Criterion & Eclipse Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol.4

[Murdoch]

What I got:

lol, what.

[Dadapass]

gorgeous
I hope that cover sticks! [-o<

[ianungstad]

How come the graphic designers never bother to try and incorporate the wacky-C and tab into the cover. There has been far too many covers since the rebranding where the C is smack in the middle of someone's forehead or obscuring the art is some way. Not a particularly dynamic image. The square with the title needs to be dropped though. Makes it look like one of those calenders you give to kids, where they open the square and find a festive chocolate underneath.

[James]

Makes it look like one of those calenders you give to kids, where they open the square and find a festive chocolate underneath.

I think that's the point.

[ianungstad]

Probably a digipack then, with the slipcover having numerous squares you can open to reveal something underneath. If so, seems kind of lame. Cases will probably get damaged very easily too.

[James]

Probably a digipack then, with the slipcover having numerous squares you can open to reveal something underneath. If so, seems kind of lame. Cases will probably get damaged very easily too.

It's possible, but I think you're reading too far into the basic design; it's quite clever in my opinion.

[swo17]

Zoom out on the image and it could be passable. Though I do kind of like now how it makes Amalric look like a 1950s greaser with one prominent curly gray lock of hair.

[Feego]

But this looks a little better for Golden Age (sorry it's compressed):

I like it. Never thought it was a bad design, and it looks even better as a digipack (which I guess is what we suspected it would be).

[danz]

Anyone know who did the artwork for the Criterion DVD "The Horse's Mouth"?

Well, it's listed in this post as the Boland Design Company, although it isn't shown among the other Criterion designs on their company website.

It looks like the cover art is based on the UK poster, not an original design.

You're right. I'm wondering who the illustrator is. Anyone know?

[Highway 61]

]

Nice concept, horrible choice of still. Criterion must have told the designer, "Anything with the old french lady and the screaming guy from the last Bond movie will work."

I wonder if the unprecedented awfulness of recent covers is yet another sign of Criterion's (admittedly inferred) financial woes? They must have let go of their graphic designers and/or stopped hiring experienced ones. Or perhaps it's just Criterion's way of telling us, "We'd rather see Shanghai Express and Open City over this ourselves, but a man's gotta eat!"

[cdnchris]

I realized I had seen that image somewhere before and it looks like it was also used for the UK DVD. At any rate, it probably isn't the finished cover since most of the ones I've posted (save for Jeanne Dielman) have been altered substantially.

Also, I do doubt they'd put actual flaps and I didn't mean to suggest that's what was there, just that it's worked into the graphic.

[Dr. Geek]

What I got:

This cover is either an elaborate joke or a cruel prank, seeing how it resembles a JCPenny Christmas ad:

[HerrSchreck]

That Despleschin is just awful.. eegah. It looks like a ninja has whipped the wacky Cthru the air like a Chinese throwing star and has >sstthhipp<ed into his forehead.

[jbeall]

That Despleschin is just awful.. eegah. It looks like a ninja has whipped the wacky Cthru the air like a Chinese throwing star and has >sstthhipp<ed into his forehead.

It's actually one of the deleted scenes.

[HerrSchreck]

Zoom out on the image and it could be passable. Though I do kind of like now how it makes Amalric look like a 1950s greaser with one prominent curly gray lock of hair.

Or a unicorn whose horn is suffering from impotence.

It also makes me think of a pac-man that conked out mid-bite on his forehead.

[Amazing Goose]

in light of the speculation of criterion having to tighten their belts, does it seem like the number of digipacks is down this year? i haven't looked over every release from the past few years, but last year brought us "vampyr" and "mishima" as well as some other very nice packaging, while this year just about everything is in a plastic snap case. certainly "the human condition" will be a digipack, but i was half-expecting even the "golden age of television" set to packaged similarly to the painleve set.

just wondering if it's another way that criterion is working to save costs.

[TheGodfather]

Yeah last year we`ve got some great sets, with The Furies as well as the Ophuls releases. Too bad this year has been quite underwhelming on that area.
Is there any word yet on The Human Condition being a digipack?

[godardslave]

Yes, the number of digipacks are definitely down so far in 2009, very disappointing.

Jeanne Dielman, Painleve (especially as they taunted us with that great-looking 3 disc digipack artwork), Simon of the desert, Dodes’ka-den, Chungking Express, Repulsion, Brand on the Brain...

all these titles should have been digipacks.

edit: Speaking of digipacks, I just watched Ugetsu again, and the whole package is just beautifully put together and integrated: the booklet, the menus, the outer and inner photos and artwork.
Of course, it also helps that the film itself is one of the greatest films ever made.

[Michael]

I hope the design and treatment of A Christmas Tale will turn out like a family album, with snapshots and all. Like the ragged book of The Royal Tenenbaums.

[Smols]

Human Condition packaging photo via DVDBeaver

[Saturnome]

Digipak hell yeah!!! Here's a Happy man (Yes, I had a doubt!)
The discs are a bit plain though, eclipse-like.

[godardslave]

Re human condition:

There is also a 12-page liner notes booklet featuring an essay by critic Philip Kemp.

only 12 pages? Somewhat disappointing given the scope of the work. And MoC are giving us 100 page booklets.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

I always loved how Criterion never puts quotes by critics on the front. I'm not sure why they're suddenly doing it with this release. I really hope they make them stickers in the final version. I wouldn't mind that at all.

[mogwai]

That cover is from the press release. It's not official. I'm sure there wont be any quotes on the cover.

[CSM126]

I always loved how Criterion never puts quotes by critics on the front. I'm not sure why they're suddenly doing it with this release. I really hope they make them stickers in the final version. I wouldn't mind that at all.

They've done that for a few titles before (I've seen it with Threepenny Opera, Stranger Than Paradise and Army of Shadows), so I'm sure that's how they'd do it here as well if they did. Of course, nine times out of ten the quotes only show up on the sell sheets and not on the physical packaging.