Directed by the Russo Brothers, the film’s character-driven plot of intrigue and espionage makes it more of a ’70s conspiracy thriller than the typical super-hero movie. We wanted our main-on-end title sequence to reflect that. To get there, we distilled the complexity of the story themes and characters down to their most basic elements. Working in a simple style with bold graphics and strong, legible typography, we created iconographic vignettes representing the actors and themes. 

Combined with our use of positive and negative space, the finished sequence has a Russian constructivist feel that pushes the principles of gestalt to their fullest potential. There are stars and there are stripes, shifting gears and winding tentacles, swirling shields and shattering panels, as heroes and villains battle in a shifting sequence of white on black on red. Everything moves with the tense, throbbing musical score from Henry Jackman that builds along with our story.

We created all of this with a respectful bow to title-sequence master Saul Bass. But we were also inspired by the graphic stylings of Marvel Comics’ collaborator and artist, Jim Steranko,  “His bold  illustration style really spoke to us when it came time to illustrate the characters,” says executive creative director Erin Sarofsky.  And with so many acronyms and fictional organizations in the film (S.H.I.E.L.D espionage agency; S.T.R.I.K.E. tactical unit, and Hydra– the evil society of villains) there was a plethora of those symbols to play with as well.

Taking such a minimalist approach with this main-on-end sequence proved to be the perfect resolution for the film. Boldly contrasting heroes and villains, good and evil, the sequence reinforced the film’s themes simply and clearly.

“Watching Marvel Studios’ executives light up when we presented the work was just magical,” says Erin. “With any visual job, if it’s a success, people credit you as artists, and that certainly was the case with this work. But this project represented a lot more to us. It was the moment when the world got to see that we are so much more than a little design shop in Chicago. We are a design and visual effects powerhouse.”

Marvel wasn’t the only one to notice the great work we did. The team at Communication Arts magazine took notice and did a feature article on the studio, displaying our work on Captain America: The Winter Soldier front and center.

CBS Sunday Morning also took notice and interviewed Erin during an Oscar special where they focused a segment on“Giving Credit” to those who design the credits.

Lastly, be sure to check out the in-depth article about our work on the film at the Art of the Title.