Type Tuesday

Every Tuesday over the next few months, I will post a video with great use of type & design. It may be a music video or the open title sequences to a movie or TV show. I'll give the name of the designer or design firm whenever possible.

This weeks video: Beck- Nicotine & Gravy

(video link at the end of post)

Not only is this a Killer song, it's a Killer video! The images and use of type conjure up memories of late 70's and early 80's Punk/New wave design. 

The animation layered over photography, is so reminiscent of the xerography technique used by many designers of that time, designers such as: Jamie Reid, Snow-George, and Nicholas De Ville.

I love the way the color palette starts off in stark contrast of black and white then adds vibrant fluorescent, pastels, and type overload.

I hope you like this weeks pick. Enjoy!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMj0ogLTweU&feature=related

Design Company: Fullerene Productions, Inc.
A Los Angeles based design company specializing in Web and Broadcast graphics as well as software development. According to VH1 News, the next video they are going to do is for the band Duran Duran's song, "Someone Else Not Me."  

A long time ago in a movie theater, and on a playground far, far away...

(video link at the end of post)

This is  where I learned about Branding for the first time, although I didn't quite know it yet. I was all but the age of 8 years old, my mind busting with imagination and the eagerness to play! Not like the kids of today, I wanted to play outside and to seek my adventures. I wanted to be Han Solo and Luke Skywalker fighting the Evil Empire and saving the Galaxy!

This was all thanks to a man by the name of George Lucas. A man who not only made me want to buy the many toys from his movies, but ignited my imagination and made me draw the awesome characters, and recreate the Star Wars logo over and over on my notebooks! I could almost say that George Lucas planted the seed of Graphic Design in my head! His Brand is so well crafted that It's impact is still felt around the world 33 summers later!

Doubt the power of it's Force? Well you should not, the ability to destroy a planet is insignificant  to the power of the Star Wars Brand! Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, and Yoda are arguably better known than say, these people, Oliver North, Kenneth Star and Daniel Boone!

I would say that it's due in large part to the opening title sequence of the Star Wars movies, they are well designed and have the consistence of a great brand. Each movie opens with the crawl or roll-up as it's also  known. The story starts with the text "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...."  Then Bam! the Star Wars logo! The following yellow typography is set in two typefaces, News Gothic Bold for the episode number and main body of the crawl, and Univers Light Ultra Condensed for the title of the film. [1] The typography is force justified and set in perspective. It disappears into the distance of space, but does not disappear in our collective consciousness.

The opening was inspired by the opening crawls used at the beginning of episodes of the original Flash Gordon film serial, the inspiration for Lucas to write much of the Star Wars saga. [2]

Dennis Muren, who worked on the crawls for all six films, said that the "original trilogy" films were accomplished by filming physical models laid out on the floor. The models were approximately two feet wide and six feet long. The effect was accomplished by the camera moving longitudinally along the model.  [1] [3]

News Gothic was designed by Morris Fuller Benton in 1908. [4]

Univers was designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1954 [5]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRHFcQgNFQ8

References
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wikipedia.org
1. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace DVD commentary
2. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith DVD commentary
3. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope DVD commentary
4. www.linotype.com
5. Meggs, Philip B. (1998). "Meggs' History of Graphic Design - 4th Edition". John Wiley & Sons. p.361. ISBN 0-471-69902-0

Hi!

Welcome to designersdrug, a Blog to get your "Fix" on all things design and art related! I'm going to treat this Blog like a design mag and journal of sorts. I'll be blogging about more than just the type used in movies, videos and TV shows. I'll write about my thoughts on design and my process on different projects. I'll review new and old design books and share articles that I come across. I'm also going to try to interview other designers, photographers, and artists to talk about their work and process. I hope you enjoy it.

Gus