Author Spotlight

Eric Skillman

Eric Skillman is a designer and art director at the Criterion Collection.

15 Results
Artist Sean Phillips on His Many-Sided Craft, from Comics to Criterion Covers

The man behind the artwork for Sweet Smell of Success, In the Heat of the Night, and several other Criterion editions discusses his career in narrative comics and the inspiration he draws from illustration styles of the past.

By Eric Skillman

Artist Victo Ngai Captures the Lush, Enigmatic Layers of Flowers of Shanghai

For the cover image of our edition of Hou Hsiao-hsien’s opulent masterpiece, the award-winning illustrator combined traditional Chinese figure-drawing styles with a distinctly modern approach to color and composition.

By Eric Skillman

The Intricate Portraiture at the Heart of Our Mandabi Release

New York–based artist Ify Chiejina walks us through the multifaceted process of creating four new pieces inspired by Ousmane Sembène’s 1968 satire.

By Eric Skillman

The Problem-Solving Artist Behind Our Amores perros Cover

Internationally renowned artist Pedro Reyes shares his inspirations for this new piece, including a Mexican stone carving and the poster for Jaws.

By Eric Skillman

Farewell to Our Friend Jason Polan

Art director Eric Skillman pays tribute to the beloved New York artist, whose work has been an integral part of Criterion for over a decade.

By Eric Skillman

The Road to Hell: Designing Lone Wolf and Cub
The Lone Wolf and Cub film series has its roots in Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima’s manga of the same name, which was itself a major influence on Western cartooning and illustration in the 1980s. It felt only natural to pay homage to that connection…

By Eric Skillman

Designing for del Toro

When putting together the Criterion editions of Guillermo del Toro’s films, we assembled a talented group of artists, including Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, del Toro collaborator Guy Davis, comic book creator Becky Cloonan, and Russian artist Vani

By Eric Skillman

Remembering Jack Davis

Art director Eric Skillman describes working with Jack on the design for our release of Stanley Kramer’s It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World as one of the highlights of his career.

By Eric Skillman

Dr. Strangelove

The film is is a high-water mark in the careers of its director, actors, and cowriter. But for design nerds, the contributions of Pablo Ferro, who designed the film’s iconic opening credit sequence, are just as notable.

By Eric Skillman

Criterion Designs: Bitter Rice by Ken Laager

The film is is a high-water mark in the careers of its director, actors, and cowriter. But for design nerds, the contributions of Pablo Ferro, who designed the film’s iconic opening credit sequence, are just as notable.

By Eric Skillman

Kwaidan by Sean Freeman

Creating the design that graces our cover of Masaki Kobayashi’s haunting set of ghost stories involved inks, a tank of water, and a fair bit of ingenuity.

By Eric Skillman

Blind Chance by Gérard DuBois

The combination of deep-rooted anger and intellectual trickiness in Krzysztof Kieślowski’s film called for an artist with an unusual combination of skills.

By Eric Skillman

Criterion Designs: The French Lieutenant’s Woman
The French Lieutenant’s Woman is a film with the look of a lush period piece and the structure of postmodern metafiction. When it came time to design the cover, we wanted something that would emphasize the ways the film makes you aware of itself as…

By Eric Skillman

Les Blank: Always for Pleasure

The challenge of designing this box set was in finding a way to convey both the vast scope of the filmmaker’s overarching project—documenting the unique idiosyncrasies of regions and communities rarely seen on film—and the warm, casual intimacy

By Eric Skillman

Working with Jack Davis

When it came time to assemble the Criterion release of It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, using Jack’s classic art was a no-brainer, and we were thrilled to find the man himself willing to revisit the film and provide new illustrations for the menu

By Eric Skillman