Movie titles are where graphic design comes to life. As a lover of type I am especially looking at the typography used in these animated âmini-moviesâ. Typography is at the heart of every design. Choosing the right typeface can make or break a design. Sometimes it is the only design element to illustrate an idea or an emotion and movie titles are a great example of this. In the early years before the use of computer generated graphics using type in a striking way was even more important.
One of the pioneers in creating impactful title sequences was award-winning graphic designer and filmier Saul Bass. During his 40-year career Bass worked for some of Hollywoodâs greatest filmmakers, including Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Otto Preminger, Billy Wilder, and Martin Scorsese. He became well-known in the film industry after creating the title sequence for Otto Premingerâs The Man with the Golden Arm in 1955. For Alfred Hitchcock, Bass designed effective and memorable title sequences, inventing a new type of kinetic typography, for North by Northwest, Vertigo (working with John Whitney), and Psycho.
Title sequences created by Saul Bass:
Bass also designed some of the most iconic corporate logos in North America, including the original AT&T âbellâ logo in 1969, as well as their later âglobeâ logo in 1983. He also designed Continental Airlinesâ 1968 âjetstreamâ logo and United Airlinesâ 1974 âtulipâ logo which have become some of the most recognized logos of the era.
Several movies in recent years paid homage to the great designer. One such example are the 2002 movie titles for Catch Me If You Can.
One of todays greats is the French graphic designer Laurent Brett who has a huge passion for creating film titles. His knowledge of French title design of the past 50 years is impressive. Brett studied two years at a school for communication, which sparked his interest in video editing. He gradually rolled into the motion design business in the 1990's, working as a post-production supervisor, editor and motion graphic designer on music videos and commercials. For several years now, Brettâs primary focus is designing Main Titles for film and TV - ranging from simple "font work" to elaborate creative title sequences. He works a lot and usually on several projects at the same time.Â
Title sequence for the movie Hostage
Interview with Laurent Brett
With the help of computers, movie editing software and 3D rendering programs title sequences became much more powerful, impressing an audience beyond graphic designers and type aficionados. Typography still plays a major role despite the use of powerful graphics. The movie 300, based on a comic, uses a comic typeface in combination with 2D drawings to make a connection to the print-based original.
The title sequence for the movie Se7en uses a distressed font to help evoke the meaning of the plot and to elevate the viewer into the state of mind of the film and the story experience.
The use of a hand lettered script typeface in combination with watercolor drawings gives the viewer a sense of time for the movie titles of Sherlock Holmes.
And then there are some titles that are just great. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo would probably still be awesome no matter what the font used because the imagery and sound are so striking. But for the sake of graphic designers and type aficionados I hope choosing the right typeface will never be taken lightly.
