Dan Perri

A legend in the field of optical title design, Dan Perri is perhaps best known for a creating the opening crawl that triumphantly heralded the arrival of Star Wars (1977). It’s one of the most identifiable and imitated pieces of title design ever created. But to only focus on a galaxy far, far away when discussing the career of Dan Perri would ignore a wealth of incredible work, from The Exorcist (1973) to Nashville (1975), Taxi Driver (1976) to Raging Bull (1980), Days of Heaven (1978), The Warriors (1979), Caddyshack (1980) , A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Blood Simple (1984), The Aviator (2004), and hundreds and hundreds more. You probably didn’t know Perri’s name until now, but if you’ve seen a film made in the past fifty years then you are already well acquainted with his work. Unlike some title designers whose style is instantly recognizable, the true strength of Perri’s output is not a familiar design style, but his adaptability – it’s how well suited his title designs are for each project. If there’s one single thing that defines Perri’s career it is that dogged pursuit of good design in whatever form is required. His designs – as varied as they are – have become synonymous with the films for which they were created, but not his name. If he’s done his job right, then the viewer shouldn’t even know who designed the titles until they see “Title Designer: Dan Perri” in the end credits. 

by Will Perkins – Art of the Title 

After more than 50 years, Dan Perri is still designing special main title sequences for the Hollywood feature film and television industry. With nearly 300 film projects, he is still presenting his titles design program around the world. He has spoken at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, the Gobelins Design School in Paris, and taught a Masterclass at BAFTA. 

Dan writes a blog on the selected history of his work on WordPress and a feature length documentary on Dan’s design career is in production.