Graphics in Movies & TV

A friend and fellow designer mentioned on his Facebook page that he saw the movie "500 Days of Summer". He wrote that he loved the movie titles. It is one of my favorite movies and got me thinking about the use of graphic design in movies and TV. I started thinking both about the design of opening and closing title sequences. There are a ton of examples of great design and typography in movies and TV. Since I am a movie and TV nut, I decided to write about some of my favorites here.

Title sequences are where you normally see some of the most creative graphic design in a movie; but there are times when some very interesting design is done inside the movie itself. One of my all-time favorite movies is "Fight Club". I could write for days about that movie, but I won't. One of the scenes that truly blew me away was when the main character is flipping through his Ikea catalog, narrating about his yuppy existence in voice-over. Suddenly we see the Ikea catalog layout come to life piece by piece, including the typography as the character walks through the scene. (Unfortunately this clip is in the wrong aspect ratio, so it looks squished).

Fight Club_IKEA Nesting from Jonas Claeys on Vimeo.

Another movie that used typography and information design in a very clever way was "Stranger than Fiction". The movie itself is very slow paced and for me kind of forgettable; except for those amazing, animated infographics used to illustrate the narration. It is a great way to show a character who is all about data, numbers and order, and who lives in his head. The opening sequence was designed by MK12.

Here are some of my favorite opening sequences from TV shows. First up, "Six Feet Under" designed by Digital Kitchen. A beautiful use of typography that disintegrates, evocative images up close, and illustration of the tree going through the seasonal changes (terrific music, too).

Six Feet Under Main Title from DIGITALKITCHEN on Vimeo.

Next up is "Dexter", which was also designed by the folks from Digital Kitchen. I love the concept of Dexter going through his very mundane daily morning routine, but shot in a way that looks very dark, ominous and evil.

HBO: Dexter Main Title from DIGITALKITCHEN on Vimeo.

I suspect the studio that designed the opening for "Nurse Jackie" were influenced by the Dexter opening titles. These were designed by Imaginary Forces, who also designed the title sequence and section title cards for the movie "500 Days of Summer".

Nurse Jackie - Main Titles from Imaginary Forces on Vimeo.

And finally, Imaginary Forces also designed the very iconic opening titles to "Mad Men".

Mad Men - Main Titles & Marketing Campaign from Imaginary Forces on Vimeo.