About raptnrent: I got the name from my keys - R Apt and R Ent for the back door to my apartment and the back door to the house. I liked that they were also words: Rapt, meaning enthralled, riveted, captivated, and Rent, meaning torn asunder, violently wrenched. I thought it made for an interesting juxtaposition, open to all kinds of interpretations.
Tag Archives: design
Storytelling through design
I spotted this in a show on Tubi TV It’s one of those interrogation scenes. The thing to notice here is how the actor’s shirt matches the color of the wall. It is a subtle message to the viewer that … Continue reading
All the details matter, part 867
https://twitter.com/HassanOE/status/1477300123436728325 The go-to guy for examples of design in storytelling is always @HassanOE. This thread is a great visual example of how typography can support, subtract from or contribute to communication. It can do it loudly and proudly or with … Continue reading
Simplicity and Ubiquity
A Baddie’s Blog raised a good point about simplicity and minimalism: I remember seeing a Doritos commercial where they were being very vague about naming the chip. However, they kept showing a bright red bag and a dark blue bag. … Continue reading
…they hate that in Italy.
This week I watched Fernando di Leo’s 1972 film, The Italian Connection (YT). That’s the US title, no doubt intended to cash in on the success of The French Connection. The Italian title was La Mala Ordina, (The Bad Orders), … Continue reading
The Kidd is alright
I picked up a copy of Chip Kidd’s book at my local library. What the Brain Pickings article says about it, that it “refus[es] to talk down to them or confine their inborn curiosity to narrow adult expectations about what … Continue reading
Design in action
Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (@HassanOE) has been doing some brilliant analyses of comic book illustration and design in his series Strip Panel Naked. He takes us through the details of how comic book pages work, looking at the impact of the various … Continue reading
“All the pieces matter”
In Sidney Lumet’s great book, Making Movies, there’s a section on art direction, part of the design of film, where he points out that every little detail we see or hear in a scene is deliberate and planned, right down … Continue reading
Dispatch from the Dark: Design
Wow, the sound came out bad on that one! I should have done it over, but I ran out of time. I mention The Non-Designer’s Design Book as another source for learning about design. Vignelli was writing to designers in … Continue reading
The Vignelli Canon
Another design resource that’s worth looking at is The Vignelli Canon. It’s a short booklet by Massimo Vignelli, who was a superstar in the world of graphic design. The booklet is light on text and heavy on space and imagery, … Continue reading
Some opening salvos
Here are a few thoughts on some shots from the opening episode of The Wire. Design I love this shot. the two characters are framed in the restaurant window, with “burger” in neon above Wee Bey and “chicken” above D’Angelo. … Continue reading