Peacemaker
James Gunn and HBO Max enlisted our typography expertise in this much anticipated “The Suicide Squad” spin-off — “Peacemaker”. We are in love with the style, the characters and the instantly-stuck-in-your-ear track by Wig Wam that are the backbone of a fun, dynamic, quirky dance sequence. Our typography and main title treatment complemented the badass aesthetic of the sequence and take it to the next level!
In typical James Gunn fashion, this main title breaks the mold. It comes to life over a hilariously choreographed dance sequence featuring the cast.
Hair metal not only influences the music, it also impacted the visual styling of the show. So, it made sense for us explore typography that relates to that genre. We had to balance that aesthetic with the strong personality of the sequence’s production design, which had prominent accents of pink and blue neon throughout.
While the treatment may be bold, it is balanced in a way that it complements the composition and the set design of each shot. We integrated the titles into the live action in a way which allowed us to have balanced compositions while still making sure the cast is unobstructed.
Through the season, the story evolves in tone and we become more intimately familiar with the characters. As a result, the way this title sequence is interpreted changes as well — it plays fun light and happy in some episodes and then very sad in others.
After a deep dive into Glam Metal rock band logos and concert posters for research, we realized that we needed to capture the vibe while keeping in mind legibility. A lot of typography from that genre, while stunning visually, is nearly illegible. As a title designer, legibility is an essential part of the assignment. When we discovered New Zelek, we were able to typeset it to do the job perfectly! It has the angular, geometric feel we were looking for and the letterforms are clear and familiar enough that one can read the words effortlessly.
The neon outline treatment further helped blend the typography into the universe of the sequence.
Since New Zelek set in neon makes such a bold statement, for our secondary typography, we needed a much more understated treatment. So, we chose Josefin Sans set in white with a wide tracking as a pairing for our main typography.
There are a few moments during the dance sequence that beg for a subtle interaction between the characters and the typography.
Each episode has a “previously on” graphic and a chapter card with its title. We designed all title cards throughout the season to have a consistent look and feel.
“This main title is fun, unexpected and it highlights the cast in a way we haven’t seen in decades! Compared to other contemporary title sequences this is truly a breath of fresh air.”
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Executive Creative DirectorErin Sarofsky
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Executive ProducerSteven Anderson
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Creative LeadDuarte Elvas
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DesignersDuarte Elvas
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Chris Rodriguez
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ProducerDylan Ptak
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ClientHBO Max
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Series Writer / DirectorJames Gunn
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EditorFred Raskin
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ChoreographerCharissa Barton
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Production DesignerLisa Soper
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ProducersSimon Hatt
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Peter Safran
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HBO ProducersBryan Caroll
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Vicki Wagner
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Post SupervisorJosh Doughty
The Suicide Squad
