DEMO Festival 2025: Redefining Motion Design on a Global Stage

Liza> Motion design is a relatively new field in design with an international community. We wanted to create a platform where designers could connect, exchange ideas, and share their visions and inspire. This need became the foundation of DEMO.

In the studio, we are very much focussed on motion design. A lot of the work that inspires us on a daily basis is usually shared on instagram and limited to the eyes of designers only. It was as early as 2017 that we had the idea to share the beautiful work we were seeing with a wider audience and create an exhibition that was accessible to a bigger public. We were lucky enough to be introduced to Global (formerly known as Exterion Media), the biggest outdoor media owners in the Netherlands who shared our ambition and became our partners in this project. Global offered all their screens that were located in Amsterdam Central station for 24 hours to showcase all the beautiful motion designs from designers all around the world – that was in 2019.


In 2022 we organised DEMO again – this time on a slightly larger scale. We took over 5000 screens in the Netherlands – spanning from all the screens on the Dutch Train railway network, the three major airports, petrol stations, highways, shopping centres and streets for 24 hours.
Both events were magical just seeing passersby and visitors staring at the screens mesmerised by the motion images felt like the whole station was at a standstill. It really proves the importance of how and what we display in a public space can have a big impact in our daily lives.


Liza> Following two highly successful editions of DEMO Festival in the Netherlands, we wanted to further develop and expand the festival. Our goal was to deepen our relationship with the community and reflect the inherently international nature of the motion design world.

The graphic motion design community is a global network, primarily concentrated in major cities around the world. It made sense to mirror this diversity in our festival. DEMO is a platform that celebrates creators and showcases the boundless possibilities of motion design. To honour this global perspective, we selected XXL screens in 15 cities across seven countries on two continents for our 2025 programming.

Liza> We can no longer design for a single media format - marketing that appears on socials is very different to traditional broadcasting to OOH advertising. The relationship of the viewer is completely different. OOH campaigns exist in public spaces and have multi-viewers, feature a city backdrop and can’t be skipped.

This interaction alone raises a lot of questions and opportunities that can still need to be explored. We are communicating in very traditional ways – but we’re always asking what message we want to translate and how we do it.

By showing alternative ways of designing these screens we are hoping we can inspire makers, brands and the public to approach these screens and understand their potential in different ways. DEMO Festival aims to highlight how relevant motion design can be, while making it more accessible and appreciated by both the general public and the design world.

Liza> For this edition, we held an international open call and were overwhelmed – positively so – by the response. Receiving over 5,500 submissions affirmed the success and importance of what we’re doing. The final selection process was undertaken by a team of curators consisting of art director/designer/artist Koos Breen, experimental motion generalist Connor Campbell, creative coder/educator/community builder Tim Rödenbröker, YONK founders Niels van der Donk and Vikki Young and I. 

Together, we narrowed down the submissions to 570 works, by organising them into nine different themes. The selected works showcase diverse styles, innovative techniques and the latest trends in motion design.

Liza> Motion isn’t just a trend but a necessary part of how brands develop.
If you look at the current media landscape, brands have migrated to the purely digital realm which has opened up a myriad of possibilities. Brands can no longer exist just in static form. Bringing motion to the core of a brand’s DNA allows them to evolve their personality and communicate seamlessly from one device to another and across existing and future media formats.

Motion brings brands to life. Every brand has a personality that is made of different components like the logo, its colour, typographic, photographic decisions etc. Considering motion behaviour is an important part of that toolkit. The way these elements move individually or together can really define and capture a brand’s spirit. Just think – a staccato movement gives such a different signal to something more soft and flowy, which will affect how you perceive and connect with a brand. 


Liza> Of course, I’m sure we’ll see more development of these tools and AI to generate imagery in 2025. But I hope it’s the year we find more sustainable, smarter and personal ways to use them.