Giuliano Nistri grew up in the shadow of big brother poster artist, Enzo Nistri (in fact, I wrongly credited Dial M For Murder and a few other designs to Enzo in the past) — but let the record show that young Giuliano is more than capable of defending himself. The proof can be seen below in his terrific oeuvre of manifestos from the 1950s and 1960s, going from the classics to kitsch in one fell swoosh of his pen. (MoviePosterDB, EMP)
Woody Allen speaks Italian in his new film…
Remember when the worst thing that teenage gangs did was whistle obnoxiously at girls walking by…or maybe some knucklehead pulled a knife in the park? (IMP)
This Constantin Belinsky french action movie poster has it all — loaded firearms, a hostage/kidnapping situation with a girl in a bikini held by knifepoint, a tsunami wave about to hit the beach and wipe out a classic muscle car — and then to top it off, a bull’s eye target looming behind the tagline!
Masters of Fashion Illustration, a new art book by fashion maven, David Downton (no relation to Downton Abbey), profiles some of the greatest fashion illustrators of the 20th Century — including a chapter dedicated to legendary poster artist, Bob Peak, who first penciled his beautiful lines for many high-profile fashion mags and commercial print ads.
If art is truly timeless, then compare and contrast these two Saul & Elaine Bass title sequences, completed over thirty years apart…
Although Saul Bass is typically viewed as modern design’s urban sophisticate with his simple, savvy titles, he wasn’t afraid to put on his cowboy hat when he had to…
Okay, I’ve finally gotten through the 415-page blockbuster book, Saul Bass: A Life in Film & Design by Pat Kirkham and Jennifer Bass (Saul’s daughter) — and my eyeballs hurt. Wow, what a visual feast! Part biography, part loving tribute, this tomé features over 1,400 illustrations, spanning Bass’s iconic career in movies and corporate identity/commercial logos. It’s almost unthinkable what the 1950’s-1970’s would’ve looked like without Bass’s clean, colorful logos decorating everything from cereal boxes to 747’s.
Although the career highlights of Mr. Bass have been well-documented in Art of the Title and Movie Titles, this publication uncovers many lesser-known tidbits about the modern master, including how his Walk on the Wild Side titles influenced a young Stevie Spielberg to do an 8mm film with his diva dog, Thunder, as well as Bass’s work on such late 1980’s pictures as Broadcast News, Big, and Mr. Saturday Night.
The book also clarifies the vitally important contributions of Saul’s accomplished wife, Elaine. Much like the Eames’s close-knit relationship, Elaine Bass took over production on the title sequence for Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus (1960) and their cool collaborations continued on with Otto Preminger, Alfred Hitchcock, and Martin Scorsese (their Casino titles no doubt inspired the Mad Men intro), all the way up to Saul Bass’s death in 1996.
Last week’s Hollywood Reporter profile of Mad Men star, Christina Hendricks, entitled “The Arc of Joan” — got me thinking about all of those other powerful Joan film adaptations that caused a firestorm.
Movie Poster Museum 