Film legend Dan Perri delivers talk for Ravensbourne Lates

Dan Perri, title sequence designer on major Hollywood productions including Star Wars, Taxi Driver and The Exorcist, visited Ravensbourne on Wednesday 9 October as part of Ravensbourne Lates. He shared the amazing stories behind some of his most iconic title designs with a captivated audience. 

Ravensbourne Lates are a programme of talks and seminars hosted by Ravensbourne, offering students the opportunity to learn from some of the creative industries’ most influential figures. 

Born in New York in 1945, Dan Perri began his career creating graphics for local businesses and designing album covers for a number of small record companies. In 1973, he was commissioned to produce the main titles for The Exorcist, having worked on a number of projects with the esteemed graphics designer Saul Bass. 

Following this, he was offered work on a number of major Hollywood productions, creating the iconic Star Wars title sequence in 1976 taking influence from the opening credits of the 1939 Cecil B. DeMille film, Union Pacific, in which the credits are shown rolling along a railway track towards a vanishing point in the distance. 

During his talk, Dan discussed the importance of tailoring a typeface to suit the needs of different clients, and responded to questions from Ravensbourne’s current cohort of design and digital media specialists. 

Commenting, Dan said, "I felt very warm and welcome at Ravensbourne. Every student I met was very serious and thoughtful with fine, detailed questions and observations. It was a joy sharing my work with everyone. I truly hope we can do it again."

Pippa Alice Hogg, Head of Studio, Creative Lab and organiser of the Ravensbourne Lates added, “It was fantastic to have such a prolific and longstanding designer visit Ravensbourne. I’d like to extend a huge thank you to Dan on behalf of Ravensbourne for sharing his knowledge and unique industry insights with the next generation of creatives.”

Ravensbourne Lates has been running since 2012, with previous visitors including everyone from fashion designer Bruce Oldfield OBE to Jurassic World Producer Patrick Crowley. You can find out more about the event series at Ravensbourne Lates.