Akira Kuraosawa’s “Stray Dog” (1949) was digitally remastered and released by The Criterion Collection. The suspenseful story follows a police detective in search of his stolen gun in this postwar Japanese film that mixes neo-realism with film noir. The challenge was to capture Kurosawa’s aesthetically appealing cinematic style of the film for the DVD design.

The design focused on using the stolen gun as the main element. The gun was made into a shadowy silhouette and positioned throughout the DVD elements to capture the elusive feeling that the police detective struggles with during his frantic search. The deep red and gritty colors were used to express the intense Tokyo summer heat and dark back alley atmosphere of the film.