The Fabelmans

One of my first projects with Universal Pictures involved creating branded merchandise for the film, The Fabelmans. The final products included a mug, notebook, and t-shirt. The design for the mug and notebook were straightforward – placing the title treatment in a clean and sensible manner.

The challenge arose when working on the apparel. The client sought a more creative and inspired design beyond a basic title treatment. The direct client direction quoted below:

“Unfortunately the only vector art we have right now is the title treatment (and it has a goofy line underneath that we need to keep in)… and that’s likely all we’re going to get at the end of the day, so won’t have a ton to play with on the artwork side. But, things like cameras, film strips, light from a camera, etc. are all relevant. And if we can add in FROM STEVEN SPIELBERG as much as possible that would be stupendous.”

I underwent multiple design phases, incorporating client feedback along the way. The result was a simple yet effective design that not only met the client's requests, but also coincidentally mirrored the concept of the movie poster.