Screen &Design: Reading Film as a Constructed Language of Form
Film often leaves us – as an audience – with an atmosphere that feels curated, and created; almost as if it were designed for us: there are the colors that form a collective mood, or a layout characterising a room with a character’s inner world. While film discussions frequently center narrative or performance, the design decisions that shape what we see on screen are rarely the main focus. This was precisely the point of departure for Screen & Design, a conversation presented by Grafis Masa Kini and Double Happiness that invited audiences to read film through a different lens: its design. Held on Friday, 13 March 2026, at Studio 1 of Flix Cinema ASHTA in South Jakarta, the event gathered filmmakers, designers, and creative practitioners in a shared space to unpack the creative process behind the design of films.
Design practice itself has always been embedded within filmmaking. It is found in the textures of wardrobes, the spatial logic of a space, the typography of a title card, its poster, and marketing materials on social media. These elements may appear seamless when projected on screen, but they are the result of intentional and collaborative decisions. Through presentations and an intimate conversation, Screen &Design approached film as a visual system constructed through layers of designing. This discussion explored how filmmakers and designers realise abstract ideas into tangible visual environments.
Three speakers anchored the conversation: filmmaker Edwin, production designer Dita Gambiro, and graphic designer Evan Wijaya. Each creative represented a different department (and by extension, a different contribution) within film production, yet their practices intersect in the shared task of constructing the film’s visual language.
The first person to present is Dita Gambiro, showing her production design works for Posesif, Penyalin Cahaya, Gadis Kretek, and Sore: Istri dari Masa Depan. Production design determines the spatial and material world in which a story unfolds. Through sets, props, color palettes, and environmental details, Dita translated her creative response of a directorial idea into a shared physical environment that actors inhabit and cameras capture.
Following Dita is Edwin, who is a film director notorious for his raw approach in filmmaking. He unfolded the importance of textures as an anchor for his creative process, and determined their role in the shaping of visual and tangible characteristics displayed on script, and on screen. These textures, according to him, trigger memories, feelings, and even smells – that “pulls in the audience”. As the initiator of many worlds, Edwin translates his textures as design, sharing that they are a focal point of control through the film’s location, geographical, and social background, clearly exhibited in his works such as Seperti Dendam, Rindu Harus Dibayar Tuntas. His use of textures are derived from the “real” social landscapes of Pantai Utara (Pantura).
Lastly, Evan closed the presentation session by uncovering the role of graphic design in filmmaking. Evan shared that the designer plays across the film’s pre-production, production, and post-production, claiming that their role is subject to the many changes that are experienced in readings, on set and in promotion. On an opposite spectrum with Edwin, Evan highlights the role that graphic design plays in “pulling in audience” through film posters, title treatments, or opening sequences; creating groundwork for an audience’s first visual encounter with a film. These materials help construct the film’s identity beyond the screen, shaping expectations before viewers even enter the cinema.
One of the central main points of the discussion was clarifying the role of a designer during the process of filmmaking. What we learnt is that there is no clear answer, as all the speakers provided strikingly different answers, reflecting the differences in their backgrounds. Evan, and Dita answered the question in technical terms as a “bridge” for the director to bring their creative vision into a “world” that can be felt, and experienced through set, graphics, props, etc. Edwin echoed their sentiment, and expanded that it now becomes the role of an actor to truly bring those worlds to life, and to be experienced together – with the crew, and the audience. Their movements, responses, and feelings within a space is what truly makes a scene alive; and thus, the designer must be tactical in their production of its space. Referring to their experiences and projects, a designer must be on stand-by throughout the process of filmmaking and must be ready to receive any new prompts or experience change in their design. “I always have my prior plans in place to anchor the process, but you might never know what changes during filming.” Dita says. Evan, on the other hand, shared that preparation is the key for a successful designer because “you might never know what will be needed.”
As the first edition of &Design, this program also positioned itself as a meeting point between designers and practitioners from other creative disciplines. By creating a shared platform for dialogue, Grafis Masa Kini and Double Happiness aimed to foster new perspectives on how design intersects with broader creative practices.
