Originally South by Southwest – a riff on Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest – was only a music festival, first organised in 1987. Seven years later SXSW expanded by adding the SXSW Film and Multimedia Conference, and in 1995 those were split into two components – SXSW Film and SXSW Interactive. Just like most film festivals SXSW has its own SXSW Film Awards, focusing on new directing talent. This annual event honours the creativity and talent demonstrated by film makers and designers in the SXSW program. The awards comprise a balance of Audience and Jury selected winners, including SXSW Film Design Awards for Excellence in Poster and Title Design. Always a fan favorite, the Film Poster Gallery at the Austin Convention Center showed poster art from films featured in the Festival program. The Title Design Finalists were screened last Sunday, March 8, where the favourite title sequences of the year were showcased. Below are the winners in the Excellence in Poster Design and Excellence in Title Design categories, together with a gallery of the nominated title sequences.
:: UPDATED :: Winners Audience Awards added
Excellence in Poster Design
In 2009, AIGA board member David Horridge and SXSW teamed up to launch the SXSW Film/AIGA Austin Award for Excellence in Movie Poster Design. Following its success, it became a permanent component of the SXSW Film Awards. An essential and growing part of the SXSW Film Design Awards, the annual Film Poster Competition always draws plenty of attention. Each year, a dedicated poster gallery highlights work from international design and illustration talent in one of the only contests of its kind. Last year's gallery can be viewed in its entirety on Flickr, but no sign of this year's posters (yet).
At SXSW 2013 Akiko Stehrenberger's Kiss of The Damned for Gravillis Inc. sporting Bodoni won both the Jury and the Audience Award in 2013. Special Jury Recognition went to We Always Lie To Strangers, designed by Palaceworks' Erik Buckham, with John Downer's wood type-inspired Council in a supporting role. This year another big name in film poster art was honoured – Jay Shaw won with his onesheet for Starry Eyes.
Winner |Starry Eyes
Designer | Jay Shaw
Main typeface | antiqued handwritten script, somewhere between Treefrog and Escrita
Supporting typeface | ITC Benguiat
:: UPDATE ::
Damn time zones – a little after publishing this post I learned that the Film Audience Award Winners also had been announced. Corey Holms won with Big Significant Things, the poster for director Bryan Reisberg's feature length directorial debut at the 2014 SXSW Film Festival.
Big Significant Things
Designer | Corey Holms
Typeface | Gotham
Excellence in Title Design
:: UPDATE ::
The opening title sequence for True Detective not only won the "regular" Film Design Award, it also won the Audience Award.
HBO's True Detective – Main Title Sequence from Patrick Clair on Vimeo.
Winner |True Detective
Design | Patrick Clair for Elastic
Typefaces | ITC Avant Garde Gothic Condensed, Minion
The Lego Movie – Main Titles from Alma Mater on Vimeo.
Special Jury Recognition |The Lego Movie
Design | Brian Mah for Alma Matter
Typeface | Dymo type
Nominees
ADBNE 2013 – Opening Titles from BREEDER on Vimeo.
Analogue/Digital 2013
Design | Joyce Ho for Breeder
Typeface | New Century Schoolbook
ANR from The Jack Stupid on Vimeo.
ANR
Direction | Matteo Di Gioia
Design | Luis Felipe Bueno for The Jack Stupid
Imaginary Forces – Black Sails from Imaginary Forces on Vimeo.
Black Sails
Direction | Neil Marshall (Pilot)
Design | Michelle Dougherty & Karin Fong for Imaginary Forces
Titles inspired by Kris Kuksi
HBO / Clear History / Main Title Sequence / Filmograph + L256 from Aaron Becker on Vimeo.
Clear History
Direction | Greg Mottola
Design | Aaron Becker for Filmograph & Level 256 VFX
Typeface | Lucida Sans
End Credits "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2" from Pete Oswald on Vimeo.
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2
Direction | Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn
Design | Craig Kellman and Pete Oswald for Sony Pictures Animation and Screen Novelties
Typefaces | Various
The Conjuring / Main on End Title Sequence / Filmograph from Aaron Becker on Vimeo.
The Conjuring
Direction | James Wan
Design | Aaron Becker for Filmograph
Typeface | Futura
The Glass Castle Titles from Torben Stange on Vimeo.
The Glass Castle
Design | Adrian Herr & Torben Stange
Typeface | Adobe Garamond, children's lettering
The Last of Us – Title Sequence from Henry Hobson . Bootsmith on Vimeo.
The Last of Us
Direction | Neil Druckmann
Design | Henry Hobson & Kevin Joelson for Bootmaker Films & Sony Creative SCEA
Typeface | Compacta
"Masters of Sex" from Elastic on Vimeo.
Masters Of Sex
Various Directors
Design | Leanne Dare for Elastic
Typeface | Neutraface
feed your creative brain // motion 2013 from leftchannel on Vimeo.
Motion 2013
Design | leftchannel (who use Affair for their logo)
Typeface | Various
Imaginary Forces – Pacific Rim: Main Titles from Imaginary Forces on Vimeo.
Pacific Rim
Direction | Guillermo del Toro
Design | Miguel Lee for Imaginary Forces
Typeface | Agency Extended
Ping Pong Summer Opening Title Sequence from CHIPS on Vimeo.
Ping Pong Summer
Direction | Michael Tully
Design | Teddy Blanks for CHIPS
Typeface | Rounded sans serif
"Salty Toons" Title Sequence (HD) from Peter Ahern on Vimeo.
Salty Toons
Direction & design | Peter Ahern, Peter Ahern Productions
SEMI-PERMANENT 2013 TITLES from Danny Yount on Vimeo.
Semi-Permanent Portland 2013
Design | Danny Yount
Typeface | Gotham
Uneasy Lies The Mind – Opening Title Sequence from Ricky Fosheim on Vimeo.
Uneasy Lies the Mind
Direction & design | Ricky Fosheim for Detention Films
Typefaces | Distressed sans serifs
LVVDP title sequence from Mitch Pecqueur on Vimeo.
La Vraie Vie Des Profs
Direction | Emmanuel Klotz and Albert Pereira Lazaro
Design | Alexis Beaumont & Michel 'Mitch' Pecqueur for 2.4.7. Films
Typefaces | Various pixel/bitmap fonts
