Students create Jarmusch film series posters

3:31 p.m., Feb. 6, 2007--Three undergraduate student artists captured the uniqueness of writer and director Jim Jarmusch's films in advertisements for “J is for Jarmusch: Winter Film Series,” UD's third annual Winter Session film series which featured four of Jarmusch's independent films: Stranger Than Paradise, Dead Man, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai and Broken Flowers.

Senior visual communications majors Stacey Kleber, Debbie Carleton and Matt Bobel created advertisements for the films that were so stunning, UD's Special Collections and Instructional Media Collections Department has requested a set of their artwork for display.

Alex Keen, program coordinator, said he sent out a request for visual communication students to develop the poster campaign and guided them through the design process. “Most of what they came up with came from their inspiration,” Keen said. “I gave basic feedback on the text and overall concept.” Kleber said she, Carleton and Bobel researched the films, watched trailers and brainstormed ideas for the advertisements.

“The style inspiration came from something Keen said in one of his e-mails,” Kleber said. “He called Jarmusch's directing kind of the punk rock movement of film. From that, we knew we wanted the posters to be a little edgy and hand done, and that is how we came up with the pen and ink, and the letterpress backsplash.”

Kleber said she and Carleton sent Bobel ideas for imagery for each of the movie illustrations and Bobel added his own spin on the design. Kleber and Carleton then picked the colors, combined the elements and added the type.

A fan of Jarmusch, Bobel said the illustrations were created and designed based on certain elements and themes within the films.

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai was a film that expressed the conflict and miscommunication between two rigorous cultures, the Mafia and the Samurai,” Bobel said. “Therefore I had combined the daunting force of a Japanese dragon, with the stable complex of a large city. Dead Man was also expressive within cultural and spiritual differences. This film was a personal journey through the acceptance of fate and impulsive truth, so I had designed the character to hide within the atmosphere both as a fearful stranger and as a foreign threat."

Kleber said she is honored Special Collections wants a copy of their work. “When we started it, we were just looking to use our design skills outside of class and maybe get a piece for our portfolios out of it,” she said. “We were really happy with the results. It is nice to know that people like what we came up with, as well.”

Keen said he also was impressed with the student's work. “The posters came out amazing,” he said, “I didn't know what to expect and was
floored by the level of creativity these students showed. That the Special Collections and Instructional Media Collections wants a copy of the artwork is a testament to the great work of these students and is quite an honor for them to receive.”

Sponsored by Student Centers, the films were screened Wednesday evenings in January at the Trabant University Center Theatre.

Article by Julia Parmley, AS'07

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