New Kanye/Jay-Z collaboration coming soon..... artwork by Givenchy CD Riccardo Tisci.

Movie Titles

Here's a cool site I found at /Film a while back and completely forgot to post. It's titled Movie Title Stills Collection. Created by web designer Christian Annyas, the website features screenshots of many different film titles from the early 1900s to present day.

You might think this is a complete waste of time, but for somebody like me who loves movies, it's fucking awesome! I'm really digging this. I've always been fascinated by title cards, often comparing fonts between films, and sometimes even font colours (you'll notice that the older Westerns often seem to share the same striking shade of bright yellow). It's interesting to me because over time, title artwork has evolved and advanced just as filmmaking itself has. But it's not filmmaking. It's design. It's typography. It's a whole different realm.

The most recent title card to grab my attention was for Michael Mann's film Public Enemies.

Fairly simple on the surface, but unlike anything I'd seen font-wise before. Turns out it was specifically designed for Mann by renowned typographer Neville Brody.

"Michael Mann understands the power of a good title sequence and always commissions his own. For Public Enemies, he wanted a font that evoked the Depression era, so I got inspiration from publicity posters for Roosevelt's New Deal initiative, which promoted economic relief after the 1929 Wall Street collapse. They're designed in a very constructivist, Soviet, communist style. My font is very solid, clearly masculine, immovable, and it has some very specifically naive details, like the way the horizontal strokes are all slightly too wide – we've taken out the optical correction. And if you look at the 'B' you'll see that the holes in the middle are a little bit too small – they look like bullet holes – which is very apt." - Neville Brody

Brody is so specific in what he was trying to achieve with this font. It really takes my appreciation of typography to a whole new level (for more on Neville Brody's New Deal typeface go to Creative Review). Here are some of the other title cards that I remember and appreciate the most.....

There is no justice without sin.


Family isn’t a word… it’s a sentence.


Four days, three nights, two convertibles, one city


No one stays at the top forever.


He was never in time for his classes . . .Then one day he wasn’t in his time at all.


The thing that won’t die, in the nightmare that won’t end.


If adventure has a name… it must be Indiana Jones.


The Horror. . . The Horror. . .


Grease is the word


A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…


On every street in every city, there’s a nobody who dreams of being a somebody.


When beaches open this summer, you will be taken by Jaws.


Never give a saga an even break!




Your golden ticket to imagination and adventure!


A man went looking for America. And couldn’t find it anywhere.


The ultimate trip.


Unlike anything you have seen before, as Cinerama hurls you into the most extraordinary days of World War II!


You only live once… so see the Pink Panther twice!!!


An impregnable fortress… An invincible army… and the unstoppable commando team.


The entertainment experience of a lifetime!


It spans a whole new world of entertainment!


The story that sweeps from the great Southwest to the Canadian border in VistaVision.


The more he yearns for a woman’s arms . . . the fiercer he lusts for the treasure that cursed them all!


They had a date with fate in Casablanca!


I hate him! I love him! He’s a scoundrel! He’s a saint! He’s crazy! He’s a genius!


Out-leaping the maddest imaginings! Out-thrilling the wildest thrills!

Where the Wild Things Are

Here's a look at the first piece of poster art for Spike Jonze's upcoming film adaptation of the classic book:

Jennifer's Body

Cool artwork for the the Jason Reitman-produced Diablo Cody-scripted horror comedy Jennifer’s Body:

Great Album Covers: Led Zeppelin

Another gem from Storm Thorgerson (most of the credit should arguably go to his design partner Aubrey Powell it would seem). Photographed by Powell at Giants Causeway, Northern Ireland. Hasselblad 500C with an 80mm lens. The cover was rated #6 on VH1's 50 Greatest Album Covers in 2003. The other-worldly quality of this cover makes it stand out more so than other Zep' albums. And the music, in my opinion, places it in the top 3 albums of their entire discography. But Houses of the Holy is definitely their shining moment cover-wise.

Great Album Covers: Ramones

This album cover is iconic.  Ramones by the Ramones was the punk-rock band's debut album. It also contains arguably their best work, featuring my personal favourite of their entire catalogue -- Judy Is a Punk. I don't think you'll find a better album cover that features all four band members in their regular get-up.

Great Album Covers: Beastie Boys

Here's the album cover for Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill. Great album, killer cover. And the title is a little less offensive than the proposed original -- Don't Be a Faggot.

Great Album Covers: Audioslave

Another piece from Storm Thorgerson. This is the debut album from rock supergroup Audioslave. In the record store, I always found this cover particularly striking and so I have chosen to post it. Simple.

Great Album Covers: Pink Floyd

The vinyl artwork for Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here. Storm Thorgerson took this photograph on the Warner Bros. backlot in Burbank, California.

Great Album Covers: Grace Jones

Over the next few months, I'm going to upload some of my most-liked album covers. You'll see plenty of artwork from my favourite designer Storm Thorgerson, but I'll start with a piece of cover art that is simple, strange, and grabs my attention with its clever photo editing.

Caddyshack

I love this poster for one of my all-time favourite comedies!

Ping Pong

The ping pong table is one of mankind's great achievements. A hardboard surface divided by a net is a simple concept, and yet the game that was spawned is so perplexing. Skilled players can impart spin to the ball, forcing their opponents into errors through unpredictable bounce and racquet reaction. Growler, the gangly, malnourished ping pong mentor who became my arch-rival, devoted a year of his life in China to learning the finer points of the game. Upon his return he told majestic stories of Chinese masters so old and so frail, they did not even possess the strength to lean over and retrieve the celluloid ball. But with age comes experience and attuned senses, both important traits in this great game. The Chinese masters defeated all in their sight, including the ambitious and mildly talented young man I call my mentor. And so Growler returned home, encouraging all to buy tables in the hope that one day, we would all take up ping pong and defeat the Chinese.

On another note, I stumbled upon this fantastic artwork below created by the crafty Frenchman Laurent Perbos.