The Design World of Wes Anderson
- claireheil17
- Oct 10, 2023
- 7 min read
An essay by Claire Heil - September 21st 2022
Despite starting out with commercially unsuccessful films, Wes Anderson is one of the
most well-known filmmakers in America. His unique comedies filled with bright colors and
intricate patterns make his style stand out and you can instantly recognize his work. Anderson
has created over ten original films, as well as directing several commercials for the brand IKEA
in 2002, and in 2016, a commercial for H&M. In 2016 Anderson also appeared in the children’s
animated film Sing, voicing the giraffe named Daniel. In 1998 Anderson founded American
Empirical Pictures. But what is it that makes Anderson’s films so distinctive from the rest of the
industry?
Wesley Wales Anderson was born on May 1st, 1969, in Houston Texas. Anderson has
mentioned that Hitchcock and Spielberg were two of the first filmmakers he was aware of after
going to see their movies in a revival theater in Houston as a kid. Anderson also loved libraries
and books, which is why books are often present in his films. Anderson has mentioned his
favorite authors being F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Roald Dahl and Charles M.
Schulz. He attended the University of Texas where he studied philosophy and graduated in 1991.
He also was involved with a local cable access production in Austin, and Houston. In a
playwriting class at the University of Texas, Anderson met future actor Owen Wilson, who later
would become his roommate. They both shared a love of movies and directors such as Scorsese,
Coppola, and the Coen brothers. They soon started writing together and came up with the idea
for Bottle Rocket. With the help of Wilson and his brother Luke, Anderson was able to create the
short film, and submit it to Sundance where it gained support from Columbia Pictures. Bottle
Rocket later became a full movie and was released in 1996 as his first feature film. Despite
Anderson feeling very confident about the film, it ended up bombing. However, filmmaker
Martin Scorsese praised Bottle Rocket, stating in an article for Esquire
“[Anderson] knows how to convey the simple joys and interactions between people so
well and with such richness,” “This kind of sensibility is rare in movies.”
Anderson and Wilson did not give up writing. In 1998 they released Rushmore starring
Max Schwartzman, and Bill Murray. In 2001, The Royal Tenenbaums, which earned Anderson
and Wilson an Academy Award nomination for best original screenplay.
Anderson’s distinct aesthetic is probably what people notice first about his films. Many
of his films are shot so that everything in the frame is in perfect symmetry. Many filmmakers
avoid doing this because it creates a much more staged look, but Anderson uses this to his
advantage, and purposefully puts emphases on the subject of the scene. This can be seen in
almost all of his films, for example the scene in The Grand Budapest Hotel where the characters
are sitting in a bright red elevator and the camera is positioned straightforward at the characters.
Or more dramatically, in The Royal Tenenbaums when the character Richie is about to commit
suicide the camera angle puts us in a subjective viewpoint where we see his hands perfectly
centered, dripping blood, and surrounded by hair. The scene is extremely cool toned as well,
which gives it a very cold uncomfortable feeling. Anderson also uses bright, pastel color palettes.
The colors help set the tone of the movie, for example Fantastic Mr. Fox uses warm tones such
as orange, brown, and yellow. This use of color helps emphasize the season that the film is set in,
fall. It also gives it a warm playful feeling. In The Grand Budapest Hotel Anderson uses the
color pink and red which often times those colors are used to represent love, which can be seen
with the character Zero and his relationship with Agatha. Although the look of Anderson’s films
is what most people would recognize first, Anderson often uses similar themes in his films as
well. Many of them deal with dysfunctional relationships with families and partners. And many
are rounded characters who are characterized through the reactions and relations of other
characters. For example, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou focuses heavily on the dynamic
between a father and his estranged son. The character Steve does change by the end of the
movie; however it is because of his relationship with his son, Ned that he is able to. We see this
again in The Royal Tenenbaums, which also focuses on a father’s relationship with this child
who feel very alienated each other. In The Darjeeling Limited, you have the story of three
brothers who come together over their father’s death. Then in Anderson’s 1998 film, Rushmore
there is the relationship between the character Max Fischer, a teenager, and Herman Blame, a rich businessman, who both are in love with the schoolteacher, Rosemary Cross. These dynamics
can often times be uncomfortable, especially in The Royal Tenenbaums with the romantic
relationship between two siblings. But I think these plots help to add contrast to the idealized
pastel sets and costumes.
Another element of Anderson’s films is his use of graphic design and typography. Annie
Atkins worked on designing for two of Andersons films, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Isle of
Dogs. Throughout The Grand Budapest Hotel, we see a lot of different packaging, letters,
telegrams, and other graphic props. When asked about working with Anderson, Atkins stated,
“Wes Anderson is the most experimental and hands-on director I’ve ever worked with,
and I worked closely with him and his production designer, Adam Stockhausen every day. The
Grand Budapest Hotel was my move from TV to film, and it was an incredible rollercoaster from
the moment I got the first call from the producers to the winter I spent with the cast and crew in
the fictional Empire of Zubrowka, to the day I sat down in the cinema to watch the movie for the
first time. I doubt I’ll work on a more beloved film that pays so much attention to graphic design
again in my lifetime, so not a day goes by when I don’t thank my lucky stars (and Wes and
Adam!) for that opportunity.”
Another designer for Anderson was Erica Dorn, the lead graphic designer on Isle of the
Dogs, who created the poster for Anderson’s tenth film. The French Dispatch, as well as other
graphic elements in the film. The film is centered around a newspaper, so Dorn created a whole
series of different posters with illustrations by Javi Aznarez. Because of the graphic designers
creating so many elements and props in the films, you rarely see any sort of branded products in
Anderson’s work. I think this shows how detailed Anderson is, and how he cares a lot for design
by focusing so heavily on that aspect when many films do not. The custom packaging specific
for each film helps keep you immersed in that world.
Anderson has also created several stop motions films. Back in his 2004 film The Life
Aquatic with Steve Zissou he shot several scenes of sea animals in stop motion but decided to
create a fully stop motion film Fantastic Mr. Fox. According to Ian Nathan, author of Wes
Anderson The Iconic Filmmaker And His Work, as a child Andersons favorite book was
Fantastic Mr Fox by the British children’s author, Roald Dahl. Anderson and Henry Selick, a
well-known stop-motion artist created the puppets and shot the movie. Two years later, in 2009, it was released. Despite the tediousness and lengthiness of his first stop motion film, Anderson
set out to create Isle of Dogs. Although winning the Silver Bear for Best Director, the film did
attract some controversy due to its plot and setting in Japan, and Anderson being a western
director. As well as the lack of diversity in his casting. Anderson stated that
“This is definitely a reimagining of Japan through my experience of Japanese cinema.”
Anderson may have not meant it, but for many people the film did come across as him
trying to use Japan culture as an aesthetic. Another criticism of Anderson is that his films are too
similar when it comes to characters and overall themes. Anderson has mentioned in interviews
however that he doesn’t mind this, and wants his films to feel connected.
Anderson is one of the few directors I can think of that has managed to keep a consistent
unique style, and create films that he genuinely cares about, regardless of how much money they
might make. As well as the majority of his films not being based off of any previous work, which
is rare to see now in the film industry with so many remakes and sequels being produced every
year. Despite many of his films not being commercially successful when they first premiered,
Anderson has gained a cult following of people who enjoy his movies because of the fact that
they are not conventional. Anderson fans appreciate the dry humor and whimsical colors and
style that are in his films. And that is what I believe helps set Anderson apart from the rest of the
film industry.
Sources:
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Magazine, 21 Feb. 2021, faroutmagazine.co.uk/wes-anderson-bottle-rocket-25-years/.
Browning, Mark. Wes Anderson: Why His Movies Matter. Praeger, 2011.
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How We Watch Movies.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 24 Oct. 2021,
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