll | Scroll reveal, parallax, view transition |
| Interaction | Press feedback, drag to reorder, rubber-banding |
| Easing & springs | Ease-out default, asymmetric easing, interruptible animation |
Source: animations.dev/vocabulary, 2026-06-13
Prompt examples (how to use with agents)
Parallel to UI Component Vocabulary — name the pattern, get the output:
| Vague prompt | Vocabulary-sharp prompt |
|---|---|
| "animate the list" | "staggered fade-in, 40ms delay, ease-out, origin-aware slide from bottom" |
| "smooth page change" | "direction-aware transition: forward slides left, back slides right; crossfade titles" |
| "button feels good" | "press feedback: scale 0.97 on active, 150ms ease-out, interruptible" |
| "scroll section" | "scroll reveal with parallax on background, 20% scrub" |
Source: compiled from animations.dev glossary + design-engineering-polish principles, 2026-06-13
Stack fit (Kevin)
- Load through
skills/engineering/design-engineering-polish/SKILL.mdbefore Frontend and Design Skills or Frontend and Design Skills agent tasks — paste relevant glossary terms into prompts. - Use the upstream reverse-lookup skill shape when Kevin asks "what is this animation called?" Answer with the term first, then one or two close alternates.
- Enforce in Interface Micro-Polish reviews: reject "add animation" tickets without named patterns.
- Pairs with Frontend and Design Skills for scroll section vocabulary (pin, scrub) vs Framer for component motion.
Timeline
- 2026-06-30 | Deep-reviewed the 2026-06-29
/animation-vocabularybookmark and source repo. Recorded source snapshot, Brin caution, and the adoption decision: use Emil's skill as glossary/reference input throughdesign-engineering-polish, not as a duplicate local command. Source: X bookmark artifact audit, 2026-06-30; GitHubemilkowalski/skills - 2026-06-30 | Deep-reviewed the original 2026-06-01 visual artifact and confirmed the durable taxonomy: named motion categories should be prompted explicitly instead of generic "make it smooth" requests. Source: X/@emilkowalski, 2026-06-01; Source: animations.dev/vocabulary, 2026-06-30
- 2026-06-29 | Folded routing into
design-engineering-polishinstead of creating a duplicateanimation-vocabularyskill. The glossary remains the tool/source page; the executable owner is Emil's design-engineering skill. Source: missing-skills audit, 2026-06-29 - 2026-06-30 | Linked to Animations.dev as the broader course/source page after artifact review separated course authority from glossary authority. Source: X bookmark artifact audit, 2026-06-30
- 2026-06-01 | @emilkowalski ships public motion vocabulary + course tie-in. Source: X/@emilkowalski, 2026-06-01
- 2026-06-13 | Wiki page from bookmark absorb. Source: compiled, 2026-06-13
- 2026-06-13 | Quality remediation: prompt example table, tier 2 promotion. Source: Agent, 2026-06-13