The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

Yet another circus film! This time it was the turn of the 1952 film "The Greatest Show on Earth", starring Charlton Heston, which is about a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the most successful and well-known American circus. I liked the film but I didn't think it matched the atmosphere and the glamour of "Trapeze" as it focused more on the overall circus show, as opposed to the characters in the show, which is what Trapeze focused on. Still, I think it was a perfect example of a "typical" American circus.

Trapeze (1956)

To help with my research for my personal project and for my journal, I've watched another film about the circus. This time it was the 1956 film "Trapeze", starring Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis. This was very different to La Strada as it was based in Paris, but appeared to be very American. I think the film sets were beautiful and colourful and it looked like how I would imagine a "typical" American circus to look like. The film was also pretty good!

Little Big Planet

This is a Sackboy! The character created for the game LittleBigPlanet, made by Media Molecule. It's a really cool game where you can customize a Sackboy with colours, clothes and accessories and create your own little worlds to play in. The style is really cool and it's a very addictive game but most of all, it's very, very cute!

The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)

I've also watched Lotte Reiniger's 1926 animation, "The Adventures of Prince Achmed". I think the style of this animation is amazing, especially for the time. The style reminds me of the work of Mary Blair, due to the appearance of some of the backgrounds, Adrian Johnson, whose work appears to have been influenced by Mary Blair, Rob Ryan, due to the use of cut-outs and Rinzen, due to some of the colours that are used in the background scenes.

La Strada (1954)

To help with my research into the Circus, I watched Fellini's 1954 film, "La Strada".

Circus

I've become slightly obsessed with Circus fonts and Circus imagery at the minute, which is why I made the decision to base my personal project on the Circus. I'm not really sure why I like this type of imagery and type, I think it might be the amount of detail they contain and the vintage feel.

Jo Ratcliffe

A piece of illustrative typography by Jo Ratcliffe. She is one of the only illustrators that I can find who combines type and illustration. This piece is very decorative, reminding me of Victorian wallpaper, yet looks modern due to the bold colour scheme.

Eduardo Recife

A piece by Eduardo Recife. I've been looking at his typographic work as opposed to his imagery. They are extremely detailed and look Victorian but they also remind me of Circus type which relates to my personal project: a Circus-themed typeface.

Debbie Greenaway

This is work by Debbie Greenaway. She is one of the illustrators who exhibited at the New Blood exhibition this year in London. I really like the textures she achieves through print and her character designs, especially the cowboy bird!