Blow Out

These are a couple of unused cover concepts for The Criterion Collection edition of Brian De Palma's Blow Out. The brief at the time was to bring the technology of the story somehow on to the cover design. John Travolta plays a movie soundman who's an ear-witness to a murder. His tools of the trade are a microphone and a reel-to-reel recorder. There's a terrific shot of the tire going pop and it seemed a natural to me to fuse it with an image of a tape reel. When the Travolta character retreats to his sound studio to piece together the crime he attempts to synchronize it with a moving image --thus the perforated audio tape with the X that marks the spot. This was one of those titles where the type was freighted with specific requirements. The stars names have to appear above the title in the same size and color as the film title. It's a tricky proposition when their names are as long as they are and the film title is as short as it is. Eric Skillman came up with the cover that was ultimately used. He cleverly laid type over space and objects in the frame which helped to direct the eye and let the title be readily seen.

Bigger Than Life

This is a little something from the archives, my booklet cover design (front + back) for The Criterion Collection edition of Nicholas Ray’s Bigger Than Life (1956). There's a bit more going on than meets the eye. In addition to the title treatment, the imagery is a superimposition of two shots from the film --which are themselves each optical shots made of mulitple exposures. So it's really hard to say how many shots are involved here. The first comes from Ed Avery's (James Mason) hospital fever dream. The second comes during the film's climax --it's all of two or three frames from the film-- when, torqued in a homicidal rage, Avery sees red.

Safety Last!

Coming to a theater near you! My poster for the Janus Films release of the great Harold Lloyd's Safety Last! Not coincidentally based on my cover artwork for The Criterion Collection's release (in June) of the very same. It's a PACKED disc lots of fun and illumninating extras, plus some Llyod shorts which I believe have never been available for home video before. It's a good one. I'll post more on the package as the release date draws near! Expect copious use of exclamation marks!

The Gold Rush

A while back The Criterion Collection asked me to contribute some title treatment designs for their release of Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush. I had a lot of fun coming up with a bunch, inspired by woodtype posters of the great California gold rush of 1849. The creative direction changed a bit and none were used. It happens. This is one.

Know Much Too

The American Institute of Graphic Arts --that's the AIGA for those who enjoy their alphabet soup-- has posted a behind-the-scenes article about The Criterion Collection, detailing the creative process for The Man Who Knew Too Much. It's a terrific glimpse of the Criterion process from initial editiorial deliberations, on to the conception and completion of a cover. It's an honor to be included. Check it out!

• The Man Who Knew Too Much: In House Design at The Criterion Collection

The Man Who Knew Too Much

Happy New Year already! Come January 2013 The Criterion Collection will release the original 1934 version of Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much. They kindly asked me to design the title treatment for the cover as well as the creating the menu and package design. I'm looking forward to showing off all that when the time comes so please stay tuned. As for the excellent cover illustration, it's by Bill Nelson --beautifully done, right?

Les Visiteurs du Soir DVD Menus

I also designed the sister release to Children of Paradise, Marcel Carné's Les Visiteurs du Soir. The setting for this one is mediaeval France. Toggling my design sensibilities between the two epochs made for one schizophrenic month! Again, the cover painting is by production designer Alexandre Trauner. The design choices here are largely informed by the illuminated manuscript which is featured in the title sequence of the film.

Children of Paradise DVD Menus

Here's a selection of DVD menu designs for The Criterion Collection's Children of Paradise. It's a two-part film spread over a two disc set (for the DVD at least) and it's packed with all kinds of extras which makes for a lot of screens. These are just a portion of them.

One of the challenges with this package was to interweave the whimsical sensibility of the Alexandre Trauner production painting which appears on the cover (as well as the theatrical re-release poster) with the film imagery. I stuck with type styles that were true of 19th century France and at the same time reflected of a certain 1940's aesthetic as well. The result is more storybook than history book which really seemed in accord with the movie.