Model America

The inciting incident of the docuseries is the death of Philip Pannell, a 16-year-old Black teenager from Teaneck, New Jersey who was fatally shot in the back by white police officer Gary Spath on April 10th, 1990. The murder drew widespread interest due to the fact that prior to the murder, Teaneck had positioned itself as a model of interracial harmony.

We came into the project with a solid understanding of the direction our partners wanted to go, but getting our hands on the copious amounts of archival footage and imagery really solidified our design choices. Using the archival materials, we put a baseline edit around our concept and then incorporated it into the series’ look and animation.

As the series’ narrative progresses, it moves from the 30s and 40s all the way through to present day. Throughout each transition, our design provides a pleasing juxtaposition of the historic content and typography and animation style that reflects the 80s and early 90s and the urban setting where the murder took place.

A focal point of the series is the map we designed of Teaneck, New Jersey. The episodes span a number of decades, so the map serves as both a visual marker for viewers to return to each episode and as a symbol of the town’s history.

In the docuseries, the filmmakers both chronicle the original case and trial, and explore how the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement has given Teaneck residents a new lens through which to view this 30-year-old tragedy. Because of the wide expanse of decades covered, the design style evolves along with the narrative.

Overall, the series design is rooted in a slightly retro style- thick boxy type and animations that reference the news coverage of the era. Even as the design style evolves throughout the four episodes, we stays connected to the era of the grounding incident of the series- the murder of Philip Pannell using the film’s design.

This project was one that hit a good stride out of the gate and continued on through delivery. As we neared the final deliveries, we added an En Memoriam segment that the film’s producers had conceptualized. The moving segment begins with Philip Pannell’s name and populates with names of other victims of racial violence until the screen is completely white— a poignant end-note for the film.

Our partners were great collaborators and we all were pleased with the organic and handmade feel of the film’s design and how they blended with the modern day elements and evolved together throughout. Stream all four episodes of Model America on Peacock.