Few design assignments demand more nuance than setting the tone for what an audience is about to see. Whether in real life or on a screen, the goal is to create the perfect balance between anticipation and revelation.

While taking disparate routes to fulfill this brief, the following seven projects stand out for their conceptual boldness while showcasing the wide-open possibilities for title and broadcast design treatments.

All films were published in The Stash Permanent Collection during 2021 and are listed here in chronological order by the date of publication.
 
 
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ESPN “CFP” BROADCAST PACKAGE
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Vitaly Grossmann, director at Tendril in Toronto: “There were a couple of large creative challenges with this project. The first was to make a film that captures the essence of the College Football Playoffs, without being literal and falling into the usual football tropes.

“The second was to weave a cohesive brand film that was engaging on its own but also incorporated the building blocks of the many elements needed for the entire show toolkit.”
 
 
 

“A PERFECT ENEMY” FEATURE FILM TITLES
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Director Fernando Domínguez Cózar in Valencia, Spain: “The main goal was to prepare the audience to gradually understand the tone of what they were about to see.

“Kike Maíllo’s brief had more to do with a sensory and abstract world – something that spoke more to the audience´s subconscious. The biggest challenge was to achieve within this abstract world, a sequentiality that while being dreamlike, was articulated and made sense with the film.”
 
 
 

TEDXSYDNEY 2020 TITLES
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After several years of crafting stellar openings for the TEDxSydney conference, director Scott Geersen and his Substance studio in Sydney opened up the assignment to an international team of motion design collaborators.

The project features work from (alphabetically) Bemo, Bullpen, Mighty Nice, Mixcode, Nerdo, Oddfellows, Post Office, Spillt, State, and Substance.
 
 
 

SEE: SEASON 2 TITLES
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Director John Likens at Method Studios: “Season 2 of See is all about exploring the greater world. We’re no longer just out in the wilderness – this story will take us on an epic journey into new territories and lost cities.

“My goal was to reflect that exciting new change in the main title sequence.”
 
 
 

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Maik Bluhm, co-founder and creative director at C A T K in Berlin: “We were tasked to create a diverse range of TV Idents which fit into the rebranding of Norwegian commercial channel TV 2.

“Since a national TV station has such a broad audience, we tried to be as diverse as possible and convey as much emotion as possible within the five seconds of each ident.
 
 
 

“THE PROBLEM WITH JON STEWART” TITLES
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Benjamin Woodlock, creative director at Elastic in Los Angeles: “Initially the show came to us looking for a short title-reveal animation but the title grew into a longer sequence as we began developing ideas.

“We started by thinking about a logo design that could emphasize the double meaning of the title by keeping it ambiguous. We saw a spark in that ambiguity – a chance to use type and language to construct the title in front of the viewer.”
 
 
 

“ESPN NHL” BRANDING PACKAGE
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CD Paul Mitchell and CG lead Lee Buckley at Elastic in Los Angeles: “The brief was to design a visual language that has the authenticity of hockey and build a creative platform that could be expanded on beyond the linear film.

“Ice was particularly interesting because of its surface quality and the way it moves when viewed in time-lapse stop motion that really allowed us to express motion in a different way.”