The Four Icon Challenge

Things have been so busy at work lately... Bethel's students have officially moved to campus and the back-to-school rush of last minute projects is hitting our department full-force. Whew.

I'm currently working on promotional material for the Theatre Department's upcoming production of The Hobbit (which I'm excited to see since it's one of my favorite books), and while doing a little visual research, I ran across this image:

The Hobbit, iconized. The limited color palette, the strong lines and distinct shapes, the pop culture meets Tolkein aspect... amazing. After a bit more googling, I found that it was the work of graphic designer Kyle Tezak.

Tezak actually has an entire series of movies-as-icons called the Four Icon Challenge, an ongoing project in which Tezak takes his favorite movies and books and tries "to reduce them to a few icons." Solid, simple, effective design.

It's always nice to see work that isn't crammed with information or treated with grunge Photoshop effects. Smart and simple design gets me every time. My favorite icon is the dagger and poison for Romeo and Juliet. Clever representation, Tezak, clever.

Tezak has prints of The Big Lebowski and The Life Aquatic available for purchase online, and for more information visit his online portfolio.