The Devil and Sarah Silverspoon
The week after we did the Friday Slam with students from the entire Digital Design program, we did a DVD package design SLAM involving just my class for a film produced by the VFS film department, The Devil and Sarah Silverspoon.
To start, the class watched the film (a short 10 minutes) and were given an information package of materials we could choose to include in the packaging or read for inspiration. Then, we were divided into two teams (not our choice, unfortunately) and tasked with developing the entire DVD package in 8 hours (by 4 PM). My team, sadly, had a bit of a slow start.
For the project, I wanted to establish a united theme that would carry the same feel across the different presentation media (dvd cover, insert, label and menu). Unfortunately, we were unable to agree on one particular theme as a team. Thus, one person suggested we split into two groups; one handling the digital side and one handling the print side. I chose the print side with another student and we got to work.
First, we brainstormed ideas for the DVD cover as that would decide the theme for the rest of the print packaging. Of all the concepts we looked at (including ones that the team as a whole developed), the one that stood out for us was the concept of the “evil eye.” We really wanted to create something that got across the concept of the film; that of a rather offbeat and silly devil, while still keeping it fairly evil. So, we developed the idea of a wrap-around cover with the face of the devil going from the front around to the back. Thus, the main features of the front cover of the DVD would be the devil’s eye, nose and the title of the film itself. Originally, we intended to put a small cake in the eye of the devil (as the devil character had a sweet tooth for baked goods), but in the actual application, the cake weakened the strength of the packaging so significantly, we scrapped the idea.
We chose an illustrative style for the packaging because we felt it introduced an element of play. The film isn’t about a true evil, but a more wannabe evil and we thought that choosing not to use live-action or real photos on the case, we would steer away from that evil aspect of the film. The devil on the cover still gives off a slightly sinister look (especially with the teeth), but it is also kinder and friendlier.
To make the cover image, I took several photos from the web and amalgamated them, then traced the parts I wanted and made some detail edits to create the final piece.
Another aspect of the creation was to re-create the logo. Unfortunately for our team, we were not given a digital copy of the logo, so it was up to me to re-create it in a way that it mirrored (or got really close to) the original.
The original:
The vectorized version:
The process for creating this logo was a bit interesting. As a student, I was unable to identify which fonts were used for the “Devil” and the “Sarah” parts. So, I cropped out the letters from the screen capture and used a service called What the Font that will accept an image file and try to figure out what letters are used in the logo. Then, once you’ve confirmed which letters are which, it makes guesses as to which font was used for the text. In this case, it nailed both of them within a few guesses. So lucky me! From there, it was a process of imitating the devil tail and horns, which was a little troubling given the low quality of the film. Hopefully in a real life situation, we would be given a digital copy of the logo and wouldn’t have to remake it, but I’m glad that it is not an impossible task.
Finally, I designed a DVD insert. In the packet of materials for the film, we were given actor and crew bios and a statement about the film from the director. I asked my partner to rapidly type up the text for those items (as were not given digital copies of them either) as I developed the insert. For the insert, I wanted to make an imitation cookbook, given how central cooking is to the film. The first page of the insert was meant to draw the viewer in and make them interested in reading through the entire insert. Thus, I made it a recipe page:
There are a large number of in-jokes that one will more fully appreciate after watching the film the first time, but even without seeing the film, one gets a sense of the playfulness and evil present. After this first page, the insert continues with the character bios as a “ingredient description” and then “where this recipe came from” as the director statement. In the last 5 minutes before the project was due, I added in the little graphic at the bottom of the page. I felt that the page needed something and the normal Fleur-de-lis just didn’t cut it for the style of the film.
Overall, I’m happy with how my sections came out. I feel that they reflected the film well and brought a playful, yet evil look that would stand out among other DVDs, enticing viewers to watch the film.
However, I feel that the project as a whole was only marginally successful; primarily due to the split in the team. Due to the team dividing in half, the look and feel of the DVD menu did not reflect the DVD print packaging and visa-versa. As the pseudo-leader of the project, I felt that this reflected poorly on me since I was unable to bring focus to the team’s design. Over the last couple terms, this has been a continual issue where I’ve ended up with a team that didn’t want to come together and have tried my best, but things haven’t always gone the best. Good thing I’m still a student and learning! There’s still plenty of time to improve and practice before the working world.
Anyways, I’m rather proud of the work myself and my partner pulled off in the 8 hours, finishing our half of the work under the deadline.
