A History of the Title Sequence

WINNER OF THE VIMEO AWARDS 2012 in CATEGORY MOTION GRAPHICS! Thanks so much for voting everyone! Watch a short 1 min. making of here, which was shown at the awards: vimeo.com/44046584 Graduation project 2011 Designed as a possible title sequence for a fictitious documentary, this film shows a history of the title sequence in a nutshell. The sequence includes all the names of title designers who had a revolutionary impact on the history and evolution of the title sequence. The names of the title designers all refer to specific characteristics of the revolutionary titles that they designed. This film refers to elements such as the cut and shifted characters of Saul Bass' Psycho title, the colored circles of Maurice Binder's design for Dr. No and the contemporary designs of Kyle Cooper and Danny Yount. This title sequence refers to the following designers and their titles: Georges Méliès - Un Voyage Dans La Lune, Saul Bass - Psycho, Maurice Binder - Dr. No, Stephen Frankfurt - To Kill A Mockingbird, Pablo Ferro - Dr. Strangelove, Richard Greenberg - Alien, Kyle Cooper - Seven, Danny Yount - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang / Sherlock Holmes CREDITS Direction and Animation: Jurjen Versteeg / www.synple.nl Music and sound design: Lea Jurida / www.jurida.com Many thanks to all the people who helped me realizing this project! For some more info on the concept and the production process, please check out the interview on 'Forget the Film, Watch The Titles': http://bit.ly/pzvXXE Watch a short 1min. making of here: vimeo.com/44046584

Designed by Jurjen Versteeg as a possible title sequence for a fictitious documentary, this film shows a history of the title sequence in a nutshell. The sequence includes all the names of title designers who had a revolutionary impact on the history and evolution of the title sequence. The names of the title designers all refer to specific characteristics of the revolutionary titles that they designed. 

This film refers to elements such as the cut and shifted characters of Saul Bass' Psycho title, the colored circles of Maurice Binder's design for Dr. No and the contemporary designs of Kyle Cooper and Danny Yount. 

This title sequence refers to the following designers and their titles:

Georges Méliès - Un Voyage Dans La Lune, Saul Bass - Psycho, Maurice Binder - Dr. No, Stephen Frankfurt - To Kill A Mockingbird, Pablo Ferro - Dr. Strangelove, Richard Greenberg - Alien, Kyle Cooper - Seven, Danny Yount - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang / Sherlock Holmes

(via Quipsologies)

I love title sequences and this short film is a master class in the artform. Jurjen should use this film to create a Kickstarter project and actually produce the documentary. 

Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.

William Joyce, Ex-Pixar Designer, Creates Astounding Kids' Book For The iPad

"The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" is like a well-written bedtime story and an immersive animated movie at once. Every page has some delightful, hidden feature embedded into it.

 

 

Part of why the book works so well is its top-shelf creative pedigree: author William Joyce is also an accomplished illustrator and animator who's published New Yorker covers, won a bunch of Emmys, created character designs for some of Pixar's first animated classics, and worked on many others for Dreamworks and Disney. With his cohorts at Moonbot Studios, he created an interactive book-app around the story and a standalone animated film -- so you can experience "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" however you like.

Truly delightful and beautiful book/app/experience

Inspired, in equal measures, by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and a love for books, “Morris Lessmore” is a story of people who devote their lives to books and books who return the favor. "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" is a poignant, humorous allegory about the curative powers of story. Using a variety of techniques (miniatures, computer animation, 2D animation) award winning author/ illustrator William Joyce and Co-director Brandon Oldenburg present a hybrid style of animation that harkens back to silent films and M-G-M Technicolor musicals. “Morris Lessmore” is old fashioned and cutting edge at the same time.

The following are part 1-4 of The Making of "Morris Lessmore" with the final parts coming soon. 





 

Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.

How Bloomberg Businessweek Gets Made

Time lapse of the making the Businessweek over a week. For more shenanigans, follow us @bizweekgraphics

It's almost a miracle weekly magazines actually get published.

Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.

"Paul Rand: A Designer's Words" Hard to find book now free

Highly prolific design writer Steven Heller shares a gem for free via his The Daily Heller newsletter. 

On April 3, 1998 the School of Visual Arts held a Paul Rand Symposium in New York City. To commemorate the event Nathan Garland, Georgette Ballance and I edited a keepsake titled "Paul Rand: A Designer's Words," a collection of many Rand quotes from various sources. It was printed by Rand's favorite printer, Mossberg & Co., typeset by his favorite typesetters, PDR (A Division of AGT), and produced with his favorite paper, Mohawk Superfine. Nathan Garland's design was true to Rand's typographic aesthetic.

Only 500 copies of the keepsake were printed, given free to the symposium participants and sold through Emigre, among other limited venues (only a few rarities remain). Now, I would like to make it available to all via PDF. If you would like to download go here.

This is a must-have for anyone interested in design. Visit Paul-Rand.com to view his timeless work. 

Help support the blog by purchasing books by Steven Heller (of which there are many, it feels like he is releasing a new book every week.) 

Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.

What is design?

There are too many shoddy, unconsidered things in the world already. Given the widespread distribution of today’s digital production tools, it’s remarkably simple to make nearly anything, especially things claiming to critique design through the rejection of formal rigor. Making things well, making them beautifully, making them with craft, making them with an excess of effort, demonstrates a respect for one’s own labor and an expression of love for the world that dissolves perceived categories of work and pleasure.

— WHAT IS DESIGN? A Manifesto for the Gwangju Design Biennale 2011 by Project Projects

 

Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.