The Narrative: created a custom typographic treatment and poster for the film “Bagatelle”—an art-house social satire. Collaborating with illustrator Igor Karash, and inspired by the dark surrealist undertones in the film, The Narrative: used experimental methods to create a typographic solution that emerged from iterations of distorted letterforms made using copiers, projections, and photography. The final typographic treatment was then integrated with the painting—emphasizing the dualities in the film, namely the contrast between rural Texas and the world of classical music.

The poster is visually dissected into two parts—farmland and a barn above, and layers of dark textured ground below in which a cello is buried like a casket. The poster relates the desperate and unnerving state of the main character through symbolism and detail. The poster was designed to be effective at a macro and micro scale—the forms of the house, cello, and film title are clearly visible from afar but upon closer inspection additional details create an even richer visual experience, enticing and rewarding viewers for taking a closer look.

Awards: Graphis