Coat of Arms | SXSW 2024 Film & TV Festival

Since 2018, we have had the delight and honor of creating the SXSW Film and TV Festival’s showopen. With a multi-year partnership like this, artistic confidence and trust take centerstage. That trust has allowed us to absorb and intentionally reflect the wonderful character of the artists, audiences, volunteers, and community that is SXSW.

 Our team brainstormed on the concepts for this piece and art director, Elena Chudoba, brought humor and happy vibes to these boards. Meanwhile, an incredible team of animators brought every character, texture, and fine detail to life. The titles’ playful, happy celebration are magnified by music created by Wally and sound design by Jen Pague.

To avoid repetition and to be sure we’re creating work that entertains, Directors Clara Lehmann and Jonathan Lacocque kicked off a study of the 2024 showopen with concept exploration. They, along with the Coat of Arms team, carefully defined four concepts and presented them to SX. The “Western Pop” concept was selected to celebrate Austin and the ways SXSW brings everyone together in the ‘Cowboy State.’ This concept warps the traditional western motif by embodying fun colors, hand-drawn marks, odd photobashing, paper cut-outs, and outlandish proportions. Imagine a grackle-headed cowgirl riding a taco to the Paramount Theater or a SXSW film badge lanyard wrangling a bull. An energetic edit and animation will keep audiences engaged as they spot new things with each viewing. 

To bring this concept to life, Art Director Elena Chudoba tapped into humor and hopeful play to create boards that are tangible but outlandish. The design and animation team (Ryan Butterworth, David Reyes, Peiqing Lu, Daiqi Cui, Jordan Knight, Meng-Hsueh Lin, and Carly Johnson) brought motion to the styleframes with a mixture of 2d keyframe and cel animation. Producer Grace Lawson proposed the uniquely composed music by Wally (Hayley and Dexter Carpenter). And Jennifer Pague lassoed every last bit of possible quirkiness with sound design and mix. We’re so proud of our team and our collaborative partnership with SXSW. With love, Coat of Arms.

Credits:

Client: SXSW
Creative Directors: Clara Lehmann and Jonathan Lacocque
Concept Development: Jonathan Lacocque, Clara Lehmann, Elena Chudoba, David Reyes
Design Director: Ryan Butterworth
Art Director: Elena Chudoba
Producers: Clara Lehmann and Jonathan Lacocque
Associate Producer: Grace Lawson
Designers: Elena Chudoba, Paige Lu
Animators: David Reyes, Peiqing Lu, Carly Johnson, Daiqi Cui, Jordan Knight, Meng-Hsueh Lin
Composer: Wally
Sound Mixer and Designer: Jennifer Pague

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@coatofarmstv