Bringing Depth to Design

Anand Sharma

Anand Sharma

@aprilzero

Real‑time 3D and crisp micro‑animations no longer require a VFX team; libraries like Three.js make it easy to import and interact with objects, while designer‑friendly tools such as Rive and Spline let you draw, rig, and ship interactive graphics straight from the browser. These advances mean depth, parallax, and motion cues can now serve everyday product interfaces—not just marketing microsites.

For inspiration, here’s some of the latest examples of what you can do with the latest motion and 3D libraries:

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to start adding basic 3D and excellent animation to your designs. Whether you’re comfortable diving into the code yourself or leveraging AI to generate implementations, these powerful tools are now accessible to designers at all technical levels. The resources below provide step-by-step tutorials for the most effective libraries, allowing you to experiment with depth and motion without specialized expertise.

  1. Three.js - Creating a Scene

    This introduction to browser-based 3D shows you how to build a spinning cube in under 20 lines. Identify the three core objects (scene, camera, renderer) that form the foundation of every Three.js project. Three.js makes custom WebGL accessible when you need precise control over 3D elements.

  2. GSAP - Getting Started

    GSAP is a professional-grade animation library obsessed with performance, consistently delivering silky-smooth 60 FPS animations even on low-powered devices. Explore powerful features like ScrollTrigger that synchronizes complex animations with scroll position, or the timeline functionality that precisely sequences multiple animations. GSAP’s performance-first approach ensures your animations remain buttery smooth while clarifying relationships and guiding user attention throughout your interface.

  3. Rive - Visual State Machines

    Rive is a no-code tool that lets designers connect hover, click, or drag triggers to vector animations without writing JavaScript. Export a Rive animation and compare its file size to an equivalent GIF to see the efficiency benefits. Rive enables you to create production-ready interactions visually.

  4. Spline - Code & Viewer Export

    Spline is a browser-based 3D tool that exports complete interactive scenes as a single component. Try making a simple scene and enabling “Orbit” on scroll to see how easily you can integrate 3D experiences. Spline makes scroll-reactive 3D accessible without requiring any WebGL expertise.

  5. Adobe Mixamo - Character Animation

    Mixamo is a free service that automates 3D character rigging and animation. Upload a model and instantly apply professional motion-captured animations, making it easy to add lifelike characters to Three.js or Spline projects without specialized skills.