CatarinaSampaio^design

Art direction, advertising campaign, graphic design, web design, merchandising, motion graphics, social media templates, and graphic guidelines for LEFFEST - Lisboa Film Festival.

The concept that guided the creation of the graphic identity for the 18th edition of LEFFEST is "Cinema expands horizons, shapes perceptions, transforms realities". It arose from the theme of reflection promoted annually by LEFFEST which, in 2024, was “Images of War, War of Images” and Walter Benjamin’s text “The Work of Art in the Era of its Technological Reproducibility”.

LEFFEST annually promotes a space for reflection on relevant current subjects. In the 2024 edition, it addressed war and its representation in cinema, under the motto “Images of War, War of Images”.

Thus, we sought to reflect on 1) the representation of war in cinema and the construction of meaning; 2) the cognitive expansion and emotional impact of these images; 3) the social and political transformation caused by its dissemination; and finally, 4) the dystopia of war and the effects of these images on collective memory.

From the previous concepts, the theme that guided the construction of LEFFEST's visual identity emerged: Cinema expands horizons, shapes perceptions, transforms realities.

1) Cinema expands horizons because it can bring to the public complex realities that would otherwise be distant from our daily experience. 2) It shapes perceptions since, in the cinematic device, war is represented in ways that emphasize and attenuate certain aspects, shaping the public's perception of the conflict. 3) It transforms realities because, by impacting the spectator, cinema acts as an agent of transformation, both at the level of individual and collective consciousness.

The visual references used to convey these complex concepts were an intense and contrasting color palette, which creates visual tension and reflects the psychological and emotional impact of war. The animation of the text and distortion of the images suggests the idea of visual and narrative manipulation, as well as the chaos experienced in a conflict scenario. The combination of vintage and futuristic visual elements from films from different eras reinforces the idea of how war is portrayed over time and how images of conflict shape public ideology. Finally, the use of grain to “dirty” the image seeks to question the aestheticization of these images and, at the same time, evoke the materiality of the conflict.

Art direction: Catarina Sampaio, Graphic design: Catarina Sampaio, André Carvalho and Pedro Costa, Motion design: Catarina Sampaio, Website: Catarina Sampaio, Joel Domingues, Mariana Conduto, Social media management: Flávio Gonçalves, Tomás Félix, Gabriela Ferreira, Photography: Ana Paganini.