IRRATIONAL MAN – BOOKMARKS & CHARACTER ILLUSTRATIONS

While working my summer job in 2014, I was lucky to be chosen as an extra for Woody Allen’s then-untitled 2015 film. I had tons of fun on set, and spent the rest of 2014 excitedly anticipating every new detail that emerged about the project. I learned over the course of that year that the film was to be titled “Irrational Man,” and that the title was borrowed from a 1950’s philosophy book on existentialism… which I of course then procured a used copy of.

At some point that year I doodled fan art illustrations of Woody, and his two leading actors: Emma Stone and Joaquin Phoenix. I loved the neurotic energy that I was able to capture. However, as a Graphic Design student at the time, I wanted to make something more tangible and typographic out of these character sketches. Placing my initial doodles into Adobe Illustrator, I designed these full color character illustrations.

Then, drawing inspiration from the film’s beginnings as a philosophy book, I designed bookmarks (both front and back) for each illustration. The bookmarks utilize Allen’s signature typeface, Windsor, and feature insinuating quotes from Stone and Phoenix’s characters. In the case of Allen — who only wrote and directed this film, but doesn’t appear in it — I chose one of my favorite quotes of his. Lastly, I added the seal of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, to commemorate the premiere of “Irrational Man.”

The little images in the corners of the border each relate to that actor or character’s role in the film:

• Woody Allen – a film camera
• Emma Stone – a small LED flashlight
• Joaquin Phoenix – a drink cup with a straw