2.5D

In 2.5D, each element (a title, an illustration, a chart) stays flat, like a sheet of paper, but the sheets are arranged at different depths. A virtual camera can then move between them, tilt, or push in, and the layers shift relative to one another, creating parallax. Elements can also be given a little thickness, shadows or extrusion to suggest volume.

It sits between classic flat 2D motion design and full 3D, where objects are modeled, textured and lit. 2.5D keeps the clarity and speed of 2D design while borrowing some of the depth and drama of 3D.

On a small vertical screen, depth helps separate foreground information from background and gives a sense of movement even when the content itself is static. A slow camera push toward a key number can add emphasis without any extra text.

The trade-off is legibility: perspective makes text smaller or skewed, and heavy camera moves can distract from the explanation. For dense diagrams, flat 2D is often clearer.

A video explains the layers of the internet stack. In flat 2D, five labeled bars stack vertically. In 2.5D, the same five bars are layered in depth; the camera starts on the top layer, then dollies down through the stack, each layer sliding past with parallax as it’s named.