Working on Drunk History

One of the first shows I worked on; I credit this endearing and hilarious sketch comedy show as my “period graphics boot camp.”

Our episodes spanned ancient history to events that happened in the past few decades. A film industry newbie at the time, I had to learn how to quickly jump from one era to another, rapidly researching historical events and the graphic styles that shaped them.

It’s also the show that taught me a core tenant of film design that I now teach to my students:

The primary function of a piece of graphic design for film and television is to support the story that is being told.

In other words, what a graphic looks like is never more important than the reason why it looks that way.

This means that sometimes we’re ditching what we learned in design school to make a logo that looks intentionally dated. Sometimes we’re making things look a little bit imperfect on purpose. Sometimes we’re making royal decrees, and sometimes we’re making lost dog flyers.

For a show like Drunk History, it meant that graphics were often used to sell the punch line of a joke or highlight a particularly funny line of dialogue in an over-the-top, exaggerated manner.

And though I’ve grown as a designer in the years since, Drunk History holds a special place in my heart and will always be a favorite project.