The HBO and BBC1 series Rain Dogs is an unconventional family comedy that follows Costello Jones (Daisy May Cooper), a single-mother, aspiring writer and peepshow dancer, as she navigates life in London after being evicted from her flat with her daughter Iris (Fleur Tashjian). Matt Willey and team designed the show’s title card and visual identity, including a custom typeface for the up-front actor cards and end credits.
Written by playwright Cash Carraway and produced by Sid Gentle Films, Rain Dogs provides an honest depiction of life below the poverty line. The design team pulled inspiration from the show’s setting, researching graffiti, street signs and the printed ephemera found on the streets of London.
The show’s logo is set in an elegant cursive typeface with a distressed treatment that adds a layer of grit to an otherwise glamorous wordmark. These opposing elements reference the class tensions that drive the humor-filled drama. The central type remains consistent in each episode, but the texture subtly changes in each title sequence to reflect the show’s progression.
The secondary typeface contrasts with the ornate script of the title card. The bespoke font borrows its construction from the utilitarian letterforms found on receipts and lottery tickets, but elevates them to feel more expressive than a typical monolinear, monospaced typeface. The actor cards further complement the unrefined world depicted in the show by replicating the streaks caused by thermal receipt printers, adding subtle irregularities to the typeface that feel tough, tactile and integrated into Costello’s domain.
