JinJa Birkenbeuel is the CEO of BirkCreative and host of The Honest Field Guide Podcast. You can find her on LinkedIn, TikTok or Instagram talking about design, food, plants and issues related to self-determination for women in business. Established in 1997, Birk Creative is a multifunctional creative advertising and marketing firm that offers a range of services including social media, brand strategy, graphic design, artwork, video and photography, media buying, visual identity creation, branding, messaging, content production, podcast production, thought leadership writing and digital advertising. An accomplished designer, marketer and business strategist, JinJa has been a GDUSA Person To Watch and has been frequently featured in the pages of Graphic Design USA.
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I landed hot and tipsy after my flight from Chicago to Salt Lake City heading to the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. It was January 21, a historic day in the USA. I crossed my fingers that I would be able to lose myself just for a week in thoughtful and memorable independent films never screened or premiered anywhere else. I walked with purpose through the SLC airport, which always feels like a 10-mile trek without water in the Sahara. My new pink-and-purple limited-edition psychedelic-designed Away suitcase kept me going even though Utah’s crisp mountain air didn’t reach the interior of the airport. This year I was on a rather peculiar mission at Sundance. My self-administered task was to focus on the people who work on films behind the scenes in production—specifically those who work in graphic design, branding, art, color, movie posters, film credits, transitions and titling.
I know, I know, I know! You’re like, why does anybody care about movie titles? Why would anyone go to the Sundance Film Festival just to see a film title and a movie poster? You could do that anywhere, anytime, anyplace—ONLINE.
Let me tell you why: Because graphic designers and artists and people who detail film titling and obsess over fonts and experience ecstasy seeing their glorious animation and transitions between scenes—these people deserve all praise and should have their work celebrated on the big screen! Were it not for the creativity and vision of these creative queens and kings, the film might fail to connect to its audience. Kind of like if the hook of a song doesn’t grab you or a film trailer is poorly edited—if they suck, they can break the success of a film and especially the longevity of the film. So, I decided this year I would focus on the creatives who go unrecognized. Because if it weren’t for us graphic designers, I am certain that the world would not turn on its axis while revolving around the sun.
There are more things that need to be put into a film than just storytelling. A message needs to be shared beyond the dialog, and it needs to come from a graphic designer. They’re not like regular artists; they have a way of seeing the world—they are visually discerning and can hold multiple thoughts, sounds and concepts in their brains all at once. Graphic designers have a special place in society and especially in film. If I see a film that doesn’t care about movie titling or typography, one that has sidelined the graphic designer, then I know that the director fundamentally doesn’t have taste. There I said it!
Think about when you walk around in the world, on the streets, on a train, on a plane, at the grocery store. Everywhere you turn, the work of the graphic designer is dominating your existence. But for all that domination, it’s still invisible and in the background of your life. It’s in ephemera and not at all like music or songs that can force memories of your childhood.
So when we talk about film titling, unless you’re talking about “The Matrix,” “Casablanca,” “Psycho” or “Star Wars,” the visuals typically don’t often transform you. And that’s what I’m here for this year: I want to be transformed. By fonts, graphics and animated interludes. I want them to shake, rattle and roll me like “Sex, Lies and Videotape,” “Jaws” or “Toy Story.”
And, here’s the thing, my expectations were not met. Even before I landed in the frozen Utah tundra, I spent time on sundance.org previewing the graphics of all the films I was scheduled to see. Looking at the films on the sundance.org website, I didn’t see anything incredible and intentional. What’s different today in 2025? What is different from the 1970s or ‘80s when it seems that fonts, posters and designs for films and movie commercials were bombastic. What happened to the bold, strong, in-your-face typography and music from films like “Close Encounters” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close_Encounters_of_the_Third_Kind), “The Breakfast Club” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Breakfast_Club) or even (dare I say) “Gone With the Wind” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gone_with_the_Wind)? Or, choose any James Bond or Hitchcock film, you already know that the opening credits–including the music–will never ever fail to wow you. We can visualize the typography in our head and we can hear the sounds. Such films evoke and represent the experience of a generation, and the film graphics are undefeated.
I understand that everyone with a laptop and Canva can be a graphic designer. And maybe that’s the problem. The craft of graphic design has become commoditized. No one’s connecting their mind’s eye to a pen, pencil and drafting table anymore. For the most part, the pen and pencil is a mouse or touchpad, and these tools are now turning into artificial intelligence. Hand-cut lettering has vanished, and there is barely any traditional illustration like that you might have seen in “Stagecoach” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stagecoach_(1939_film)) film graphics; no more hand-drawn animation like in “Fantasia” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasia_(1940_film)); or hand drawing and painting of graphics as there was in Bela Legosi’s “Dracula” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula_(1931_English-language_film)). It seems that modern cinematographers no longer integrate with graphic designers, typographers and poster designers.
So dragging my humdrum, low-key, Uggs-covered feet around looking for hope and seeing none, I did stumble across a few great films at the 2025 festival that made it obvious the directors of the film had powerful intent. They understood the assignment, the role of the not-so-humble graphic designer. The director’s effort to impose graphic creativity and design must have felt vital to their film’s expected success, and creating the perception of confidence established through graphic creativity could ensure it would happen.
On the edge of my seat, literally, I waited for the opening credits to shock me. Hiding my mobile phone from Sundance IP protectors, I tried grabbing screen shots of the best and finest of the bunch I saw. I immediately could ascertain if there were creativity and vision from the director. And even more so, in their absence, I knew the director was not afforded a budget for design and lacked the robust and trusted creative ecosystem that could have guided them to the promised land of typographic genius.
Having a powerful, duplicative creative network in any creator business is half the battle. Sure, you can hang out with who I hope are real and not AI graphic designers on Behance and Instagram, but nothing beats good old-fashioned human-centered relationships in an actual workspace (not your laptop at Starbucks). Actual handshakes with artists, screen printers, typographer and illustrators, and the chance to encounter America’s all-powerful maker of brand culture: the graphic designer. Everyone needs to have one! It’s one thing to surround yourself with fellow film makers; it’s a whole new world to have a curated friend community you can reach out to help you create the next Red Bull, which will power the production and finances of your next independent art film.
The following films had great opening credits, combined with imaginative music and sound and well-designed film posters. These few films managed to cut to the front of the long and freezing festival lines and breeze right to the concessions before plopping down on the aisle seat. I also was able to snag a few choice interviews on the red carpet with some of the directors and designers to discuss their process of collaboration on their films. You can find some of the conversations on @GDUSA’s Instagram channel (LINK TO SUNDANCE REELS) or on my channel here at @birkcreative. Stay tuned for when these films gain worldwide distribution, or perhaps you’ll see them win in a category next year at the Academy Awards.
Seeds
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34963731/?ref_=tt_rvi_i_5 Simple, beautiful typography. Moroccan graphic designer Malika Zouhali-Worrall used the staple computer font Snell Roundhand for the opening film credits. A funny story: I loved pulling Malika from the shadows of the press line to the red carpet. We graphic designers are so used to working behind the scenes with limited recognition for our work that she was startled when I approached her, and I loved her for it! When I singled her out she was pulled into the red carpet for Getty Images photos with the director and cast! It was a great moment. During our conversation she discussed the use of Snell Roundhand and what it was like to collaborate and direct a director.
Director Brittany Shyne
Graphic Designer Malika Zouhali-Worral https://www.malikazw.com/
Sally
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31193771/?ref_=tt_rvi_i_3 Alfie Koetter chose distinctive Nasa vintage fonts for the film poster and marketing materials. Throughout the film his use of the famous NASA branding standards (https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/nasa_graphics_manual_nhb_1430-2_jan_1976.pdf) celebrates the historic nature of the agency and the breathtaking journey of the first American woman to go to space. I loved the powerful colors confidence of the film’s graphics and marketing materials. The font on the poster and film swag is named “Nasalization.” I interviewed the architect turned designer.
Director Cristina Costantini
Graphic Designer and Co-Producer Alfie Koetter
Move Ya Body
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28247874 “Move Ya Body” is about the birth of house music in Chicago, with music originated by Frankie Knuckles and then transformed, remixed, reimagined and spread like a business by musician, producer and entrepreneur Vince Lawrence. Its graphic design is less in typography and more in the film’s iconic sepia-toned photos of the original music producers and DJs on a Chicago South Side lawn with their instruments. The film’s poster conjures the 80s vibe perfectly, along with the freedom of expression and unpretentiousness of teenagers.
Director Elegance Bratton
Film poster, marketing and subject: Vince Lawrence
Sly Lives!
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26424928/?ref_=tt_rvi_i_7 From the posters to the collage animations inside the film, the execution on all graphics and creative was immaculate. The artist created multiple collage scenes that bounced along to the songs of Sly Stone, which topped off Sly’s already super-dynamic personality. The only Black woman designer I encountered at Sundance, Louise Cousins played a significant role in visually drawing us into the life of Sly Stone with her poster and album cover design.
Director Questlove
Movie Poster Designer and Art Director Louise Cousins
Animations Blake Chambers-White
Two Women
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31066723/?ref_=tt_rvi_i_11 This intoxicating Canadian film uses mysterious typography with music in the opening titling that reminded me of my favorite vintage French romance films. The film opens with blue skies, soaring orchestral music and a serifed Whistle font.
Director Chloé Robichaud
Writer Catherine Léger
Designer Simon Roy IMdb https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31066723/?ref_=fn_all_ttl_2
Heightened Scrutiny
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34966548/?ref_=tt_rvi_i_8 I love this presentation and poster so much. Yen Tan (https://ottoistheone.com/about) chose a font that is in your face and demanding, which is exactly what this film is about: the urgency of now to protect the humanity of transgender people. Watch my interview with the director about his selection of the designer who collaborated with him in the development of the poster.
Director Sam Feder
Graphic designer Yen Tan
Speak
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34565168/?ref_=tt_rvi_i_2 Finally, a font that feels hand drawn and intentional! I loved the way the designer handled not only the movie poster but also the animated infographics describing concepts and timelines that took place during transitions throughout the film. I can say I had never before seen animated infographics in a movie outside of a scientific film or demonstration.
Directors Jennifer Tiexiera and Guy Mossman
Omaha
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29253299/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk The subject matter of emotional abandonment is carried nicely with another childlike hand-drawn title for this movie poster. The film’s titling and credits were treated as an afterthought. I would have loved to see a more nuanced font treatment for the credits; this film deserves more.
Director Cole Webley
Graphic designer Kim Berens
