I recently had the exciting opportunity to collaborate with Umbrella Entertainment on the design and layout of the companion booklet for their "Freaked" hardback Blu-Ray special edition. This cult classic from 1993 deserved a visual treatment as wonderfully bizarre as the film itself.
Freaked is a cult horror/comedy classic from 1993, with transformation/mutation themes, about a mad scientist who changes visitors to his sideshow into attractions for that sideshow. Starring Alex Winter, Alex Zuckerman, Brooke Shields, Megan Ward, and Randy Quaid.
The Design Approach
Each essay in the booklet received its own distinctive visual identity, starting with custom title pages that set the tone for the content to follow. Rather than using a one-size-fits-all template, I crafted unique layouts for each essay's body text, ensuring readers would have a varied and engaging experience as they moved through the book.
The design heavily incorporates visual elements pulled directly from the film, but I also developed thematic graphics that capture the movie's essence – particularly the iconic goo and slime that transforms characters into freaks. This viscous, transformative substance became a recurring visual motif, creating cohesion throughout the booklet while honoring the film's most memorable element.
Design Challenges
The movie has several different ‘feels’ throughout: corporate offices, TV Studio, but mostly the compound of the sideshow location. This is where I primarily focused the design on the heart of the movie. Some of the essays took a bit more time to really get a feel for a visual core of the essay. I didn’t want to go with the comedy side if the essay was leaning more toward the serious side of the movie’s history or its themes.
Creative Process
I watched the movie several times before and during the design of the book. While watching, I created screenshots and took notes on the colors being used and the lighting of the film.
Typography Choices
For the titles of the essays, I went with a carnival font to match the sideshow feeling of the movie. The font within the book is Umbrella’s font they use throughout their books to be easy to read.
Collaboration Details
For this process, I would create designs/layouts and pass them on to the editor, Justin Beahm, to check over and pass back suggestions or changes needed. We did this throughout the process, allowing for quicker feedback. This is the kind of collaborative, creative project I'm most passionate about – where design serves both the content and the audience's experience. I look forward to bringing this same attention to detail and thematic consistency to future editorial projects.
Technical Specifications
The hardcovered book is over 100 pages and about the size of the 4K movie case.
Get Your Copy
Whether you're a longtime fan of "Freaked" or discovering it for the first time, this collector's edition offers the perfect way to experience the film's chaotic energy. The booklet is just one piece of what makes this release special – grab your copy and dive into the wonderfully twisted world that Alex Winter and company created. The "Freaked" 4K Blu-ray Collector's Edition is available through Umbrella Entertainment's website. For additional details about the bonus materials and my role in the project, visit Justin Beahm's Features Page.
Working on the "Freaked" booklet was a perfect blend of nostalgia and creative challenge. Getting to dive deep into the visual world of such a wonderfully weird cult classic while crafting something that both longtime fans and newcomers could appreciate made this project especially rewarding. It's projects like these that remind me why I love design – bringing stories to life through visual storytelling.
