One of the most prolific and influential modern-day designers is the highly acclaimed title designer, art director and filmmaker, Kyle Cooper. Whether your interest lies in motion graphics, graphic design or film-making, you’ve probably been influenced by Cooper, who has directed more than 150 title sequences for feature films like Spider-Man, Braveheart, Iron Man, Dawn of the Dead, and Se7en.

Cooper’s chilling opening sequence for David Fincher’s crime drama Se7en, with its hand-scrawled typography and gritty, tightly-cropped imagery of a serial killer’s busy hands, continues to be a relevant example of effective title sequence design. This sequence earned the designer much acclaim, including from the New York Times who hailed it as “one of the most important design innovations of the 1990s.”

We’re always excited to check out inspiring interviews with well-known designers so imagine our excitement when we discovered these great short videos featuring Cooper, (who is also the founder of two internationally recognized film production/design agencies, Imaginary Forces and Prologue Films).

Below, watch Cooper in a web series called Fifth, in which Forget the Film, Watch the Titles interviewed title designers in Los Angeles in 2009.

Cooper discusses the importance of experimenting and using organic elements to add depth to creative conceptual ideas, the impact of typography in title sequence design, and the designers/directors who inspired his own work.

Check out the interviews, below:

Kyle Cooper interviewed by Watch the Titles (Part 1/2)

Kyle Cooper interviewed by Watch the Titles (Part 2/2)

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Questions/comments? Email the editor, Mani O’Brien at mo’brien@fidm.edu