Star Wars is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various films and other media, including television series, video games, novels, comic books, theme park attractions, and themed areas, comprising an all-encompassing fictional universe. Star Wars is one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.
Star Wars is a 1977 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas, produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by 20th Century-Fox. It was the first film released in the Star Wars film series and the fourth chronological chapter of the "Skywalker Saga". Set "a long time ago" in a fictional universe where the galaxy is ruled by the tyrannical Galactic Empire, the story focuses on a group of freedom fighters known as the Rebel Alliance, who aim to destroy the Empire's newest weapon, the Death Star. When Rebel leader Princess Leia is apprehended by the Empire, Luke Skywalker acquires stolen architectural plans of the Death Star and sets out to rescue her while learning the ways of a metaphysical power known as "the Force" from Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. The cast includes Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness, David Prowse, James Earl Jones, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, and Peter Mayhew.
Helvetica, also known by its original name Neue Haas Grotesk, is a widely used sans-serif typeface developed in 1957 by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann.
Urbanized is a documentary film directed by Gary Hustwit and released on 26 October 2011. It is considered the third of a three-part series on design known as the Design Trilogy; the first being Helvetica, about the typeface, and the second being Objectified, about industrial design. The documentary discusses how cities are designed, and it features interviews with urban planners and architects, such as Oscar Niemeyer and Jan Gehl.
Back to the Future is an American science fiction comedy franchise created by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale. The franchise follows the adventures of a high school student, Marty McFly, and an eccentric scientist, Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown, as they use a DeLorean time machine to time travel to different periods in the history of the fictional town of Hill Valley, California.
The Star Wars sequel trilogy is the third trilogy of the main Star Wars franchise, an American space opera created by George Lucas. It is produced by Lucasfilm Ltd. and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The trilogy consists of episodes VII through IX, chronologically following the prequel trilogy and the original trilogy, serving as the final act of the "Skywalker saga". Lucas had planned a sequel trilogy as early as 1976, but canceled it by 1981. He produced only the first six episodes, and for a time described these as comprising the complete story. The sequel trilogy concept was revived when the Walt Disney Company entered negotiations to acquire Lucasfilm in 2011. Lucas produced new story treatments, but these were largely discarded. Both the acquisition and plans to produce the trilogy were announced in late 2012.
Dieter Rams is a German designer who is most closely associated with the consumer products company Braun, the furniture company Vitsœ, and the functionalist school of industrial design. His unobtrusive approach and belief in "less, but better" design has influenced the practice of design, as well as 20th century aesthetics and culture. He is quoted as stating that "Indifference towards people and the reality in which they live is actually the one and only cardinal sin in design."
Massimo Vignelli was an Italian designer who worked in a number of areas including packaging, houseware, furniture, public signage, and showroom design. He was the co-founder of Vignelli Associates, with his wife, Lella. His motto was, "If you can design one thing, you can design everything," which the broad range of his work reflects.
Plexifilm was an independent DVD label and film production company co-founded by Gary Hustwit and Sean Anderson in 2001. Plexifilm produced original films, released films theatrically, and produced, distributed and marketed DVDs.
El Ten Eleven is an American, Los Angeles-based, post-rock duo, known for combining guitar/bass doubleneck or fretless bass, with heavy looping, or vamping, and the use of an effects pedal, over acoustic or electric drumming. They have released ten full-length albums, 2 EPs and a remix album, earning generally positive reviews.
Max Miedinger was a Swiss typeface designer, best known for creating the Neue Haas Grotesk typeface in 1957, renamed Helvetica in 1960. Marketed as a symbol of cutting-edge Swiss technology, Helvetica achieved immediate global success.
Helvetica is a 2007 American independent feature-length documentary film about typography and graphic design, centered on the Helvetica typeface. Directed by Gary Hustwit, it was released in 2007 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the typeface's introduction in 1957 and is considered the first of the Design Trilogy by the director.
Objectified is a feature-length documentary film examining the role of everyday non-living objects and the people who design them, in our daily lives. The film is directed by Gary Hustwit. Objectified premiered at the South By Southwest Festival on March 14, 2009.
Norm, is an experimental graphic design team best known for their typography. Their most influential project is typography for Cologne Airport. It is co-founded by two Swiss designers Dimitri Bruni and Manuel Krebs and later joined by Ludovic Varone. Their approach to typography is known to be very strict and rigorous with strong modernist features but with slight references to postmodernism.
Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec are brothers noted for their design work, which has been featured in publications and museums globally — and spans a wide range from tables and chairs to tableware, rugs, textile walls, office furniture, ceramics, art objects and urban projects.
Mike Russell Parker was a British-born American typographer and type designer.
Gary Hustwit is an American independent filmmaker and photographer. He is best known for his design documentaries, which examine the impact of trends in graphic design, typography, industrial design, architecture, and urban planning. He told Dwell magazine, "I like the idea of taking a closer look at the things we take for granted and changing the way people think about them." In addition to filmmaking, he has been active in the independent music and book publishing industries.
Andrew Blauvelt is a Japanese-American curator, designer, educator, and writer. Since 2015 he has served as director of the Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
Rams is a documentary film about German industrial designer Dieter Rams, directed by Gary Hustwit.
Luke Geissbühler is an American cinematographer and producer. He is best known for his work on Borat, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Fahrenheit 11/9, Helvetica, Netflix’s Abstract: The Art of Design, and his work with OkGo.
