2020 Film Independent
Spirit Awards
The Film Independent Spirit Awards celebrated their 35th anniversary in 2020 with graphics that combined the glitz and shine of the awards with the grit and energy of independent film. For the sixth year running, team Emily Oberman at Pentagram designed the show packaging and motion graphics for the ceremony, reinventing the ceremony’s identity through type, color and movement. The underlying goal of each year’s package has been to elevate the look and feel of the Spirit Awards and to bring them in line with other awards shows, but in a way that feels true to their indie, offbeat roots. Check out the 2019 Film Independent Spirit Awards package.
Seen in a constant state of flux, the liquid metal type offers a visual metaphor for film as a dynamic medium and Film Independent as a group that supports change. The graphics play with the materiality of the mercury-like type, which has a jittery, quicksilver energy. The words zoom off to make way for something new. Speed lines inspired by anime zip across the letterforms to punctuate sequences. The typography, transitions, and ambient stage graphics play with refraction, distortion, warping and cell animation layered throughout, evoking the gleam and glow of awards shows, in a slightly gritty, explosive, and celebratory way.
To mirror the refraction and reflection qualities of the type, the set design consisted of a series of 9 screens
displaying ambient animations during the ceremony. The screens created abstract surfaces that contrast the speedy
type with slower movement, delving deeper into material with metallic, reflective, and liquid transitions.
displaying ambient animations during the ceremony. The screens created abstract surfaces that contrast the speedy
type with slower movement, delving deeper into material with metallic, reflective, and liquid transitions.
Client: Film Independent
Partner and Creative Director: Emily Oberman, Pentagram Design
Design: Laura Berglund, Shira Inbar, Matt Varner, Jase Hueser
Animation: Shira Inbar, Jase Hueser, Chris Bruffee
Producers: Rick Austin, Beatriz Congar
Partner and Creative Director: Emily Oberman, Pentagram Design
Design: Laura Berglund, Shira Inbar, Matt Varner, Jase Hueser
Animation: Shira Inbar, Jase Hueser, Chris Bruffee
Producers: Rick Austin, Beatriz Congar