Criterion & Eclipse Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol.3

[Cinesimilitude]

I was pretty close to the color scheme and style with my fan art, but overall quite boring and uninspiring.

[souvenir]

overall quite boring and uninspiring.

You say boring and uninspiring, I say classy and tasteful. The set is going to be much more about Robeson the man than any of the films so it seems appropriate for the artwork to center around him.

[Cinephrenic]

Remember, "Portraits" play into this as well. Literally taken, the cover art serves well with the theme of the box.

I didn't know he had piercings.

[toiletduck!]

Can't help but wonder if the whole justifies the parts. How many times are you actually going to form that picture, as opposed to just pulling out Robeson's left eye?

-Toilet Dcuk

[Cinesimilitude]

Can't help but wonder if the whole justifies the parts. How many times are you actually going to form that picture, as opposed to just pulling out Robeson's left eye?

That's what I was thinking. I'd have gone with a different portrait for each case, and maybe the 4 parts of the portrait that match up, faded into the back cover. It would look better and save us from the "piercings" comment.

[Tribe]

Outstanding cover! Good work.

Tribe

[Highway 61]

This is probably the worst example yet of the wacky c design.

[godardslave]

the wacky c is just fine, and its a good logo, much simpler and better than the relatively clunky whole line of text "the criterion collection" and underline, used previously. In fact from now on, i will only refer to it "the elegant and minimalist c".

I urge all people with any taste whatsoever to join this important crusade!

[jbeall]

Minimalist? Perhaps. But elegant? No.

How about we meet halfway on this, godardslave, and call it "the minimalist C"?

[Cinesimilitude]

Minimalist? Perhaps. But elegant? No.

How about we meet halfway on this, godardslave, and call it "the minimalist C"?

Here's the part where matt makes a poll with 3 reasonable options, 1 old option (wacky) and 1 ridiculous option as to what the forum terminology for the new logo will now be.

[Matt]

Hey, if Criterion themselves call it the "wacky C" then who are we to contradict them?

[Cinesimilitude]

Hey, if Criterion themselves call it the "wacky C" then who are we to contradict them?

That's right, I'd forgotten it was the actual filename. Wacky C it is, and shall ever be.

[Highway 61]

the wacky c is just fine, and its a good logo, much simpler and better than the relatively clunky whole line of text "the criterion collection" and underline, used previously.

In fact from now on, i will only refer to it "the elegant and minimalist c".

I urge all people with any taste whatsoever to join this important crusade!

It's not necessarily bad, but here and on other covers it is used poorly. It could indeed be done well, but when the 'c' is dangling from Robeson's upper lip and nesting in his hair, the elegance and minimalism of the design is trashed.

[jon]

the old logo was much more elegant. The new one seems a bit more professional and sexy. Simple, yes, but never elegant. I think that maybe they were heading for a new logo to redefine themselves somewhat. There were a lot of imitators with the Line and "The (Blank) Collection" title at the top.

It's a shame that they are having so many problems with the new logo though.

I would love to see what these recent covers would have looked like with the old logo. For me, the Wacky C is tarnishing a lot of the covers, especially these ones.

[Red Beard]

Are there only a handful of us that can see beyond the Wacky C when looking at these covers? I doubt many people are going to look at these in a store and have a wave of confusion wash over their faces. The old logo had a line running over the top of it, but that didn't keep us from knowing what was behind it.

Anyway it goes, they've made a decision and it's a done deal.

Plus, the covers since the change have been leaps and bounds better than the old logo days, with the exception of one or two (Border Radio, I'm looking at you).

[fdm]

Don't mind the near-the-spine block with embedded text (too much), but that wacky C would be much better placed on the spine only, or on the back, or even as part of that block-o-text. It often seems to get in the way otherwise (meaning: it-sticks-out-like-a-sore-thumb).

(And yes I much prefer the pre-wacky C logo. Now that my LD player has croaked, I can't recall if the LDs had the same logo as the DVDs, but it was kind of like the Janus logo, something you could count on. It's not like the quality of the product has changed much, on the whole.)

Hey, Criterion, off topic, but I need to have a DVD of "Imagine The Sound". I have the LD and no player... Eclipse it please!!

[Jem]

"the elegant and minimalist c".

Agree, a vast improvement on the old 'sparce sprocket' logo.
It's Criterion's cover image placement that's wacky.

[hammock]

Is that a devils horn growing out of Ol Man River's hair? Looking forward to the movies after watching "tribute to an artist".

[Cinephrenic]

I don't find a problem with the new logo, it is just that they don't design their covers according to the template. That really annoys me.

[jon]

I don't find a problem with the new logo, it is just that they don't design their covers according to the template. That really annoys me.

what do you mean template? it seems to me that all the designs use the same cover template, with different colors albeit.

[zedz]

I don't find a problem with the new logo, it is just that they don't design their covers according to the template. That really annoys me.

what do you mean template? it seems to me that all the designs use the same cover template, with different colors albeit.

I think he means that he doesn't like the covers that have been designed without taking the new template into account. I think.

[jon]

ahh, i knew he was talking about something, i just didnt understand quite what it was. well anyways, i agree completely.

btw, what are some upcoming films that might look good with a hand-drawn cover (with hand drawn logo). I am salivating for another Le Corbeau.

[Cinephrenic]

I think he means that he doesn't like the covers that have been designed without taking the new template into account. I think.

Yep.

[jon]

Got my copy of Double Life today and was blown away by the packaging. It is truly beautiful. My favorite packaging in a long time. Also, the Sweetie packaging is much nicer than I had imagined. It is so vibrant and colorful. The clear armary cases are a nice addition and worked out much better than I had thought they would have. The artwork on the inside of the cover when you actually open the case is so cool. Robbed from Blue Underground maybe, but they executed it much better.

[marty]

I just ordered my copy of Double Life of Veronique today from Amazon. It was at a reduced price. Although a locak R4 distributor has released it already in a 2-disc edition, Criterion has the better artwork and packaging.