Design for Our Darkroom Film Studio
Our Darkroom is an independent, personal film studio that has been active since 2003, producing animated pictures and documentary films.
Cricket is a symbol of night and darkness and its sound is an audio representation of night, a sound that stands louder than the silence of night in spite of its smallness. Something like screening movies in a dark movie theater.
Logo
Design for “Solitude” animation
“Loneliness” is a short, animated picture that was produced and directed by Mehrdad Sheikhan in Our Darkroom film studio; It is about 10 minutes and was finished in 2008.
This animation narrates the story of a stone giant that has been imprisoned in a rocky island since eternity and is looking for freedom. This philosophical animation won lots of awards in Iran and around the world.
Logo | Poster | Illustration | Flayer | Printing
Design for “In Search of Illumination” documentary
Producing the Looking for Morning finished documentary in 2014 in Our Darkroom film studio. The movie is about one of biggest and most significant publications of Iran’s AmirKabir Publication Agency.
Amirkabir was founded in 1994 and turned into one the most influential publishers of Iran in the 1970s. After the revolution, in 1981 it was confiscated, and its owner Abdolrahim Jafari was forced to retire. The documentary is narrated by the late Mr. Jafari and he talks about his hardships and successes. Throughout the film, an unwanted and deep sorrow can be felt. As the documentary finished, the affliction resulted in the design of the poster. The old but strong hands of Abdolrahim Jafari and the hope that was always with the man looking for the morning of hope. A morning of hope that is breathed into his soul forever.
Visual Identity | Poster | Flayer | Printing
Design for “Black, Green, White” documentary
I finished the Black, Green, White documentary in the beginning of Summer 2004. The movie is a portrait of one the most famous actors of 60s and 70s in Iran, the late Nosrat Karimi.
The poster was designed based on the film atmosphere, but the compact disc package design was done totally differently and it was based on Nosrat Karimi’s naughty character.
Poster | DVD
Design for “Toka in Cage” animation
“ Toka in Cage” is a short 13-minute animation made by Mehrdad Sheikhan. This animation was based on a Nima Youshij short story, and produced and made in “Our Darkroom” studio ordered by Center for Intellectual Development of Children and Teenagers in 2016.
In the center of the poster, the bird and the cage surrounded by vast darkness and a tree grown in darkness, represent the condition of the bird: something like suppression. The bird’s eyes are the only coloured part of the poster as it is the only spot for hope. To design the logo and the text- that is handwritten- it was tried to instill a primitive feeling of effort for redemption.
Logo | Poster
Design for “The Life of Ants” animation
“The Life of Ants is a short educational 13-minute animation made by Mehrdad Sheikhan in Our Darkroom film studio for elementary school students ordered by Center for Intellectual Development of Children and Teenagers in 2016.
To design the poster of the animation, just like the film itself, an educational theme was used and important narrative parts were placed beside the ant anatomy in infographic form to motivate the students to read and then watch the film. Designing the poster, despite its simple appearance, was a new experience that was worth trying and as the trainer of the center claimed, it received good feedback from kids.
Logo | Poster | DVD
