7 Movies, TV Series & Books Featuring Graphic Designers As Main Characters
Nope, I’m not here to talk you through for you to watch that Helvetica documentary. I am talking about that time when I was watching that random movie on a Sunday evening or that paperback I bought for 0’99€ at a random store that hey! features a graphic designer as a lead!
I still remember vividly that time I was watching ABC’s Castle (a show I was a die-hard fan of back then) when a key character for the case Detective Kate Beckett and writer Richard Castle are trying to solve involved a graphic designer. At that moment I realized not many designers were featured as main characters in their own stories. Of course, we have Mad Men in the picture, but… I found myself trying to list at least 5 fictional stories featuring a Graphic Designer, and I could not! 💭
And then I read P. S I Love You, one of the most notorious (and my favourite) Cecelia Ahern books. Holly Kennedy finds her calling working with a close team to put together a printed publication after her life turned upside down and is finally happy and content working with… layouts! Extra points for the editorial lover in me.
Now, as I write this introduction and for some random reason, all I am thinking of is J. Jonah Jameson bossing people around to make a header several points bigger for that front page of the Daily Bugle featuring Spider-Man. That man knows his craft!
Disclaimer: If you were looking for a comprehensive guide on what to watch or read to better understand design and creativity, whoops! This is not your list. I put together movies, shows and books I have found over the years where I just loved that the main character was a graphic designer. Relevant (or not) to the story.
BOOK
MY NOT SO PERFECT LIFE
SOPHIE KINSELLA
This is the book that inspired me to write this list. I have been reading Sophie Kinsella for years. There’s something about her books that, no matter what is happening around my life, she always manages to bring a smile to my face. Her female main characters are so relatable that you cannot help but picture yourself living their lives and surviving her often embarrassing situations dealing with life and work.
Katie Brenner is trying to build her new self. She left her hometown to make it in London, and although she has just barely started working at this prestigious Advertising and Branding Agency, she feels like that dream life she envisioned is finally falling into place. Only it is not. After her perfect boss fires her, Katie retreats to her family's farm in Somerset to help them set up a vacation business and finally finds the chance to bring her designs and ideas to life.
What I love about it, besides Kinsella’s quirkiness and the whole setting (big city agency vs. small town in the countryside) is the excitement these characters show when they’re talking about their ideas, favourite colour palettes and typography!!!
What a dream for a designer.
TV SERIES
ROMANCE IS A BONUS BOOK
(로맨스는 별책부록)
This one TV Show here was last year’s GREATEST discovery. Romance Is A Bonus Book is a Netflix K-drama I started watching thanks to Rima (@pardonmywritings). We gushed about this show on a daily basis. From dreamy characters to setting and wardrobe, this show was made for lovers of books, autumn and cosy sweaters (yes, I did just write that). It does not only feature the main character in a creative environment but the whole thing is set in a publishing house. So yes, allow me to gush again because we get creatives, art directors, copywriters AND a book cover designer! If you’re reading this blog you know 3 things about me: I am a designer (duh!), I love books, and I love designing books. So yes, this show is a total win.
All of the characters, no matter how different they all are share one thing: their love for books. And IT SHOWS. This show is pure poetry, but I do realize now that I haven’t properly introduced the story with a brief synopsis, so there you go:
Cha Eun-ho is a successful author and a chief editor at a book publishing company. Kang Dan-i is a mother and former successful advertising copywriter. They share their love for books and a beautiful friendship cultivated since their childhood. Now life brings them back together. Now as a divorced single mother trying to re-enter the professional world, Kang Dan-i starts working at his publishing company and flourishes again, both in a working and personal environment.
This one is swoon-worthy material. All of the main characters love what they do (so refreshing!) and bring something unique to the story. The show is mostly set in the publishing house during office hours, so you get to be a part of the gang for a while and, at the same time, experience first-hand the whole editorial process and creation of a book, from manuscript reading to blurb writing, design and marketing. 10/10, no regrets.
BOOK & MOVIE
CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET?
SOPHIE KINSELLA
What is this? ANOTHER Sophie Kinsella book? You bet it is. Emma Corrigan is a young woman who works in the creative department of a huge energy drink-style company (picture Cola or Pepsi). She’s a junior responsible for a meeting that goes… well, bad. On her way home, afraid of the outcome of that failed meeting and thinking she’s about to die in a plane crash after some flying turbulences, she spills ALL her secrets to the stranger sitting next to her on a plane. Only he’s not a stranger at all, but the company's elusive CEO, a man who now knows every single humiliating detail about her.
Now, this is chick-lit romance at its peak. But all those at-work scenes are flawless. Picture The Office kind of vibes. Instead of a paper distributor, we find ourselves inside the creative and design department of a huge company.
Also, this is a movie too! But I wouldn’t be true to my being if I did not firmly encourage you to read the book instead.
MOVIE & BOOK
DATER’S HANDBOOK
Where are my entrepreneur female friends at? At some point in her life, Cass (Meghan Markle) decides to leave the agency she used to work in to start her own journey and she now leads a successful business. You go #Girlboss! It is true that her motto is something along with the words: “All these people paying fortunes just to put the logo on their products!" As a designer, that is a capital letter NO. But she’s got extra points for being a female boss in the creative industry. So here she is! We’re also talking about a feel-good Hallmark movie (I am all here for them). They pair perfectly with those Sophie Kinsella books we talked about and… a glass of wine, maybe? Don’t mind me!
As I write this, I just realized this movie has a book adaptation by Cara Lockwood! So if you rather read the book than watch the movie or you love to do both (as I do!), you have that option too.
BOOK
P. S. I LOVE YOU
CECELIA AHERN
Circling back to P. S I Love You. After his beloved husband's death, Holly Kennedy feels unable to pick up the pieces. Thanks to a series of letters her husband left her before he died, she learns to laugh, overcome her fears, and discover a world she never knew existed. A part of that world involves her working life, and a passion for design she never knew existed. She eventually finds herself working with a close team to put together a printed publication, and she loves it! She finds a small community of friends there, and she actually enjoys her job for the first time.
She doesn’t find that passion until the end of the book, so we don’t get to follow the life of a designer but the birth of one. Also, yes this is a major movie picture. It is beautiful, funny, and heartbreaking and I totally recommend watching that one too. Both Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler are a delight playing the main roles, and who would say no to that wonderful Irish landscape? But the thing is that the movie introduced some changes to Holly’s life, including changing her new-found-dream job as a layout designer to a fashion shoe designer instead.
Wonderful story, nonetheless.
BOOK & MOVIE
AUSTENLAND
SHANNON HALE
Ok. I’m featuring this one here because it is one of my favourite feel-good movies. Jane Haynes is a graphic designer. If you have read/watched Austenland you probably won’t remember, because it is not relevant at all to the story. But she is, so I am featuring it, because… well, my blog, my rules. Don’t mind me, I just want you to finally realize that period dramas can actually be funny comedies! Now that Bridgerton is out there (and hopefully Mr Malcolm’s List will be out there soon as well), I just wanted to feature this story because dear designer, if you feel your talent is being underestimated by your bosses in a top-known-international agency, well… you can always blow all your savings and gift yourself a two-week-vacation at a Regency Era make-believe Manor were you actually get to pretend to be a character straight from a Jane Austen story. And maybe even fall in love with a potential Mr Darcy?
No, but really. If you’re feeling burnt at your job (been there), it’s a wonderful feeling to dream about leaving it all behind, flying yourself to the UK and living a wonderful regency adventure. Bonnets included.
TV SERIES
ERKENCI KUS
This is one of the first Turkish shows that made a Netflix debut and was a total hit. Can Divit and Sanem guide us through the creative journey within a bustling advertising agency. From crafting advertising campaigns and slogans to orchestrating photo sessions and shoots, the series revolves around the dynamic activities within the agency and the everyday adventures of its employees. The passion for the profession resonates in every episode, complemented by a rich blend of romance and comedy.
Sanem, being new to the creative realm, invites you to share in her firsthand experiences of the unpredictability, high-stakes drama, and enjoyable moments within this big-name agency during its day-to-day endeavors.
I am probably forgetting a title. I try to write down every story I come across where a lead is introduced gushing about or being a part of this creative world. But do not worry, I’ll be back to update any book, movie or tv show I might have forgotten as soon as I remember.
