Kubrick's Design Collaborations
Stanley Kubrick was fascinated with all aspects of design. He collaborated with the leading designers of his generation, from Hardy Amies to Saul Bass, Philip Castle, Eliot Noyes, Milena Canonero, and Ken Adam to create costumes, film posters, props and sets for some of the most iconic scenes in cinema history. Here’s a glimpse of what you will be able to see inside the exhibition.
Graphic design
A key moment for film and graphic design enthusiasts, poster designs by Saul Bass for The Shining and title designs for Spartacus will be featured inside the exhibition.
Many of the designs for The Shining were rejected by Kubrick before settling on the final design. It is estimated that Bass showed Kubrick 300 different versions before the director was satisfied with the final design.
For fans of Full Metal Jacket, discover the instantly recognisable work of graphic designer, Philip Castle, before heading over to a spectacular display of Castle’s poster designs for A Clockwork Orange, including his well-known poster design of Alex’s face and the knife through the triangle, which he sketched during his first meeting with Kubrick.
Stanley Kubrick's comments and feedback on one of Saul Bass's earlier designs for The Shining.
Saul Bass's poster design for The Shining
Philip Castle's poster design for A Clockwork Orange was sketched during his first meeting with Kubrick.
Expect to see the title sequence for Spartacus as well as Bass’s graphic symbol for the ads: the powerful image of the slave with a sword and a broken chain.
Costume design
Get up and close to some of the original costumes from A Clockwork Orange, The Shining and the exquisite Barry Lyndon, through Kubrick’s close association with Academy Award-winning costume designer, Milena Canonero.
Catch a glimpse of the dresses worn by The Shining twins and the "Apollo" jumper worn by Danny. Also on display are original sketches and research on costumes and locations from Canonero, including never-before-seen costume test-photographs of the hats from A Clockwork Orange.
Set design
Dr Strangelove’s War Room is probably one of the most famous film sets ever designed and was famously mistaken for being real by the President of the United States, Ronald Reagan. The designer was Ken Adam who also worked on Dr No, among others. Expect to see a replica model of the War Room, production photographs, sketches and drawings.
As you move on to 2001: A Space Odyssey discover how Kubrick developed the incredible Centrifuge set which represented a mechanical way of producing artificial gravity for long-duration space missions. It’s amongst the largest kinetic film sets ever built. Through original photographs, detailed drawings and a replica model, you’ll get a strong sense of the manufacturing involved with creating the set.
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