Huston School of Film and Digital Media Guest Speaker

Leon Butler

Leon Butler has worked across a broad range of positions in the media industry as a visual narrative designer, filmmaker, and educator. He graduated from Huston’s MA in Digital Media in 2009 and his final project animated film, Ghosts Before Dawn (2009), won the Gold Medal at the National Digital Media Awards. Since setting up his practice in 2010, he has worked with high-profile clients including the Galway International Arts Festival, who commissioned him to produce the iconic Festival Poster in 2011. He has also worked with clients as diverse as Starbucks on their global holiday campaign, Druid Theatre on a promotional film for their iconic productions, and musician Macklemore, who commissioned Leon to document his 2014 visit to Dublin’s O2 for two sold out shows. He has also developed many personal projects in animation, typography, children’s illustration and documentary. His research interest areas include adaptive interactions and experiences using available data in the public sphere and generative typography and in 2015 he completed a residency at the School of Visual Arts in New York in this field. In 2016, Leon received a ‘Certificate of Typographic Excellence’ from the Type Directors Club in New York. The Design and Craft Council of Ireland listed Leon as one of their ‘Future Makers’ for 2016. Leon has recently completed a 12-week residency in Los Angeles with digital agency 72andSunny in their 72u program. In September 2016 he was appointed as a design innovation research fellow on the Techinnovate program at NUI Galway for 2016-17.