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BLU-RAY & DVD MENU DESIGN*

*WHY DON'T YOU JUST TELL ME WHICH MOVIE YOU'D LIKE TO SEE?

Yes they are. Wait what? I’m just answering the question you’re thinking. Blu-ray discs and DVDs are still very much around. I co-built and served as EP/CD of DVD & Blu-ray Design+Authoring at CBS (more on that in my BIO). Besides the superior picture and sound quality of Blu-ray especially, the streaming services’ continued fumbling (or just ignoring) of extras

(including behind the scenes, deleted scenes, commentary, etc.) and their impersonal one size fits all navigation will ensure the continuation of these formats if audio- and videophiles have anything to say about it.

I’m not here to debate the future of discs, but to show samples of my work on these titles. To show how I solved some of the issues, design-wise. I’ve said it elsewhere, but we really raised the bar on menu design on CBS titles after establishing CBS D+A. Click through to MORE PICTURES and I’ll show you some before/after case studies.

The fairly newly (comparitively) codified UX doctrine describes “delight” as a key ingredient in great experience design. Well, that’s something good screen designers have always used as a guiding principle, and not just on interactive screens. In addition, humor (amusing, comic), and good humor (mood), are key ingredients to a delightful experience.

If you’re a Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Apple or other streaming service looking to explore options to break away from the cookie-cutter, one size fits all approach to navigation, I have some ideas. Let’s talk.

EDITING FOR MOTION MENUS

DVD menus, unlike promo graphics, should be a big snuggie® for the viewer. They’re not hard-sell. We know why you’re here – come on in and have a seat. They should also tease the upcoming content without revealing any spoilers. In the course of making menus for DVD and Blu-ray discs, it is sometimes necessary to create a background edit. Even in menus which are mostly motion graphics, a good edit can provide helpful content for the motion composite.

The samples below from CSI, CSI: NY, and CSI: Miami all use full-screen edits with very little graphic content. This makes the edit itself even more important to the overall feel of the menu. Note: because the CSI franchise shows all use license-restricted songs by The Who in their main titles (which are the usual music source for motion menus), we must use music from the episodes instead. In every case, though, the episodic music works much better in my opinion.

For the CSI menus, I chose the shots and the music (from a selection of 40 or so tracks provided by the show composer), and did the editing which often involved combining multiple music tracks as well. I also designed the static graphic overlays, a UX legacy from the previous 10 or so seasons which were done elsewhere. Same for the 90210 half-screen edit except the music is from the main title. Below are four examples of my work in straight editing for motion menus.

MOTION GRAPHICS,
EDITING, &
ANIMATION
BRAND ID,
LOGO DESIGN,
ADVERTISING &
MARKETING DESIGN
STORYBOARDS
& CONCEPTS
BLU-RAY
& DVD MENUS
COMEDY
ILLUSTRATION
CREATIVE DIRECTION
TEAM LEADER
& MORE

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