Raise your hand if you hate the new "Criterion" look?
 

So I just got the new "Seven Samurai" yeaterday and while the packaging is nice, very nice actually as most Criterion sets are, I am so thrown by the horizontal number on the spine and that stupid 'C' floating about. It just looks odd when next to say...the older "Seven Samurai" and all other Criterions around it.

Just don't like it.

I'm not a big fan of the new look either. I always liked the original look, because it looked really classy. Their new look just...doesn't.

A perfect example of fixing something that isn't broken.
I voted 'don't like'.

At first I didn't like it, but I got Seven Samurai yesterday and it didn't bother me. I like it.

I liked the old, understated style better.

I definitely think it's superior to Criterion's last logo/branding, but I disliked that one as compared to their first one for DVD (with the justified text and the Criterion "Eye").

Ah hell, that's probably just nostalghia. I've now got 5 of the new Criterions and I really think they look much better up on the shelf, even compared to both of the two previous versions. And I think it's about time they updated (and I believe the last update occurred right after the first "Brazil" release).

A definite, and enthusiastic "thumbs up" from me.

This thread made me realize the "no pics" smiley isn't here anymore. :(

I voted "Don't Like". When they first came out with the new design, I was rather apalled. I find the 'tab' to be rather unappealing and take away from the over-all design of the cover. As they've released more covers under this design though, they have gotten better. They've used different backgrounds for the "C" and the tab to better blend them in to the cover.

[rant]
However, the thing that irks me most is the spine. I, as I'm sure a lot of others do, keep all my Criterions seperate from the rest of my collection. The only titles I have out of the redesign is the Rohmer set, and damn, that spine is hideous, with the "tab" running the entire width of the spine in this big, bland, gray box. It's terribly distracting.

I'm sure as I buy more titles, they'll blend with each other, and it won't be as distracting. However, I'm not sure what I'll do with the re-releases with the new spine style. I'll probably put them at the end of the collection, or maybe at the beginning of the "new style," but integrating them in to where they would go numerically would be a huge eyesore.
[/rant]

I do understand them trying to give it a more modern look, but Criterion is all about the classics of yesterday (for the most part) and the old design represented the class most (if not all) of their catalogue movies deserve. It was very bold and authoritative and perfectly embodied the "Criterion" moniker. Now it seems like they are trying to be too hip and dressy and modern with this design which seems to go against what their movies are all about.

I'll cast in a vote when I finally see how it looks in my hand, but as of now, I perfer the 2nd look.

I mainly just don't like the floating C. It just looks messy.

I voted "don't care" because while I'm not a fan of the new look, it's not a factor in whether or not I buy the things... I was bothered by packaging design changes in the Shield boxsets, the X-Men and Shyamalan Vista DVDs going from digipak to amaray, and other things along these lines, but hey, it's just not a big deal in the long run.

This is my biggest gripe with the design: the tab. It's awkward enough having it on the cover (should've been on the back, as the info it contains always was before) but wrapping it around onto the spine is just plain ugly. There've been slight improvements on the newer covers, particularly with the 'C' but that tab continues to irritate.

I don't have any of the new ones yet nor have seen any in the store. So, I'm undecided.

Ditto!

Why the hell would anyone do that? It makes no sense to me - but I guess out of a thousand dvds 150 or so Criterions to the side would look sorta weird, that, and it's so much easier to find stuff alphabetically.

Anywho, I'm ambivilant twords the new look, but I do have to say that I love thier decision to go with digipacks for 2 or more discs. More art is more better.

1) one side of me actually likes the change. change is usually good. if the change is not good, things usually change back (or get changed again). besides, change is good!

2) although change is good, consistency is sometimes better. thinking of the long run and looking to the future is usually better than changing your mind at every turn, being indecisive, and so on.

that said, change here may mean that the older criterions may become more collectible! anyone agree?

btw i voted "don't like" lol!

(Just as a reminder, I'm in the "love the new logo" category.)

I was thinking back to Criterion's last logo change (I believe "Insomnia" was the first title to have it), and recalling very little controversy. I also recall being a good bit disappointed, personally, as I thought the original "justified text/no racing stripe" look was much classier. And I also greatly preferred the "Criterion Eye" to the video "Racing Stripe" that appeared before each feature. But I got used to that boring ol' racing stripe, and after awhile didn't miss the Criterion Eye as much. But I still thought the new branding lacked any sort of creativity, and simply did not function well as branding. After all, it was just a racing stripe and a rather boring font.

But I understand those who feel the new branding - a modified "C" with another arguably boring font - is no better. But I have a hard time agreeing that it's worse. I think it's good design: simple, memorable, and easily identifiable. And I think the animated opening logo (with a film reel spinning out and turning into the modified "C") is not only superior to the "Racing Stripe", but also - gasp! - to my beloved "Criterion Eye"!

With respect to the spine art only, this page at CriterionDVD.com shows the first fourteen Criterions. A good many of the first fourteen have been re-releaded with new transfers and, of course, new branding (or in the case of "Grand Illusion" were released after the first branding change), so you can compare all three of Criterion's DVD branding (at least for spines). Unfortunately, you'll have to use your imagination a bit for both "Seven Samurai" and "Amarcord", as CriterionDVD squeezes down double and triple sized cases to single-size parameters (so just imagine those images "unsquozen"!):

http://www.criteriondvd.com/criterion_collection.php?

I voted don't like it. How can you take something that has been the same for the life of the collection and change it like this. They used to look nice all lined up this completely screws my collection. So I guess I just have to make customs to look like the rest.

Edit* well not the life of the collection but a long freakin time.

I have a collector's mentality. Always have, from comics to baseball cards to music, I've always collected something. Most I've enjoyed aside from just the collecting aspect, and some I really didn't care, and just had to collect something (sports cards).

I've known about Criterion since the LD days (although I only had a handful), and am very rarely disappointed in one of their selections. So I decided to "collect" them, as they are great pieces of cinema. I section them off as a seperate part of my collection, just like I do for TV, Music, and Animated. Not everyone does things stricly alphabetical, and there are more than a handful of users on here that sort by things I would consider odd (studio, original theatrical release date, snapper/amaray/digipak, etc.). It's just a preference thing, as I like the way they look all neatly snuggled together.

I do agree with you on the digipak route. I've always liked them, even though people say that they have a tendency to get banged up more easily. The only thing that really ticks me off about digipaks is when certain studios stick that sensormatic security tag underneath the plastic disc tray, and I can't get it out without tearing the packaging.

Speking of the magnetic security strip - Criterion used to stick those buggers inside the digi-packs, while that was better than under the plastic tray, it could still cause some damage if you removed it - but since it was inside, it was better than leaving it in there and letting it damage the pack that slides into the cover.

It seems like now, they're putting the strip underneath the spine, so when you open it, you can easily remove the strip, and even if it causes damage, it doesn't matter, because you just close the spine over it.

Oh, it's still around:

http://dvdtalk.com/forum/images/smilies/worthless.gif

It's just not posted in the smilies list anymore.


Honestly I'm not a huge fan of the new design compared to the old one, but I still voted "Don't Care" because the outside packaging (as well as the spine numbers) just isn't a huge concern for me. As long as they continue to offer the same great content they're known for, they could package them in a plain brown paper bag and I'd still purchase them.

like it.

As much as I didn't like it when I saw the new pics online, I have to say it wasn't so bad when I saw it in person. Of course the only one I have seen so far is the Seven Samurai DVD and the grays and blacks of the cover and spine blend quite well and look pretty classy. I'm not sure how well other color schemes will look, however.

On the other hand, If I did have a large collection of Criterions (I only have 6 or 7 myself) I would be slightly peeved that the spine design was changed. Not the most earth shattering thing in history but for completists who keep all Crtierions together it's unpleasant.