Kinetic typography is certainly a great way to spruce up any piece of audio and it’s a lot of fun to watch but its real value lies elsewhere. The true genius behind kinetic typography is its ability to command the undivided attention of its viewer. A presentation of kinetic typography, in sync with an audio track, demands the attention of two senses. This serves to cut down on distraction and to reinforce the information we consume by allowing for deeper cognition.
If you think about how we normally ingest information, it rarely involves two sensory inputs. Usually, information is presented to us either visually or audibly. This allows us to be distracted from the information we are consuming. For example, a person reading a book is subject to the sounds that surround them, like conversations, ticking clocks, or car horns. Similarly, someone listening to a lecture or a song can be easily distracted by things or people that they see. It makes sense to think that the more senses that an information source can actively engage, the less likely that source’s audience is to be distracted. When reading a book, only sight is engaged, which leaves the four other senses free to roam and draw attention to irrelevant stimuli. With kinetic typography videos, the only three senses left unengaged are touch, smell, and taste. As long as the viewer isn’t too hungry, a kinetic typography video has a good chance at holding their attention.
For example, the first time I listen to a song, I usually focus on the melody and overall sound of the piece. In the case of the video for Jonathan Coulton's song, "Shop Vac," the kinetic typography allows for an evaluation of both the "feel" of the song and the content of the lyrics. Additionally, what separates the “Shop Vac” video from a lecture with a PowerPoint presentation is that the “Shop Vac” video demands active cognition. Commonly, a PowerPoint presentation is simply an abbreviated form of the lecture it accompanies. In the “Shop Vac” video, Jarrett Heather's animations present themselves as symbols or metaphors for concepts that are not explicitly shown. For example, the word “dog” appears with a wagging tail and bubbles appear alongside the word “drunk.” By requiring the viewer to recognize the relationship between the word and the animation, kinetic typography facilitates a level of cognition that cannot be as easily obtained by simple print or audio tracks.