Criterion Designs ($80) is like a highlight reel of the publisher’s most famous covers. The book includes supplemental art, never-before-seen sketches, and a gallery of every cover since the collection’s first laserdisc in 1984. Josh Valcarcel/WIRED
Criterion Designs ($80) is like a highlight reel of the publisher’s most famous covers. The book also includes supplemental art, never-before-seen sketches, and a gallery of every Criterion cover since the collection’s first laserdisc in 1984.
The Killing, Stanley Kubrick, 1956
Connor Willumsen’s moody pencil drawings are a perfect complement to Kubrick’s racetrack noir. Josh Valcarcel/WIRED
The Killing, Stanley Kubrick, 1956
Connor Willumsen’s moody pencil drawings are a perfect complement to Kubrick’s racetrack noir.
House, Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1977
Sam Smith originally created the main image for Nobuhiko Obayashi's horror film as a short-run silk screen to advertise a midnight showing. These are some of the color variations. It's since become one of the most recognizable Criterion covers ever produced. Josh Valcarcel/WIRED
Sam Smith originally created the main image for Nobuhiko Obayashi's horror film as a short-run silk screen to advertise a midnight showing. These are some of the color variations. It's since become one of the most recognizable Criterion covers ever produced.Sam Smith originally created the main image for Nobuhiko Obayashi's horror film as a short-run silk screen to advertise a midnight showing. These are some of the color variations. It' since become one of the most recognizable Criterion covers ever produced.
Eraserhead, David Lynch, 1977
Criterion wanted to find a way to make this Lynch classic fresh again, so it enlisted painter Sam Weber to produce a faithful rendering of the iconic original poster. Somehow Jack Nance looks even more freaked out. Josh Valcarcel/WIRED
Eraserhead, David Lynch, 1977
Criterion wanted to find a way to make this Lynch classic fresh again, so it enlisted painter Sam Weber to produce a faithful rendering of the iconic original poster. Somehow Jack Nance looks even more freaked out.
A Hard Day’s Night, Richard Lester, 1964
How do you come up with an original design for a group that’s been documented to death? Rodrigo Corral’s design successfully conveys the excitement of the Beatles bursting into the American consciousness. Josh Valcarcel/WIRED
How do you come up with an original design for a group that’s been documented to death? Rodrigo Corral’s design successfully conveys the excitement of the Beatles bursting into the American consciousness.How do you come up with an original design for a group that’s been as thoroughly documented as the Beatles? Rodrigo Corral’s design successfully conveys the excitement of the group bursting into the American consciousness.
Rushmore, Wes Anderson, 1998
Who better to do cover illustrations for four Wes Anderson Criterion releases than his brother, Eric Chase Anderson. Josh Valcarcel/WIRED
Rushmore, Wes Anderson, 1998
Who better to do cover illustrations for four Wes Anderson Criterion releases than his brother, Eric Chase Anderson.
The Man Who Knew Too Much, Alfred Hitchcock, 1934
Illustrator Bill Nelson incorporates the curtain and gun from this movie’s most famous sequence, along with Peter Lorre’s face. Josh Valcarcel/WIRED
The Man Who Knew Too Much, Alfred Hitchcock, 1934
Illustrator Bill Nelson incorporates the curtain and gun from this movie’s most famous sequence, along with Peter Lorre’s face.
Scanners, David Cronenberg, 1981
This is one of my favorite Criterion covers of all time. Connor Willumsen dismantles portraits of the two main characters in the film and recombines them into this grotesque image. It’s also obviously a nod toward the most visually stunning special effect in the movie. Willumsen’s preliminary work can be seen on the right. Josh Valcarcel/WIRED
This is one of my favorite Criterion covers of all time. Connor Willumsen dismantles portraits of the two main characters in the film and recombines them into this grotesque image. It’s also obviously a nod toward the most visually stunning special effect in the movie. Willumsen’s preliminary work can be seen on the right. This is one of my favorite Criterion covers of all time. Connor Willumsen dismantles portraits of the two main characters in the film and recombines them into this grotesque image. It’s also obviously a nod toward the most visually stunning special effect in the movie. The book also shows some of Willumsen’s preliminary work.
Repo Man, Alex Cox, 1984
Designer Rob Jones and illustrators Jay Shaw and Tyler Stout team up to produce some inspired punk rock images for Alex Cox’s cult classic film. Josh Valcarcel/WIRED
Repo Man, Alex Cox, 1984
Designer Rob Jones and illustrators Jay Shaw and Tyler Stout team up to produce what has to be the most perfect punk rock image for Alex Cox’s cult classic film.
World on a Wire, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1973
Using typography that’s based on an original theatrical poster, Sam Smith successfully captures the two world’s in Fassbinder’s science fiction classic, World on a Wire. Josh Valcarcel/WIRED
World on a Wire, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1973
Using typography that’s based on an original theatrical poster, Sam Smith successfully captures the two world’s in Fassbinder’s science fiction classic, World on a Wire.
Diabolique, Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1955
Using the film’s water motif, David Plunkert also draws a nice parallel between Clouzot and Hitchcock with a Saul Bass-inspired design. Josh Valcarcel/WIRED
Diabolique, Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1955
Using the film’s water motif, David Plunkert also draws a nice parallel between Clouzot and Hitchcock with a Saul Bass-inspired design.
Three Colors Trilogy, Krzysztof Kieślowski, 1993-1994
Sarah Habibi uses an image from Kieślowski’s Red of an electric current running through a telephone as the basis for the Color trilogy cover. Josh Valcarcel/WIRED
Three Colors Trilogy, Krzysztof Kieślowski, 1993-1994
Sarah Habibi uses an image from Kieślowski’s Red of an electric current running through a telephone as the basis for the Color trilogy cover.
Slacker, Richard Linklater, 1991
Austin graphic designer Marc English is responsible for some of my favorite Criterion covers, including those for Naked and Dazed and Confused. For Slacker, he manages to incorporate Austin itself (the film’s setting) into the design. Josh Valcarcel/WIRED
How do you come up with an original design for a group that’s been documented to death? Rodrigo Corral’s design successfully conveys the excitement of the Beatles bursting into the American consciousness.Austin graphic designer Marc English is responsible for some of my favorite Criterion covers, including those for Naked and Dazed and Confused. For Slacker, he managed to incorporate Austin itself (the film’s setting) in the design.
For cinephiles, The Criterion Collection is a kind of sacred living document—an evolving catalog of the world’s most important films as chosen by people who care immensely about the art form. And while its releases can range from acknowledged classics to overlooked obscurities to modern masterpieces, they all undergo the same painstaking restoration and immaculate repackaging.
That process requires Criterion to be more than just an arbiter of cinematic tastes. Over the last 30 years, the publisher has also helped establish standards for the way we watch movies and what we expect in our special editions, helping to popularize things like the widescreen letterbox format and commentary soundtracks. Along the way, it even created what is arguably a new artistic medium: the special edition cover design.
These are, in almost every way, insanely daunting undertakings. Artists and art directors are often taking some of the most beloved and iconic films ever made and trying to find a way to distill them down to one main image. The significance of the film and filmmaker, its cultural impact, and where it fits in the director’s filmography, are just a few of the things that must be conveyed. Somehow, Criterion and its stable of designers have managed to successfully do this for close to three decades now.
To celebrate that accomplishment, the company just released an art book that showcases many of these amazing works of art. What follows is only a small sampling of some of my favorite designs, but movie lovers will undoubtedly find a lot more to drool over in the book’s 306-pages.
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