Covers

I was thinking yesterday about Criterion Collection covers and wondering who designs them. Is it freelance? Or do they have an office? Do the directors get any say in their covers if it’s a Criterion release?

I came across Eric Skillman’s design process blog, Cozy Lummox, which answered a lot of my questions. He works as a designer for the Criterion Collection and his blog offers a detailed account of the process of making a cover (and inserts, onscreen menus, etc.) from beginning to end. He shows different permutations of the cover as it progresses, some of which look better than the final, with explanations of why they didn’t work/communicate. It’s great! The two images above are final covers he’s worked on.
While looking into this I also found:

• Pentagram’s new(06) identity for Criterion.

• Entire forums where people create fake Criterion covers – some funny, some bad, some really good!