Peter Sève: American Illustrator & Character Designer

Peter Sève: American Illustrator, Character Designer
Peter Sève: American Illustrator, Character Designer
Peter Sève: American Illustrator, Character Designer
Peter Sève: American Illustrator, Character Designer

Even though his style is very reminiscent of a simple sketch, NY based Illustrator Peter De Sevè actually has an incredible reputation for being a huge perfectionist, and his perfectionism may be attributed to him being born colorblind. Much of his early work was solely done with ink and pencil, De Sevè only began to apply color to his work later in his career, and for that purpose, he works exclusively with watercolor, which proves that Peter De Sevè is actually an insightful illustrator who refuses to relay on tricks or gimmicks; he focuses only on the actual story. A Parsons graduate since 1976, De Sevè has done many illustrations for magazine covers, such as the New Yorker, a publication for which he was done some now very recognizable works. In recent years he has also began to expand his impressive draftsmanship into character design, he is a driving force behind the characters of very popular flicks such as Ice Age, Finding Memo and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Today, Peter De Sevè is embarking on a new direction in editorial illustration, he’s beginning to illustrate children’s books.

Hamburger Backwards:
Clever Animation and Creative Typography in Perfect Harmony

I was introduced to this really cool animation after browsing through the menu of Fast Food Nation on DVD , I simply love the great combination between animation and creative typography to deliver some really scary facts. For those like me, who are fed up with lame story lines I recommend watching the film.

Animated Movie Introduction


kiss-kiss-bang-bang

Source: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang! Warner Bros, 2005.


I got really excited when I first watched this animated introduction to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
I like the very limited use of color, and the segment where the text blocks move is really cool as it creates an interesting point of tension in conjunction with the change of melody. Overall, this is a really cool animation, it shows that when it comes to applying motion to 2d design, having strong, flat color contrast along with iconic illustration can be just as engaging!

Personally, I think it would have been more effective if the creative team behind this movie’s identity would have taken some more inspiration from this great animated intro. Though the use of imagery and typography in the movie’s identity is indeed very dynamic, notice that it seems too common, whether as the animation on its part, seems more solid, mysterious and yet fun and dangerous at the same time; which ultimately is what best describes the movie’s plot.