Above To create the physical incarnation of the magazine, Watson/DG split the web build into individual
pages and tested out multiple paper and size combinations
How we built
MATT
GRIPPI
Grippi is a senior creative
strategist at Watson DG and was
the copywriter and editor for the
Once Upon a Time project.
w: watson.laThought the days of creativity in
web design were dead? Then check
out the incredible site Watson Design
Group built to promote Tarantino’s
latest movie (onceuponatimemag.com)
and you’ll soon realise your mistake.
This wonderfully evocative website
serves as an expansion of the
nostalgia-drenched movie’s world,
making you feel as if you’re flipping
through an American print magazine
straight out of 1969 as you explore its
exclusive articles and content. Making
inventive use of animated transitions
and fluid navigation, the team pulled
off an impressive trick, making the
site feel both retro and modern at the
same time. No wonder that it quickly
amassed a flurry of awards, from the
likes of Awwwards and FWA.
Here Watson/DG’s Hleb Marholin
and Matt Grippi explain how they
went about translating Tarantino’s
intoxicating celluloid vision into a
website that both feels authentic and
functions perfectly.So how did you come up with the idea
of a 1969-style scrolling magazine for
the site?
MG: Once we’d been briefed on the film,
we knew that a traditional marketing
campaign wasn’t going to feel authentic.
Tarantino had recreated the world ofHLEB
MARHOLIN
Marholin is a creative director
at Watson/DG and was the lead
designer on the Once Upon a
Time site.
w: watson.laTIMELINE
Key dates in the
Once Upon a Time
in Hollywood projectJANUARY 2019
Watson/DG receives the brief and
begins ideating on how it can create a
digital experience that still feels
authentic to the 1969 setting.
FEBRUARY 2019
Sends through its initial ideas to Sony,
including rough comps and examples of
how the magazine site could look.
MARCH 2019
The client signs off on the idea, giving
Watson/DG the go-ahead to start
writing and designing articles to go into
the finalised site.
APRIL 2019
Initial script read and kick-off meetings.
MAY 2019
Watson/DG completes the initial draft
of the articles, combining plot elements
and interviews with world-building
pieces and fake advertisements.
JUNE 2019
Hleb Marholin, the CD on the project,
begins designing each individual page
while developers and animators start
working on how the mobile and web
versions of the site will function.
JULY 2019
A physical print run of the magazine is
greenlit, which requires the team to
produce a quick redesign to meet the
deadline of the film’s premiere.
JULY 2019
The print version of the magazine is
approved by Tarantino’s team and
released into select theatres across the
US, as well as handed out to all
attendees of the Hollywood premiere.
Print magazines continue to be
produced and handed out at screenings
for the first few weekends of release.
JULY 2019
The site version of the magazine goes
live and is promoted through assets on
the film’s social media accounts.