Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1514626
I set about making more than eighty imperfect, period fonts that matched those old printed lettering books. I needed to solve the challenge that Apple Studios had created for us but also get the look of the period and place correct. As some of you probably know, I have been making my own typefaces for almost twenty years, but I decided to really step up the volume for Killers of the Flower Moon. Truthfully, I even drew them during the weekend, without pay, just to have the arsenal I would need to get the show's work done. Admittedly, I became obsessed. You can see the current 'count' on my lettering cheat sheet here. During this time, I also put dates in the titles of all my fonts and cleaned up some of the missing gylphs (a single letterform like an 'a' or '&') on ones I had done previously. This also saved a lot of money on font licenses which the Art Department now needs to purchase. Fairfax Town Shops This main street in a one-horse town was growing in affluence with the discovery of oil on Native American lands, and all that it could buy. It contained some thirty stores and offices. The production had great research of the real Fairfax in the 1920s and I used it as a basis for the signage. Some of the typography in the photos had 'less than perfect' lettering and I decided to be bold and not try to fix them. I wanted it to have an authentic, unsophisticated appearance, even though for people who hadn't seen the research, it might make me look like a bad graphic designer who couldn't draw a proper letterform. I grew to love those imperfect signs and their elegant simplicity. You can see this especially well in the sign for "Cavnar's Photographs." and the "Plumbing & Tin Shop." For the set decoration department, I designed many showcard window displays using all the fonts I have created. These included the Rex Theater, a laundry, a men's store, a car dealership and a couple of restaurants. I also created many packages for the drug store interior, including some hero props used nefariously in the plot. In another Fairfax project, high above the street, Jack had asked for a large billboard to be created for the "Big Hill Trading Co." on a blank wall. He gave me a sketch to work from and I adapted it into A. CLOTHING STORE WINDOW SHOWCARD GRAPHIC LAYOUT. B. DRY GOODS STORE SIGN. GRAPHIC LAYOUT. C. REX THEATER PROGRAM SIGN. GRAPHIC LAYOUT. D. MOVIE POSTER. GRAPHIC LAYOUT. E. PHOTOGRAPHER'S SHOP SIGN. ELEVATION, GRAPHICS AND REFERENCE IMAGE. F. BIG HILL TRADING CO. BILLBOARD. GRAPHIC LAYOUT. G. BIG HILL TRADING CO. BILLBOARD ON MAIN STREET. PRODUCTION STILL. H. CAR DEALER WINDOW SIGN. GRAPHIC LAYOUT. A B C D