Detective
Pikachu
Credit:
Assistant Graphic Designer
Director: Rob Letterman
Production Designer: Nigel Phelps
Supervising Art Director: Ben Collins
Pokémon: Detective Pikachu was released in May 2019 in the US. I worked on the film from Sept. 2017-April 2018, assisting Lead Designer Chris Kitisakkul, Dominic Sikking and Gemma Kingsley (Set Dec. Design). I worked on graphic design and the production of livery throughout the film (signage, book covers, magazine covers, newspapers, paperwork, transport logos & car vinyl graphics, posters, etc.)
All image copyright & property of Warner Brothers.
The story begins when Tim Goodman receives a letter with some sad news, and travels to Ryme City…
I designed the Ryme City Rail logo. Initially there were 8 options presented, one of which was refined and selected.
He arrives at his father’s apartment, deep in the heart of Ryme City.
The apartment exterior is right opposite Hi-Hat Cafe. Chris designed the neon Noctowl, and I worked on the posters to go outside – transforming Shoreditch into Ryme City. It was put up after 5pm and we were wallpapering in the dark right outside Cargo, in London.
The best part of putting these up were the comments from curious passers by – two men thought we were putting up real club posters and asked us where the club was and what the event was about 😅.
There were many window cover ups (to lift the colour of the Location to Ryme City standards as well as to prevent the ‘real’ world office interiors from breaking the suspense of disbelief of the view of a busy market street. I designed three different iterations, before the final colour scheme & design was chosen. I also got to design the tow-truck graphics, for the vehicle which was to be parked outside.
At the apartment, Tim meets a fuzzy, yellow Pikachu…
The set theme for this apartment was ‘film noir’. I was asked to design a series of Detective novels (visible on the bookshelf in the top right corner of the image above). At first I started with the idea of a ‘homage’ to classic crime-novels and guidebooks real detectives would have used – Robert Resslers’ Whomever Fights Monsters and Ray Chandlers’ classic The Big Sleep were two I chose to adapt.
(Sadly, these did not pass clearance)
Books
Back to the drawing board... taking inspiration from old pulp covers (many of which were now out of print, without any clearance issues!). I also designed all the publishing house logos – named after Pokémon characters.
There was a lot of ‘bumf’ in the apartment. Gemma did most of the paperwork, but I did get to design a few broadsheets for the flat, which was really fun to do because I got to write the headlines and make up the stories (this was years before the advent of ChatGPT!)
And then the Map of Ryme City! This was the prop used to create the classic detective’s ‘evidence wall’, except in this case it was more like an ‘evidence floor’ due to the height of the fuzzy yellow one.
Map of Ryme City
The map was also used in the official book "The Art and Making of Pokémon - Detective Pikachu".
Tim visits Hi-Hat Café for proof of Pikachu's alibi...
I designed the packaging for some of the confectionery in the Cafe vending machine...
Ryme City - Neon
There are a lot of adventures which take place throughout the city, as Tim and Pikachu make their way to the to an underground Pokémon battle arena. I was asked to design the lights as seen in one of the VFX comps, and the signage was used throughout the film, in both some of the VFX visualisations, as well as in real life. The set was based in Shoreditch, London - it was quite fun turning the street into a late-night food market!
Some of the designs changed orientation during the process, but about 8 signs were used on Charlotte Street, and some more in the food market set, and at "Ryme City Station" in Liverpool Street.
Tim, Lucy and Pikachu eventually end up breaking into Clifford Labs, and the action continues…
After they escape the labs by running through the incredible Torterra garden, Pikachu comes across the scene of the car crash and finds evidence of who was responsible for his transformation.
They return to Ryme City, where a huge parade is taking place. After a plot twist (it’s twisty) pandemonium ensues, and Pikachu, Tim & Lucy fight various obstacles to save Ryme City and it’s inhabitants.
The Parade Finalé
The vehicle vinyl graphics for the News Vans were incredibly fun to work on, some of the largest graphics I’ve worked on. They were part of the Parade, which was an incredible location set, spanning the entire length of Leadenhall Street in London. It was great to experience the filmmaking (while doing my bit and stencilling the Police barriers by hand). Images taken on set courtesy Dominic Sikking.
