A Brief History of Film Title Design

Jonny Tiernan
March 11, 2022

What first comes to mind when you’re asked to think about the James Bond movies?
If you’re anything like us (slightly nerdy, graphic-design obsessed, etc.) there is a very strong chance that you’ll think of
the opening title sequence where you’re looking at the silhouette of Bond down the barrel of a gun, before he turns
and shoots you, causing blood to run down the screen. This moment is absolutely iconic and defines the franchise.
That is the power of good title design.
The titles do more than just reveal the names of the film and the main people who brought it to life, they s et the tone
and mood of the whole story and establish expectations for the audience. From their humble origins as static cards at
the start of silent movies, film titles have evolved to become an art form in their own right, and are a vital com ponent
of all movies and TV shows. This is the story of how they got there.

Enjoying the Silence

The evolution of film titles stretches all the way back to the earliest history of cinema – the silent film era.
As there was no sound, the best way to convey details to viewers and provide context for what was happening was
through the use of lettering cards. These cards were known as inter-titles or a title card and they were vital in enabling
the audience to follow the narrative and understand what was happen ing on screen.
These letter cards were created by lettering artists, and the focus was on making the text clear and legible, and for the
cards to be easy to produce. The classic look of white text on a black background became the standard as it simply
looked better in black and white movies when projected. The lettering itself was also kept very simple and was either
mono-stroke letterforms or characters with small serifs. The same style of hand-illustrated lettering cards were also
then used for the main film title art.
In these nascent days of the movie industry, the main concerns for film titles were more practical than artistic. The
purpose was to convey screen credits such as the movie title, director, movie studio’s name, and main actors, plus any
legal, copyright and marketing information that had to be included.
Charlie Chaplin’s The Pawnshop from 1916 is a classic example of film titles and inter - titles from that time – simple
white lettering on a plain black background is used for both.

Injecting Style and Flair

The first real step in the evolution of film titles came when lettering artists stepped away from standard simple forms
and started to incorporate illustration and typography that drew inspiration from the prominent art movements of the
era. Expressionism, art deco, and art nouveau elements all start to make an appearance in the film titles of silent
movies.
There was a further shift in creativity when illustrators and lettering artists started to reflect the nature of the film with
the titles. In this approach we can see the origin of modern title design, as now film titles play a major part in reflecting
the subject matter and genre of the movie or TV series.
A famous early example of using film titles to convey the content of a film in this way is the original German version
of The Cabinet of Dr Caligari from 1920. It’s a pretty disturbing film about a mad hypnotist who makes a sleepwalker
commit murders on his behalf. The typography is edgy and sharp and really gives you a sense of the w eirdness of the
movie.
It’s cool to think of how a very modern title design like that of Stranger Things can be traced back to this time.
Another interesting side note is that in 1929 a new Oscar category was introduced for Best Title Design, recognizing
the importance and influence of the artform. Unfortunately, with the advent of sound in motion pictures in 1927, titles
were then only used in the opening credits of a film and not between scenes, and the category was quickly dropped.
After the grand arrival of sound in movies, film title design continued to follow the same trajectory and kept on going
in this direction through the 1930s and 40s. Relevant typefaces and illustration were mainly used to communicate the
genre of a film – haphazard typography let you know it was a slapstick, and bold, ‘wanted’ poster style lettering was a
favorite typeface and meant that a Western was incoming. Film title artists also started to get more creative with the
styles of lettering, mixing fonts, using shadows, and also incorporating more illustrations and images.
Then from the 1950s onwards, the art of movie title design really came into its own.
The Game Changes
It might seem strange to us now to consider TV an existential threat to the movie industry, but back in the 1950s when
televisions were just starting to make their way into people’s homes, there was a real sense that it could spell the end
of cinema. All of a sudden the movie studios had a fight on their hands, and it led to some very significant changes.
TV companies had started to get professional graphic designers to make the opening sequences for their shows. Good
graphic design is able to lend an extra finesse and edge to the production of titles. The film industry realized this and
followed suit. Soon, independent filmmakers started bringing in original ideas on how to create title sequences,
developing techniques and styles that had never been seen before.
It heralded a brand new era for movie title design. Some of the biggest names to ever be associated with film title
design emerged in this period – Maurice Binder, Saul Bass, and Pablo Ferro. If these names don’t ring a bell for you
now, the films they designed the title sequences for definitely will.