Berlin Alexanderplatz Criterion Art

I recently watched the first episode of Fassbinder's Berlin Alexanderplatz. It's pretty good/weird, but I've been slacking a bit on continuing with it. (15 hours is a bit of an investment)

However, the Criterion Collection DVD box art was love at first sight for me.

(Front cover)

(Inside fold-out booklet)

(Cover to included production notes booklet)

(These two only made it as images on two of the discs.  The second one is Fassbinder.)

Criterion always seems to have gorgeous DVD box art, but this one is a step above.  So I decided to find out who was responsible.  I googled "berlin alexanderplatz criterion dvd art" and found a great article on Criterion's website, written by the artist, Eric Skillman, detailing the lengthy process of designing the DVD art.  It really opened my eyes to how hectic a design process can be, refining and refining an idea before tossing it to try something else, then refining and tossing that to go back and explore the original idea more, etc.  Not surprisingly, German Expressionism and exhibition posters for artists like Egon Schiele were a key influence on the final product.

Crazy.  But then I guess that's why Criterion has the best box art.

Also be sure to check out Eric Skillman's blog, where he goes into even greater detail than his Criterion article on creating this look, and his website, featuring other DVD and book covers he's designed.