For the title sequence, director Ulrike Helmer already had some ideas about what she wanted and how she wanted it. “Before I started filming, I knew that I wanted a special title sequence befitting the style of the film. It was important to me to develop the title sequence simultaneously with the film to allow them    to influence each other. All the artwork – titles, posters, website, flyers and DVD cover -  was designed as part of a whole, with one clear and easily recognisable identity. The title Dutch Touch was designed to function as a logo. I like the black-and-white and the big, clear characters.”

“Ulrike Helmer approached us to design the title sequence for her film. We clicked and decided to do the project,” says Ferry van Zijderveld from the Dutch design studio Hotel. “We wanted to use raw and clear typography without ressorting to the usual hiphop clichees. After several proposals, which included laborious and expensive in-camera typography, we went back to basics, just like rap: a mike, a beat and some fireworks. We decided that the characters had to be simple and the rawness had to come from our main tool: the computer. After the design process, the nitpicking started: finetuning the timing, rhythm, readability and synchronising the title sequence with the soundtrack.”

The Amsterdam-based design collective Hotel operates on the border of graphic design and art. The company designs flyers, posters, books and magazines, develops publicity campaigns and directs commercials, music videos and title sequences. Hotel's work is fueled by their love for bold and out-of-the-box typography, one of the main design elements of their work.

more about Hotel

Full credits

Director (film)
Ulrike Helmer

Production
Janneke Doolaard (Eyeworks Egmond)

Links

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