Camerini Robertson Films
More then a decade in the making, the twelve part feature length documentary film series How Democracy Works Now — Twelve Stories was one of our most extensive collaborations with filmmakers Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini. The films provide the audience with unprecedented access to the complex process through which an idea becomes a law, and the many steps in between. The filmmakers asked us to develop the overall visual Branding, Opening Title Sequences, On-screen graphics, and Packaging for the DVD boxed set.
Over the past 17 years we’ve asked Level to tackle a huge range of design challenges, from film titles to posters, press kit’s and what turned out to be possibly the most beautiful pitch book ever produced for an independent documentary. In every case, they have amazed us with their ability to synthesize ideas and come up with a design solution that communicates serious complexity in what appears to be just a simple, beautiful form.
— Shari Robertson + Michael Camerini
Filmmakers
How Democracy Works Now titles
concept, design, animation
Published in Carter, Rob, Ben Day, Sandra Maxa, Phillip B. Meggs, and Mark Sanders. "Typographic Design: Form and Communication," 6th edition. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2015.
We created a title sequence that suggests the character-driven nature of the films, and the intricate layers and nuances that make up Democracy in action today. There are twelve unique variations of the Opening Titles, tailored to each of the “stories” that make up the series. Stuart Anderson from Forbes writes, "Without question How Democracy Works Now is the best documentary film series on government ever produced. There is nothing even close."
How Democracy Works Now – Twelve Stories was screened at The New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center, and aired on HBO.
HDWN DVD Packaging
concept, design, print & production management
Packaging we developed for the twelve-part film series boxed set. One challenge of this design was that the filmmakers wanted to begin to sell the box set before all of the films were completed. To accomplish this, we designed the package for each set of films to include imagery from the film on both the DVD itself, as well as printed on the location where the DVD would ultimately sit. Because of this, the consumer knew that they were missing a film, and could in the future complete their collection.
Packaging includes the full box set of three packages, each containing four of the twelve films. An additional sleeve was also created to package any of the films when sold individually.
How Democracy Now – Twelve Stories was screened at The New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center, and aired on HBO.