ZapConnect 2025 – Full Motion Identity

ZapConnect 2025

ZapConnect is Zapier’s flagship event, bringing together thousands of people to explore automation, AI, and the future of work. In 2025, I had the opportunity to design the entire motion identity for the event. This was my fourth year creating animations for ZapConnect, but the first time I was responsible for shaping a complete motion system. Every moving element, from the keynote stage to social media teasers, needed to feel part of one cohesive experience.

The Challenge

The creative direction centered around light. It represented clarity, guidance, and focus. Visually, it appeared as beams, rays, and floods of color. The challenge was that the design was intentionally minimal, which for a motion designer often means fewer elements to animate. I had to find ways to bring energy and rhythm to restrained visuals without compromising clarity and elegance.

Crafting the Motion Language

I started with the logo. After testing several approaches, I developed a reveal that began at the center of the frame and unfolded letter by letter. This sequence echoed the light motif and created a smooth flow into other animations. A variation set against the Zapier orange background surrounded the logo with beams of light and was used as a prelude to speaker title slides.

I defined two core movements for the system. Reveals expanded outward from the center, guiding attention and introducing content. Lines animated in sequence to mimic the behavior of light rays. Instead of relying on fades or stroke changes, I focused on timing and sequencing. This created rhythm, suggested the intensity of light, and tied together every transition, from title slides to award boards. The same principles shaped the event’s main intro, where the path of light guided viewers as if on a journey.

Opening Keynote

Like every year, I was responsible for the motion design in the opening keynote. This included a mix of product animations, data visualizations, animated graphs, and supers. One of my favorite boards highlighted the scale of Zapier’s AI usage: more than 1.3 million companies delegating over 350 million tasks across 400 AI apps. The keynote animations had to feel bold yet seamless, matching the stage energy and supporting the presenters without distraction.

Title Slides

One of the most complex tasks was preparing 37 unique boards for more than seventy-five speakers. To manage this, I built an automated workflow in After Effects that pulled data from a CSV file. Names, companies, titles, and headshots were linked directly to animated layouts. The system selected the correct layout based on the number of speakers and paired each board with appropriate background visuals and music. This allowed me to generate new boards in seconds and make last-minute updates efficiently, maintaining consistency and reducing errors.

Lower Third Templates

Another key part of the motion system was the lower third templates for speaker names and titles. Each template had to adapt dynamically to different lengths of text, from short titles to very long job descriptions. Using coding, I ensured the animation worked regardless of text length, and added a dynamic margin slider and toggleable gradient layer for visibility. These templates were delivered as Premiere Pro MOGRT files, making it easy for the video team to update text, adjust design elements, and apply animations consistently across all sessions.

The Zappy Awards

For the closing The Zappy Awards, I designed a slightly differentiated style that still connected to the main identity. Using one flexible composition, I animated the awards logo and all ten category boards. Text and colors were linked with code, allowing quick adjustments while keeping a polished and unified look.

“The motion system you built is brilliant. You captured our identity with full understanding of what we do and why, showing great taste and sensitivity in transitions, effects, and rhythm. Huge thanks for your directness and independence.”

JULIA JASKÓLSKA BRAND DESIGN LEAD, ZAPIER

Promotional Templates

Creating intro and outro templates presented another challenge. These needed to work across multiple ratios—16:9, 9:16, and 1:1—without simply cropping visuals. I developed a responsive system where AI-generated art and branded elements dynamically scaled. Combined with multiple tagline options, this produced nearly a hundred variations. The templates were delivered to the video team as Premiere Pro MOGRT files, enabling efficient, flexible use across the event’s promotional materials.

Collaboration and Handoff

Our workflow supported both synchronous and asynchronous collaboration. Storyboards were created in Figma and color-coded by status, so it was immediately clear which scenes were ready for animation, in progress, or awaiting approval. This allowed me to start animating while designs were still being refined and minimized the risk of errors. Final motion assets were handed off with clear specifications, making it easy for the video team and designers to reuse and adapt elements efficiently.

Email, Social, and In-App Motion

Motion extended beyond the stage. I created GIFs for email campaigns that highlighted speakers and the agenda, contributing to a 33 percent year-over-year increase in conversions. Some of these campaigns were featured on Email Love for their creative approach. Social media animations amplified awareness and were widely shared by speakers, employees, and attendees. In-app banners invited customers to the event directly, reinforcing the same cohesive identity.

“Bright typography, bold color blocking, and plenty of white space make this ZapConnect invite pop. The black-and-orange CTAs grab attention instantly, while the agenda highlights are broken into digestible columns with strong imagery. We like how the animated GIF adds energy, giving the email a dynamic edge that keeps the content engaging from top to bottom.”

Email Love

Results

ZapConnect 2025 exceeded expectations. Registrations grew by more than 23 percent compared to the previous year, and email campaigns saw a thirty-three percent increase in conversions. The event surpassed its registration goals and felt unified across every channel, from in-app experiences to keynote visuals.

Reflection

Owning the entire motion identity for ZapConnect 2025 was the most rewarding part of the project. Collaborating with the Creative Director and Lead Designer, I was able to explore the balance of simplicity and expression, craft and automation. A minimal design that initially seemed restrictive became an opportunity to push sequencing, rhythm, and scalable system design.

The result was a motion identity that not only made the event feel alive and cohesive, but also delivered measurable business impact.

CREDITS