Roald Dahl Story Company has collaborated with Pentagram on a new brand design. The work was undertaken by RDSC, the Netflix-owned rights management company, to expand its global storytelling franchise. The design was developed to reflect the humor and whimsy of the author’s original stories.
Emily Overman and her team at Pentagram have created a flexible system that works for all ages. They created a custom typeface, Fantastic Mister, that takes into account content for toddlers, families, and adults. The typeface changes shape to match the mood of the story, allowing for a variety of expressions.
This typeface was created in collaboration with the typeface design company Pangram Pangram. It is based on the existing typeface PP Acma and has been transformed into a more playful form. The characteristics of this typeface are also well expressed in the logo. RDSC's new logo reflects the characteristic atmosphere of Roald Dahl's work, and the curled shape and slanted letter placement express his humor and quirky imagination. At the same time, the brand design for adults has been transformed into a more sleek and sophisticated form.
The colors and graphic elements are also inspired by Roald Dahl's books. Quentin Blake's illustrations are placed on a warm-toned background, and elements such as golden tickets, peaches, birds and threads are added. These are symbolic images taken from the author's famous stories.
This new design system is applied to a variety of projects, including publishing, to ensure that RDSC’s content is structured to reach readers while maintaining a unified visual identity. Emily Overman said the process of implementing the imagination and creativity that can be felt in Roald Dahl’s stories into design was a process.
