Every once in a while, a project comes along that sends us down a rabbit hole of exploration — searching far and wide for the perfect approach to an opening title sequence. And sometimes, the answer turns out to be much simpler than anyone expected.
This was one of those projects.
A co-production with Hulu and Disney+, The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox “centers on Amanda Knox's harrowing journey after being wrongfully imprisoned for her roommate's murder, her battle to prove her innocence and regain her freedom” (IMDb).
The initial brief from showrunner KJ Steinberg was magnificently rich and wide-ranging: mutoscopes, layered symbolism, a quirky Amélie-esque tone, themes of truth vs. media distortion — and a different opening for each episode.
After several rounds of exploration, iterations, roads travelled, possibilities explored... We landed on this very simple typographic treatment. Serious enough to hold the weight of the story, with tonal currents that quietly steer the audience toward the ‘twisted’ truth.
Final Titles. Sound ON.
What we ultimately delivered was far simpler than our initial vision—sometimes you have to kill your darlings in service of what's best for the project.
But given the passion and extensive effort our team poured into this work, we couldn't bear to simply close the book without sharing more of the story.
Here’s a peek behind the curtain, and at the scraps on the cutting-room floor.
Sketching, doodling, thinking...
Early pitch-level exploration of the show’s symbolism. (References above are borrowed—DM for credit.)
A massive amount of exploration went into this project—testing various directions to find the right tone and balance for the wordmark, while also shaping ideas for how it might move and what story we were trying to tell.
Very early mutoscope tests.
Early typographic storyboard.
THE CROW
As part of our early pitch-level exploration, we shared this crow silhouette design (below). It resonated with several producers, and although the general hunch was that it wasn't quite right for this show, we were asked to try to to keep it alive. We whipped up a few super rough animation tests, and a little conceptual mood board:
In the end, despite the preliminary nature of these tests, we knew it just wasn’t the right fit for the show and we let it go—but that didn't stop us from turning this design into an art print and gifting it to the team as a special memento.
After several rounds of exploration and refinement of the typography, we arrived at the final design for the opening title, shown below.
'THE TWISTED TALE OF' uses a bespoke, customized take on the typeface Raleway, while 'AMANDA KNOX' is set in the elegant La Luxes Serif from Set Sail Studios.
Customized, hand drawn letterforms.
Hulu and Disney+ rolled out one of our earlier type designs for all promo pieces, reserving the version above for the actual opening title.
This wordmark hits that tricky balance: quirky enough to pull you in, but steady enough to hold the weight of the story... and easy enough to translate into 12 languages for global distribution.
Promo materials designed by the network — © 2025 Disney and its related entities
As a final application of our custom typography, the wordmark was adapted for large-scale environmental graphics—from billboards towering over Times Square and Vine Street to airports, teasers and trailers—including a prominent backdrop installation at the show's New York premiere.
Heartfelt thanks to all of the creators and producers involved in bringing this project to life. Everyone worked tremendously hard, and we're proud to showcase the love that went into it behind the scenes.
CREDITS
Produced by 20th TELEVISION & THE LITTLEFIELD COMPANY
KJ Steinberg | Executive Producer, Creator & Showrunner
Warren Littlefield | Executive Producer
Lisa Harrison | Executive Producer
Anne Johnson | Executive ProducerGraham Littlefield | Executive Producer
Monica Lewinsky | Executive Producer
Amanda Knox | Executive Producer
Christopher Robinson | Executive Producer
Michael Uppendahl | Executive Producer
TAKE 5 PRODUCTIONS
Doug Wilkinson | Post Production Executive Producer
IAMSTATIC
Ron Gervais & Dave Greene | Executive Creative Directors
Julia Deakin | Creative Director, Designer, Animator
Nicole Labbe | Senior Producer
Ron Gervais & Dave Greene | Executive Creative Directors
Julia Deakin | Creative Director, Designer, Animator
Nicole Labbe | Senior Producer