Criterion Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol.1

[Steven H]

Dollars to donuts the Jules and Jim cover will be a still of them riding a bicycle, laughing.

[oldsheperd]

I like the River cover. One of my favorites in a long time. The color is really subdued.

[godardslave]

criterion cover art department! look at the above post by our estemeed admin, Matt!!

This is what we want:

cool old beautiful posters and artwork: YES!
same old cliched stills: NO!

[igor s.]

I would hope they'd do something with this original poster:

you sure that's the original, as i keep coming across this:



perhaps the latter is the reproduction.

and if, as you say, intentions may reside more realistically with the "bridge still", then the "art department" should at least consider this italian poster:



hopes for the best,

-igor s.

[peerpee]

Original posters! Original posters! -- let's all chant!

[godardslave]

Original posters! Original posters! -- let's all chant!

hehe, i just sent an email to criterion referencing this thread.

[Matt]

I did see those other posters, but I thought the first one just looked like a Dell Paperback Originals movie tie-in book and the other one was just clumsily designed. And Jeanne Moreau's got an unflattering double chin in it.

[Jeff]

I did see those other posters, but I thought the first one just looked like a Dell Paperback Originals movie tie-in book

You are referring to the one with the green background? That's actually my favorite of the lot. It'd look swell with a yellow "Criterion Collection" banner scooting across the top. Also, it is, for the record, the original French one-sheet. It's in Tony Nourmand & Graham Marsh's book Film Posters of the 60s. The artist is Christian Broutin and it was 160 x 119 cm. (Though I think that they should resize it before using it for the DVD cover. A five-foot box seems unwieldy.)

[Martha]

I wish that was me getting mashed in the corner by Alain Delon.

Sigh. So very pretty.

[igor s.]

I did see those other posters, but I thought the first one just looked like a Dell Paperback Originals movie tie-in book

You are referring to the one with the green background? That's actually my favorite of the lot. It'd look swell with a yellow "Criterion Collection" banner scooting across the top. Also, it is, for the record, the original French one-sheet. It's in Tony Nourmand & Graham Marsh's book Film Posters of the 60s. The artist is Christian Broutin and it was 160 x 119 cm. (Though I think that they should resize it before using it for the DVD cover. A five-foot box seems unwieldy.)

aha! most excellent. let us hope.

-igor s.

[cdnchris]

I couldn't remember if there was a thread on alternate cover art so I'll just post them here. I was on the Future Shop site today figuring how I should spend my bonus (until I'm told it's going somewhere else) and found a couple of alternate covers. Their site is usually ripe with alternate covers (they had them for The Blob and Element of Crime for a time, which I liked so much more than what they used) but they fixed most of them. They still have alternates up for Written on the Wind, the Cassavetes, and the Kurosawa set.







For those that care for such things

[criterionsnob]

Not sure if we already knew this but:


Dear Criterionsnob,

The Wajda trilogy will be three discs packaged in amarays in a box, like the
Dreyer and Bergman boxes.

Best,
JM

[godardslave]

every DVD boxset should be digipak.
it should be written into the constitution.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Gah! That laserdisc of Jules and Jim looks like someone designed it as a record cover for some band. I hope they don't do that to the DVD. Maybe the covers of the Antonioni, Dassin, and Renoir will have worked that idea out of their system so they'll do something tres chic for our beloved Truffaut, non? With the covers for the Seijin and Akira looking so spare maybe they'll use a similar aesthetic for the Truffaut.

[Matt]

According to the design credits sent to me by Mulvaney, the Jules and Jim cover will be an illustration by this guy. If it's anything like the stuff in his online portfolio, it should be gorgeous.

Oh, and this guy is doing the Wajda covers. Should be well worth the wait.

[milk114]

I'm gonna ask a stupid question, just to warn you all, but...

do directors get any say in promotional or cover art?

I remember watching 12 Monkeys doc. Hamster Factor and Gilliam was presented with different styles to choose from and was given creative imput but is that not necessarily normal?

For Criterion specifically, if a film is *director-approved* does that include cover art as well? And is Criterion allowed to do whatever they desire with their covers if it is of a film that is public domain (thinking King of Kings and M for recent examples)? If a studio-owned product or something else that Criterion has licensed, do they have control (thinking Straw Dogs, Hitchcock, Wes Anderson, Traffic, etc)? Who is held accountable for final decisions and who hold them accountable? Always curious so I thought I would ask. thank you.

[Steven H]

Thanks for the links matt... I'm very excited about both. I can't imagine a more appropriate style for Jules and Jim than the stuff in his portfolio... french AND nostalgic? Count me in. Also, I mentioned earlier that the River cover looked to me like it was in a slipcase digipack and I was very wrong. Let's just say I "emailed Jon Mulvaney" and he "replied" that I was very wrong.

Why are my ideas so easily shunted? bah.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Whoa. I definitely got my tres chic wish. David Downton's contribution to Jules and Jim will definitely be worth seeing. Take a look at his portrait of Deneuve for instance - which reminds me of the cover art for Contempt in some way - and just imagine what he may do for the DVD. Sure, you can tell that he's worked for fashion magazines, but I think he'll be just the right touch for Jules and Jim. Where did Criterion find this man? The gent doing the Wadja box set is quite the illustrator. It's definitely eye-catching. I hope they put some of the art on the outside of the box. The drawings I saw remind me of a book jacket I once saw for a Jonathan Carroll novel. It's good to see that Criterion is going the extra mile for the package artwork. I can hardly wait to see the font they'll have for these two releases' outside and inside.

[Arn777]

There is a new cover for My own private Idaho, much more glamourous.

[chaddoli]

There is now a new My Own Private Idaho cover up!

I don't like this one as much

[Miguel]

Jules and Jim cover is up!

[Poncho Punch]

I like the new cover for My Own Private Idaho, if for no other reason than that Keanu's face will attract more people to the film, and the Criterion Collection in general.

[criterionsnob]

Jules and Jim is very pretty. I like it a lot.

My Own Private Idaho is.... an improvement.

[cdnchris]

Actually I thought that was the image they were originally going to use for the Idaho cover, and was shocked when they were using a lone image of Phoenix walking down the road. I'm not surprised they changed the cover to include Reeves, though, as it will attract a few more people. They could still have lost the swirls.

[Cinephrenic]

I'm not sure if I like the Jules and Jim cover. Looks like the woman has whiskers. The artist's style did not fit this one in my opinion. Criterion is referring to the film as "Jules and Jim" and the cover's film title has the original French title, "Jules et Jim".

The new cover for My Private Idaho is better.