Mograph.net is back with a look at another studio making waves: The Saline Project.
Some have claimed that strictly speaking this Brooklyn collective doesn’t do graphics. We’re not being strict. For one thing, they’re using most of the tools and techniques of graphic design.
Secondly, they got their start doing show IDs. For another, their work is certifiably first-rate, evocative and artificial in the best meaning of the term: a never-ending wrestle to make artifice nearly (but not quite), substitute for on-location footage. We’re all about the fakin’.
But even more, they’re an example of a group who’ve made The Escape. To see how, let’s do a little history. In 1999 artist Adam Toht moved from Minneapolis to NYC after causing a stir with his collages for permanent display at the Rockefeller Collection. Once in NYC he did storyboards for ‘Requiem for a Dream’ and a few other films. He did album covers for bands such as LFTR PLLR (now the Hold Steady). He moved into production design and there met Nevada native Justin Francis. Together they formed Saline.
The newly minted Saline did a number of ID packages, among them a much-talked-about open for a 9/11 documentary. Along with Jake and Jesse, Adam won an Emmy for Saline’s opening sequence for the
Discovery Channel’s ‘Mortal Enemies.’ After that, the now-enlarged collective skipped right to music
videos, beginning with the Roots’ ‘Don’t Say Nuthin.’’ That is to say, they made The Escape. So what we have is another kind of inspiration: ‘They did it—I can too!’ Of course you can.
But what strikes mograph.net about their work isn’t its moodiness, its murkiness, its play with parallax, or even that it’s another level of prestige doing videos. What we notice is its great and growing restraint. Their techniques aren’t new. Their ability to put together a frame is astounding, but how much better are they for being focused and not over-using their tricks? So forget what you see above--the real battle at Saline is with the typical impulse of designers to make sure every they get every penny out of every effect. Watch the Eminem video: The stacked planes that go just a bit off-kilter? In other people’s hands, they’d go further. The tight color scheme? With other designers it’d be a broader spectrum. The careful pacing? Most designers would kick it up a notch. And in so doing, the result would be less consistency, less impact, less craft. In other words, Saline has it down: season to the point of just right, and let the mood speak for itself.
