Motion design galore: Weltformat Graphic Design Festival never rests
With kinetic design gaining momentum in the creative industry, the 14th edition of the Weltformat Graphic Design Festival in Lucerne, Switzerland this October is deeply rooted in motion.
Featuring six exhibitions, a symposium with international graphic artists, a competition for newcomers and panel discussions, the theme of this year's festival is Never Not Moving.
With the figurative representation of the theme the organizers aim to “introduce a broad audience to the art of motion design on the one hand and allude to the infinite variety that moving graphics offer consumers on the other. At the same time, the exciting diversity of the nine-day event picks up on digital as well as analog trends in design.”
Here Typeroom presents some highlights from this year’s extensive and versatile program.
“Every graphic is limited to its printed surface. Only in combination with a timeline does this allow for an almost endless enlargement of space with a lot of potential for more content, emotions, attention and skillful steering of the eye via the design - motion design. This core message is evident in the main exhibition We like to move it, which can be seen at the Kunsthalle in the Bourbaki” explains the curator of the We Like To Move It exhibition, Josh Schaub.
“Animated details can elicit emotions that would otherwise not arise from a static image. Movement also provides space for more information. Elements are able to disappear and others can appear. Details are emphasized by magnification, as the eye moves from the large to the small, the use of motion design making it easier to guide the audience. What moves, modifies or flashes attracts attention. With static graphics, on the other hand, these possibilities do not exist” he adds. “Thus, the festival offers inspiration for graphic designers, highlighting possibilities for students, animated design as an identity feature for companies and their corporate design, or original works of art for those interested.”
Featuring works by Raffinerie (Zurich), Bielke&Yang (Oslo), Studio Dumbar/DEPT® (Rotterdam) and Marco Zamana (Milano) the exhibition is complemented with a talk by the acclaimed design practice DIA Studio scheduled for October, 14, 2022.
Conceptualized by Josh Schaub, Erich Brechbühl and Felix Pfäffli the Move It! exhibition presents the creative outcome of seven renowned motion designers from around the globe to “show how a standard template with a white background and black text can be turned into an eye-catcher.”
Everyday Practice (Seoul), Gianluca Alla (London), Laia Ferran from Hey Studio (Barcelona), Ira Ivanova (Berlin), Lucas Hesse (Hamburg), Felix Pfäffli from Studio Feixen (Lucerne) and Roy Terhorst from Thonik (Amsterdam) were given the raw festival poster and the task of setting it in motion based on the theme Never Not Moving. “Their works prove to reach an exciting range from analog frame-by-frame animations to generative implementations” explain the curators.
The 14th edition of Weltformat aims to delve deep into the motion design realm. Therefore its two-part Symposium is a must-attend event that also works as this year’s festivalprelude.
“A pair of moderators, two short questions and six well-known guests from the graphics scene make up the mix of the Weltformat 2022 Symposium. For each question, three luminaries speak with the two moderators on stage. The first part is about motion design and its qualities as well as possible effects. The rest of the discussion will focus on what moves designers and how they deal with the changes in society, digitalization and their profession.”
The Moving On panel aka Nadine Kolodziey (Frankfurt/Berlin), Source Type (Zurich), and Masha Batsii (London) “responds to the festival theme Never Not Moving with an expanded understanding of the principle of staying in motion. Design is constantly evolving, which for designers means constantly re-creating professional identity. The panel offers insights into three different types of practices that contain elements of motion design, but at the same time pick up on the development of new fields of activity, forms of work, and attitudes. The positions range from an exploration of augmented reality as an artistic tool, to the diverse professional and personal possibilities offered by 3D art and animation, to critical reflection and alternative publishing strategies in type design.”
The Motion Design panel aka Vera van de Seyp (Amsterdam), Thonik (Amsterdam) and Daniel Wenzel (New York) addresses “motion design as an essential part of today's design practice. It sets graphic elements in motion, often adding sound to them, creating new forms of visual storytelling. Due to the popularity of moving content in contemporary visual communication, the field of motion design has recently experienced a boom. This is spawning a broader field of experimentation and leading to new opportunities for the profession. In this way, this panel discusses the connection between motion design, creative coding, and artificial intelligence. At the same time, it highlights the potential for commissions in both the commercial and public sectors, and builds a bridge to the relationship between type and motion design.”
Organised and moderated by Eva Schuler (Bern), Jonas Berthold (London) and Miriam Koban (Zurich) in partnership with Syndicom - Gewerkschaft Medien und Kommunikation, the Weltformat Symposium examines the kinetic design revolution at its core.
Yet, the Weltformat team provides more reasons for one to attend this year’s 14th edition. Enter an exhibition that features the winners of the international competition Best Book Design from All Over the World, the Titles in Motion exhibition that presents a flashback in motion design by means of the opening and end credits, the exhibition 100 Best Posters (100 beste Plakate e.V.) that presents the winning posters from Germany, Austria and Switzerland showcasing “the creative exploration of the poster as a medium and the versatile work of the graphic design scene from German-speaking countries” and its Newcomer Award exhibition that features this year’s twenty most exciting visual interpretations of the theme Speed, all winning entries created by creatives under the age of 30.
Explore the festival’s full timetable here.
The Weltformat Graphic Design Festival 2022 is on from the 8th till the 16th of October 2022 in Lucerne, Switzerland.
Tags/ book design, exhibition, switzerland, festival, posters, kinetic, studio dumbar, symposium, title design, weltformat
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