Presented by Contract Magazine, the Annual Interiors Awards celebrate great design by honoring winners in 15 project categories of commercial interior architecture and design, as well as the Designer of the Year and Design Legend awards. Pentagram created all of the motion graphics for the 2017 event, including a title sequence that opened the ceremony and animations introducing each category, and short film profiles of the Designer of the Year, Suzette Subance Ferrier, and Design Legend, Michael Vanderbyl.
The sequences use simple design elements—line and color—to create dynamic animations that introduce each winner in their respective category. The theme of this year’s awards is “Adapt and Elevate,” and the graphics establish a lively and cohesive framework for the experience of the event in a way that pays tribute to the winning works. Each sequence isolates a specific structural detail of its winning design to form a graphic pattern that gradually reveals the winning design and segues into a photographic montage.
The approach also echoes the clean, modern look of Contract’s branding and editorial design. The 2016 sequences, also designed by Pentagram, used a visual language inspired by classic op art geometry and pop art color. The 2017 intros go for a more contemporary effect, referencing digitally focused op art and using brighter, more extreme color. Typography is set in Calibre, the magazine’s typeface. Each sequence is accompanied by original music composed by Jacob Rosati.
The event kicked off with a number countdown that helped amp up energy at the Breakfast, which is held in the early morning. The show opened with a title sequence that cuts together graphics from the various category sequences, teasing what’s to come.
The team also directed short profiles of Subance, a studio design director at TPG Architecture, who was named Designer of the Year, and Vanderbyl, who was selected as Design Legend. The team spent time with each of the designers and filmed them speaking about their work, giving viewers insight into their design thinking and process.
