Editor’s Notes:
UNSUNG HEROES is Motionographer®’s new section created to highlight the work of worldwide audio studios. Our goal is to celebrate and uplift these unsung champions, providing them with the recognition and exposure they richly deserve as a vital force in the Motion Design industry.
Story & Ethos
Iconic The Rebel Lounge, Arizona
How a Metalhead Built a Sound Design ECOSYSYEM
- How did pelican sound start, and what inspired you to specialize in Sound Design and composition for animation and Motion Design? How did you first get into the world of audio? What led you to decide it was time to open your own studio? What criteria do you use when selecting projects, especially pro bono work? What makes a project appealing to you?
–
pelican sound officially launched in 2020, but the journey started long before that, driven by years of chasing sound, rhythm, and everything in between.
–
My name is Stefan Kostaras. I grew up playing in hardcore and metal bands around Arizona’s local scene. That’s where I first fell in love with producing music, learning how to record, write, and eventually exploring different sounds. A few early gigs came through friends, local commercials, a TV series, but at the time, I felt more inclined to focus on personal music projects rather than freelancing.
–
After graduating from Berklee College of Music, a part-time studio job eventually led me to an opportunity with an Arizona based game studio. What started as a small contract turned into a four year run of music production and sound design across multiple titles, and really became the catalyst for pelican sound. That’s when I realized I wanted more than just solo work, I wanted to build something that could plug into bigger creative ecosystems, bring real value, and grow through collaboration.
With a gaming client as our anchor, we wanted to stay active online between long dev cycles. So we turned to the Motion Design world, reaching out to around 20–50 artists a week who were sharing their incredible visuals, often without sound. We offered to collaborate, contribute, and connect in any way we could.
–
That early outreach sparked some incredible partnerships. Then came the NFT boom, and suddenly sound was part of the conversation in a big way. It was wild, chaotic, and creatively charged, but it helped fast-track our place in the motion community. Collaborations followed with artists like Adam Swaab, ShaneF, Esteban Diacono, Vincent Schwenk, and many others.
_
Today, pelican sound works across branding, product design, and immersive experiences—scaling our team per project and staying focused on emotional storytelling, collaboration, and sonic cohesion.
The Power of Audio in Motion Design & Animation
Adam Swaab, Mutually Assured Destruction, 2021. Digital artwork, SuperRare
Crafting Soundscapes That Make Animation Breathe
- What do you believe is the fundamental role of audio—whether music or sound effects—in animation and Motion Design? How does it transform the visual experience?
–
The role of music and sound in animation and Motion Design is really to enhance the story, elevate the product, and often carry the emotional weight of the piece. Sound has the power to transform a visual experience by creating contrast, pushing and pulling between anticipation, tension, and release. It adds energy where needed and helps guide the viewer through the intended emotional arc.
In product animations or campaign spots, audio becomes a rhythmical tool. There needs to be a cadence that aligns with the Motion Design, where musicality and Sound Design work together in sync. One gives structure; the other gives texture. This is the beauty of combining both: you can decide which sonic moments should heighten a gesture or shift the mood entirely.
_
Beyond impact moments, our job is to really dig in and read the visual language with intent: What’s the pacing of the edit? How big does the designed space feel? Are there contrasting scenes that need tonal shifts? Are there subtle elements in the foreground that are telling a deeper story? What’s the emotional tone the director is aiming for? These are all cues that help us design an audio experience that’s not just polished but purposeful.
References, Inspirations & Creative Heroes
Artwork by Tycho
The ISO50 Blueprint for Unified Creative Visions
- What references and heroes have inspired you throughout your career? Do you draw influence from both the musical and visual worlds?
–
On a personal level, I’ve always been inspired by Tycho. His music has this universal pulse, beautifully layered, atmospheric, and ethereal, yet never overpowering. It evokes a sense of movement and exploration, like something that makes you want to get outside and experience the world.
It wasn’t until later that I found out he was doing all his own artwork and visuals under the alias ISO50. There was a clear dialogue happening between his graphic work and his music. To my understanding, they started as separate mediums, but over time merged into a unified creative language that defined Tycho’s entire identity.
That kind of cohesion between visual imagery and music has always stuck with me. I think brands have a lot to learn from that. When sound is intentionally integrated into design, not just added on top, it can become a powerful tool that deepens meaning and creates emotional resonance.
–
These days, a lot of my inspiration also comes from the creative partners and studios we collaborate with or admire from afar, especially in design and branding. Some of these teams’ control of space, material, and color is so intentional that even the smallest detail can carry the full weight of the brand’s message and vibe.
Crafting a design system that feels both dynamic and singular is an incredible challenge that I strongly admire. I try to channel that same sense of purpose into our work, aiming to not only elevate design, but to elevate life in subtle, meaningful ways.
Creative Process
pelican sound’s Studio Details
the Best Sound Design Starts in the Middle
- Can you describe your creative process when tackling a new project? How do you collaborate with the animation team to achieve perfect harmony between sound and visuals?
–
Totally. Before we even get into the creative side, I think it’s important to acknowledge that constraints, whether budget, timeline, or visual limitations, often shape the direction of any sound-driven project. Those boundaries become part of the puzzle we’re solving.
While every collaboration is unique, we’ve developed a pretty dialed-in process for how we approach projects with our partners.
If we’re brought in during the Motion Design phase, the motion team usually already has a brief and a general sense of scope from the client or agency. From there, we’ll hop on a call to understand the core objective, the tone they’re after, and how far we can push things within the creative boundaries. We’re often shown visual references, sometimes audio references as well.
–
Every team has its own language for describing sound. Terms like “cinematic,” “sophisticated,” or “minimal” can mean wildly different things depending on who’s saying them. Part of our role is to unpack what those words actually mean in context, with all stakeholders involved, so we can align early on in the process.
Once we’re aligned, we start exploring. Creatively, the process isn’t always linear. More specifically, when we’re designing around a piece, a specific scene will jump out and become the anchor for everything else. We might build the Sound Design around that moment first, then layer in musical elements to support it. If it lands the right feeling, we expand from there—working forward or backward to connect the dots and shape a cohesive arc.
That kind of intuitive process—where any moment, whether it’s the beginning, middle, or end, can lead the creative—keeps the work exciting and fresh.
Evolution & Innovative Techniques
The Oscillation Experience Live at Artechouse NYC
Sound Designers: the Ultimate Sonic Sculptors
- How has your approach to Sound Design and composition evolved as you’ve adopted new technologies and techniques? Is there a tool or technique that has revolutionized your work?
–
Over the years, I’ve found that resampling and reprocessing are some of the most powerful techniques in Sound Design, more so than any single plugin or piece of gear. One tiny moment in an animation might need just a single sound to hit right…or it might need 30 layers blended, smashed, stretched, and reshaped into something entirely new. That’s where the magic lives, taking something simple and manipulating it until it resonates.
There are so many great plugins and sound libraries out there, but many are already heavily processed and ready to go with a specific application in mind. Sometimes you need to go into the depths and lean on the fundamentals.
–
I’ve been using Ableton for over a decade. It’s still my go-to DAW and the fastest way for me to articulate ideas. Beyond traditional composition, I’ve also been leaning into middleware and spatial audio tools.
Even though we’re not doing a ton of fully spatial linear work right now, just understanding those tools has shifted the way I think about sound. It gets you thinking differently about space, movement, repetition, and how audio elements live within a 3D environment, even in 2D visual contexts. That shift in mindset has been huge in how I approach Sound Design for Motion Design, branding, and product work.
Standout Projects
OFFF MX 2024 Main Titles by Hornet
OFFF MX Titles: Where AI Found Its Humanity
- Which projects do you consider to be your most significant, and why? Is there one that challenged your abilities or changed your perspective on the work?
–
If I were to think about a really killer Motion Design piece we worked on, the OFFF MX 2024 titles come to mind. It was a beautiful, abstract narrative built around resistance, harmony, and the evolving relationship between humans and AI—depicted by different character textures and colors, something we were able to lean into deeply with the Sound Design and music. The collaboration with Hornet and the OFFF team was incredibly open and trusting, and it gave us space to really explore and push the emotional tone of the piece.
The year prior I took a solo trip out to Mexico City for OFFF. Fast forward one year later and we were back to showcase our work on the audio experience design and main titles, and to say a few words on the big stage. It was a full-circle moment and a reminder that showing up truly matters. Community is where you find your people, and at the end of the day, it’s all about relationships.
–
On the other end of the spectrum, UX audio for product design has been a game changer in how we approach sound design more broadly. Working in this space forces you to think differently, it’s less about composing a piece of music or about a specific sound and more about designing a functional sonic system that’s intuitive, functional, accessible, and aligned with the product’s purpose.
Narrative & Emotion
The Views of Arizona from pelican studio HQ
When Layers of Sound Become the Story’s Heartbeat
- What role does storytelling play in your Sound Design and composition work? How do you convey specific emotions through sound?
–
Storytelling is everything. It’s the foundation for how we think about music and Sound Design, whether we’re supporting a 30-second brand spot or building an audio design system for a game or product. Sound has the ability to tap into emotion faster than almost any other medium, and when it’s aligned with narrative, it becomes an extremely powerful tool for connection.
–
We often find ourselves working with material that’s abstract or visually stylized, and in those moments, sound becomes the glue that holds it together emotionally. The less literal the story, the more room there is for audio to do the heavy lifting. In those cases, techniques like gain staging, resampling, and layering textures can create a kind of emotional resonance that can cut deeper than individual melodies.
At its best, sound doesn’t just support the visuals, it adds dimension to them. It gives the audience something they can feel, even if they can’t quite distinguish it. That’s where we love to live creatively: in the in-between spaces where meaning is suggested rather than told, and emotion is felt more than explained.
Collaboration with Motion Designers, Animators & Directors
SOLSTICE 2024, Masary Studio. Photo by Aram Boghosian
The Fight to Make Sound Design More Than a ‘Finishing Touch’
- How closely do you collaborate with animators and directors on projects? Do you have a particular approach to ensuring the sound integrates naturally with the animation?
–
Ideally, the best collaborations start early. When we’re brought in from the beginning, we’re not just reacting to visuals, we’re helping shape the experience alongside the team. That could mean exploring early sound concepts that the design team can build an animatic around, then fitting the remaining pieces together as the project evolves. That kind of timing allows for deeper alignment, more creative problem-solving, and a soundscape that truly belongs in the world being built.
That said, the structure of a collaboration can really impact how deep we’re able to go. When we’re brought in through a Motion Design studio, we’re often a few steps removed from the brand’s core strategy.
A brand or agency might hand off a rough brief to the motion team outlining what they think they want for audio, without much indication of an audio identity in place. So even though the motion team might have visual toolkits and guidelines to work from, audio is often a blank canvas. That can be freeing, but it also means we’re working without the foundation that helps make sound feel intentional and ownable.
–
Too often, sound is treated like a finishing touch instead of a core part of the brand. But when audio is connected to strategy, when it’s considered a key ingredient from the start, it becomes an asset that can grow and evolve with the brand.
But the truth is, how your brand moves is how your brand sounds. Motion Design is often the first space where that connection can be felt, and that’s why close collaboration between sound and motion can be so powerful.
At the end of the day, we’re in this to serve a bigger vision. It’s not always about flashy ear candy, we’re really trying to advocate for affecting a larger outcome to a brand’s core identity. That’s what great partnerships look like to us: staying in sync, remaining flexible, challenging our clients to think about music and sound holistically, and always working toward something that feels intentional, cohesive, and impactful from the inside out.
Audience & User Experience
Project Nebula by SAES Design House
Silent Partner: Crafting Soundscapes That Elevate Brands From Background to Forefront
- How do you think about the audience experience when designing sound for a project? How do you ensure that the sound complements the visual without taking center stage?
–
Audience and user experience are at the heart of everything we do, but how we approach them depends entirely on the project. There’s the strategic side, where we dig into the narrative, brand intent, and audience context. And then there’s the creative side, where we explore how sound can elevate and highlight the experience without overshadowing it. Both sides require a holistic mindset.
–
In product design, user experience is ultimately about function, and function adds a deeper layer of intentionality. We’re not just asking what something should sound like, or when sound should inform, but why it should make a sound at all. Sound should guide, not distract. That’s why it’s critical to understand the full context, what other actions are happening, what the user needs, and whether sound is truly the right tool for that moment.
These are the kinds of challenges we love. Because at the end of the day, our goal isn’t just to make something unique and cool, it’s to design sound that belongs. Sound that elevates, improves user flow, and thoughtfully enhances the world it lives in, without needing to shout. Not just heard, but felt. When done right, it makes the brand feel whole, visually, sonically, and experientially.
Future Vision & New Trends
Intuition Outshines AI in Tomorrow’s Soundscapes
- What do you believe are the next trends in Sound Design for Animation and Motion Design? How do you prepare to continue innovating in this field?
–
We’re seeing more crossover between motion and other spaces—like product, physical installation, automotive, and UX. And in all of those areas, sound has a real opportunity to create meaningful impact. A lot of our recent work at pelican sound has been focused on that intersection—where animation and audio design start influencing things like how a robot sounds when it expresses joy, or how a brand’s tone of voice shows up not just in motion, but in how it feels sonically across every experience.
–
To stay innovative, I try to lean on intuition, originality, and patience more than the promise of a new tool. Plugins and tools can spark ideas or streamline the process. Try them all! But the real breakthroughs tend to come from asking better questions, or approaching a familiar problem from a new perspective. Creativity takes time and reflection. No tool will do that work for you.
I think the future is less about adding more sounds and more about choosing the right ones, intentionally, holistically, and with empathy. Whether it’s for an animated campaign, a logo mnemonic, or a physical product, audio should feel like a natural extension of the story being told. That’s what we’re chasing at pelican sound. And it’s what keeps the work fun, because no two stories ever sound the same.
