Weareseventeen forges future paths into motion design with the launch of OPN festival

Looking forward to a summer of rain… and some great motion design? Then London’s the place to be. Making its debut this June, OPN festival will be showcasing everything the evolving motion industry has to offer. Introducing London’s most innovative moving image studios and successful industry professionals to a new generation of designers, the festival aims to mix young people in with the contemporary motion design scene, with the aim to “bridge the gap between emerging and established talent”.

With a jam-packed line up of talks and industry workshops led by BUCK, Maxon, Cavalry and Echoic, the two-day festival will be hosted in the Ravensbourne University building on the Greenwich Peninsula on the 20 and 21 June. The festival’s events have been carefully curated to “appeal to everyone interested in the moving image world, no matter what stage of their career they’re at”, says the press release. The mixed crowd of current and future designers attending will be able to see live art performances throughout the festival from creative artist Elly Wade and illustrator Addyson Brough, and hear some insightful advice from the likes of global studios and creatives FutureDeluxe, XK Studio, Golden Wolf, weareseventeen, Found, Fluent, Christie Morgan of Pitch Studios, Natalie Liu and award-winning sound design studio Echoic Audio.

With motion design now a broad, varied and expanding industry, OPN was created with the intention to foster the sector’s growing presence in the creative world by forming a common meeting point for those working in motion as well as creating a space for new and exciting work to develop. Senior motion designer at weareseventeen Chris Cousins says: “Motion design is where the most exciting and innovative work is being done in the visual arts. It’s all about looking forward and carving out new aesthetics – continually redefining what is possible, ignoring boundaries and embracing change at its core”.

Weareseventeen has developed the festival’s fun abstract identity, creating “a playful collage of visuals from all speakers and students involved”. The creative studio has also been working with Ravensbourne’s BA Motion Graphic students to create a collaborative moving image project, using motion capture, that will be screened as a finale for the festival’s two days of events. The festival’s main stage will also feature a panel of students from Ravensbourne’s BA (Hons) Motion Graphics course, presented by Raquel Villa (XK Studio) and Yas N Vicente (FutureDeluxe).

With students able to attend for free and all profit from ticket sales “donated to both Ravensbourne University’s program of free workshops for school and colleges, and Brixton Finishing School” it’s clear that the festival has the merging of industry, access and education as its core. Course leader of BA (Hons) Motion Graphics at Ravensbourne University, Adrian Baxter explains: “Motion Design is a discipline rarely known to young creatives in schools and colleges [...] We hope that this inclusive and accessible platform offers a clearer celebration for the motion design community, from learner and educator to professional.”