Animation and Motion Design Conferences to attend in 2024
Animation and Motion Design events in:
Asia
Oceania
Europe
North America
South America
Animation and motion design are closely related, but very different. Animation is an umbrella term for the whole field of moving images, including everything from cartoons to claymation. Motion design focuses on adding movement to graphic elements to support the storytelling aspect of a film title, a voiceover, or a gesture in a mobile app. In essence, motion design is animated graphic design.
What the selected festivals have in common is that they represent a crossover between the fields. They showcase the process behind blockbuster films to indie animation productions and everything in between.
All programmes are highly curated. They offer great value through inspiration, workshops, learning experiences and plenty of networking opportunities to energise your work and bring your ideas to life.
If you are new to the motion design industry, a great place to start is at a conference like The Art Department, Motion Motion Festival, or Motion Plus Design in North America. If you are new to the animation industry, Pictoplasma in Berlin is excellent.
These conferences offer a wide range of talks, workshops and exhibitions by industry professionals, providing an opportunity to learn about new technologies and techniques, network with other professionals and gain inspiration for your own work. They also often have sessions specifically designed for beginners or those new to the industry.
If you are on a budget, attending local meetups or online events can be a great option. Many cities have motion design and animation meetups where you can network with other industry professionals and learn about new techniques and technologies. Many conferences also offer student or early bird discounts, so it's worth checking the conference website or contacting the organisers to see if there are any discounts available.
Europe
Mouvo
Since 2016, Mouvo, focus on the intersection of graphic design, film, animation, and technology. What started as a one-day event full of inspiring talks is now a considerable range of design-related activities with a common goal. To get you closer to the best industry movers, learn from them and get inspired by their cutting-edge creations. The world-class annual conference in Prague featuring an all-star lineup that covers a diverse range of digital communication topics. Every year we invite the world’s leading creators who are rocking the world of graphic design, animation, video, and new technologies.
📅 March 1-2, 2024
📍 Prague, Czech Republic
🎟️ From €75
Read our review: MOUVO Conference 2024: A Motion Designer's Deep Dive into AI, Inspiration, and Innovation
Motion Plus Design Rotterdam
Motion Plus Design Rotterdam is an afternoon of lectures by the best motion designers in the Netherlands: Jason van Domburg, Lieke Milder and Julius Horsthuisis. In addition to the lectures, there will be a round table discussion about budgeting and negotiating in the world of motion design, with the speakers and the audience participating.
📅 March 16, 2024 / 14:00 to 17:00 pm
📍 Rotterdam, Netherlands
🎟️ €15
Read our review: Motion Plus Design Rotterdam
Kaboom Festival
Kaboom Animation Festival is the one-stop-shop for the latest and greatest in all things animated. Ranging from cutting-edge experimental arthouse to colorful stories for families and kids, Kaboom will cater to the animation needs of all. Yes, even yours, my amazing weirdo friend!
📅 April 5-14, 2023
📍 Amsterdam, Utrecht, Online The Netherlands
🎟️ TBA
Pictoplasma
Pictoplasma Berlin 2024: Join the world's most vibrant gathering of artists shaping the face of tomorrow's visual culture. Pictoplasma celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. With an especially immersive programme of awe-inspiring artist presentations and back-to-back conference lectures, freshly hatched animations illuminating the big screen, numerous hands-on workshops, endless fun, inspiration and lots of confetti. Speakers include: Ana Seixas, Bora, Christopher Rutledge, Clémentine Bal and many more.
📅 May 1-5, 2024
📍 Berlin, Germany
🎟️ Tickets: €360, students and groups get discount.
Motion Motion
The Motion Motion festival let's you discover motion design in all its diversity: 3D, 2D, stop motion, etc... in various graphic universes, through a program of exhibitions, workshops, concerts, mini-conferences and meetings. The festival was born from the initiative of the French motion designers association.
📅 May 18-19, 2024
📍 Nantes, France
🎟️ Tickets: From €149
OPN Festival
OPN Festival is a 2-day celebration of the thriving Motion Design industry, providing a series of free workshops, a showcase of work from both professionals and undergraduates, and an illustration & design market of established and emerging creators and makers. There will also be lots of opportunity to network, along with DJs each evening and a pop-up bar.
📅 20-21 June, 2024
📍 London, UK
🎟️ -
Playgrounds In Motion
Second edition of Playgrounds In Motion in Rotterdam. The travelling festival In Motion is always on the lookout for the latest creative trends, stunning artists, ambitious innovative projects and unearthed inspirations emerging from digital arts in all shapes and forms.
The atmosphere at last year's event was that rare combination of awesomeness and friendly camaraderie that reminded me of the first editions of Us by Night.
📅 19-20 September, 2024
📍 Rotterdam, The Netherlands
🎟️ From €60
VIEW Conference
The 24th annual International VFX Computer Graphics Conference, VIEW Conference, in Italy and held annually in Turin. Topics covered at the event include interactive techniques, digital cinema, 3D animation, gaming and VFX.
The conference brings together industry professionals, thought leaders, students and enthusiasts to not only share and celebrate the latest achievements in animation, VFX and games, but also to share their visions for the future. With an extensive live programme of talks, presentations, workshops and masterclasses covering cutting-edge thinking on topics as diverse as Storytelling, Virtual Production, Computer Graphics, Interactive & Immersive Media, VR/AR/Mixed Reality and the Metaverse, Artificial Intelligence, Realtime Rendering and much more.
📅 October 14-19, 2024
📍 Torino, Italy & Online
🎟️ Tickets: From €149
Trojan Horse was a Unicorn
Launched in 2013 by designer André Luís, 'Trojan Horse was a Unicorn' grew out to a networking ecosystem created to share knowledge, inspire and empower creators from all areas of the digital entertainment & interactive industry. Their annual main event includes talks, workshops, recruitment sessions, and many other activities
📅 30 September to 5 October
📍 Troia, Portugal
🎟️ From €700, discounts when you attended earlier editions!
Playgrounds In Motion London
Second edition of Playgrounds In Motion in London. The travelling festival In Motion is always on the lookout for the latest creative trends, stunning artists, ambitious innovative projects and unearthed inspirations emerging from digital arts in all shapes and forms.
📅 10-11 October, 2024
📍 London, UK
🎟️ From £85
Motion Plus Design Paris
Motion Plus Design promotes the art of motion design across the world by creating international events and sharing its best resources. Mostly in June, Motion Plus Design invites the cream of the crop of the best worldwide Motion Designers for one full day of talks.
📅 November 23, 2024
📍 Paris with live stream
🎟️ TBA
DEMO - Design in Motion Festival, Cities edition
Design in Motion is an initiative of studio Dumbar. Celebrating the best motion design from the finest studios, amazing designers, emerging talents, and art academies around the world. On January 30th 2025, the world’s largest motion design festival will take over public screens in 16 cities worldwide, showcasing the world’s finest motion design.
📅 30 January 2025
⏰ Submit your work, before August. 30th
📍 16 cities, 250+ screens
🎟️ TBA
Asia
AnimeJapan
Since its creation in 2014, anime fans and professionals alike have gathered at Tokyo Big Sight for the annual AnimeJapan to share the latest trends and releases from the Japanese animation industry. Spread over eight large halls, the convention caters to everyone — from fans eager to buy merchandise, to cosplayers, or even music lovers. The Family AnimeFesta area welcomes children so they can also enjoy the event with their family.
📅 March 23-26, 2024
📍 Tokyo, Japan
🎟️ ¥1.800
Motion Plus Design Tokyo
Motion Plus Design Tokyo promotes the art of motion design across the world by creating international events and sharing its best resources. On June 15, Motion Plus Design invites the cream of the crop of the best worldwide Motion Designers for one full day of talks. Speakers include: Ash Thorp, Nahuel Salcedo, Sawako Kabuki, Kana Terao, Theo Tagholm, Masanobu Hiraoka, Yuhei Kanbe , Hirokazu Yokohara. Plus Seiichi Hishikawa, Ryuichi Sato, Takahiro Ota, Yasutomo Tsukihara.
📅 June 15, 2023
📍 Tokyo, Japan
🎟️ From ¥2,650
SIGGRAPHAsia
The annual event SIGGRAPHAsia, rotates around the Asian region, attracts the most respected technical and creative people from all over the world who are excited by research, science, art, animation, gaming, interactivity, education, and emerging technologies.
SIGGRAPH Asia 2024 Computer Animation Festival will convene to celebrate the vibrant, diverse, and inspiring world of computer animation. This year’s festival promises its most comprehensive and compelling program, from short films to scientific visualizations to AI-enhanced deep fakes.
📅 3 – 6 December, 2024
📍 Tokyo, Japan
🎟️ TBA
Oceania
Camp Mograph Australia
Camp Mograph Australia is a one-of-a-kind retreat crafted for the community of motion graphics enthusiasts Down Under. They bring together animators, motion designers, and VFX artists for four days of creativity, collaboration, and adventure in the great outdoors.
At its heart, Camp Mograph Australia is about creating a space where the motion graphics community can come together to share, learn, and inspire one another. It’s an environment where professionals at every level can exchange insights, explore new ideas, and spark collaborations in a supportive setting.
📅 27-30 June 2024
📍 Redland Bay, Australia
🎟️ From $899 AUD
Node Fest
Node Fest returns to the majestic Capitol Theatre in the heart of Melbourne. The best in Australian motion graphics and animation come together to share their work, industry insights and creative inspiration with their peers!
📅 29 November 2024
📍 Melbourne, Australia
🎟️ TBA
North America
Pictoplasma NYC
Pictoplasma's 10th return to the US – for a two day conference celebrating all the best in contemporary character design and art, with live artist lectures, animation screenings, and plenty of space to meet character enthusiasts – as new friends, professional contacts, and everything in between.
📅 19 - 20 September, 2024
📍 SVA THEATRE, USA
🎟️ From $159 USD
Adobe Max - The Creativity Conference
Adobe MAX is an annual event with the purpose to promote the latest Adobe releases to those in the computer design and development industries.
📅 14 - 16 October, 2024
📍 Miami Beach, USA and online
🎟️ From $1,595 USD
Motion Plus Design LA
Motion Plus Design promotes the art of motion design across the world by creating international events and sharing its best resources. Motion Plus Design invites the cream of the crop of the best worldwide Motion Designers for one full day of talks.
📅 TBA, 2024
📍 Los Angeles
🎟️ TBA
HalfRez
HalfRez is a one night event crammed with guest speakers, networking, drinks and lively conversations about motion design and the industry. Covering motion design and 3D.
📅 TBA
📍 Chicago, IL, USA
South America
The Pixel Show
This yearly event is the largest creative festival in Latin America. Organized by Zupi Magazine, The Pixel Show brings together incredible artists in illustration, motion graphics, graphic design, comics, CG, VFX, and more together for an amazing event. With over thousands of attendees each year, this event is a must for those in the Sao Paulo area of Brazil.
📅 TBA
📍 São Paulo, Brazil
That’s it for animation and motion design festivals!
I love to hear from you. Let me know what your favorite event xis. If you’re planning to attend any of the listed events and have a question, drop me an email or DM on Instagram. I am happy to help you.
If you want to share your experience, let me know. Happy to share your story.
Are you missing an event in this newsletter, feel free to submit it, I'll review and update this post.
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