My love for classic films inspired me to design and letter a series of retro title cards for the films starring my favorite actress, Judy Garland, while drawing inspiration from their original titles and the promotional ephemera created for the films.

Being a collector and a huge fan of classic movies, I found that the things I couldn’t collect in a tangible way were the artful titles created for some of the most memorable movies of all-time. I thought a great deal about how special title designs are to fans, and about their increased importance because they literally flash before your eyes. Before home video and the internet, the titles could only exist for fans in the form of their memories and revisiting long out-of-print films could be incredibly difficult.

My goal was to document, collect, and present an inspired, cohesive piece that represents a history of movie titles through one actress’s filmography while adding my own design language and take on each film. I wanted a specific history of typography and lettering to live together on a poster in a meaningful way.

I would watch each film with a sketchbook in hand, decide on my reference, sketch a solid idea, and then jump on the computer and try to finish one title in one sitting. I would try to complete three titles per week so that I wouldn't fuss too much and so that getting 34 titles finished in a few months couldn't turn into a few years! The pieces I created were 4x3 just like the 4:3 aspect ratio of the majority of the films themselves.

I began the project with a series of titles from films that most movie fans would associate with Garland: The Wizard of Oz, Meet Me in St. Louis, and A Star is Born. After those films, I started from the very beginning of her film career in 1936 and continued chronologically until her final acting performance in a film she completed in 1963.

The typeface I used for the captions under each card is set in a font called “Meyer Two” (misspelling of Louis B. Mayer’s last name intentional) which was one of five fonts that Linotype cut to Mayer’s personal specifications to be used at M-G-M in their film titles and silent film subtitles. It was drawn in 1926 and digitally revived by David Berlow in 1994.

Check out my Print Magazine feature about the project HERE.

The poster was printed at the original one-sheet poster size (27" x 41") on a beautiful metallic stock with a filmic quality that might remind you of a vintage silver gelatin portrait you might have received after writing to your favorite M-G-M star.

(I've sold out of three editions of the poster but if you're interested in purchasing a copy please do get in touch!)

I also created 8" by 10" “lobby card” versions of each title card design that were also available on metallic stock featuring cast information and release dates stamped on the reverse.