To accompany our current Forum question - "What Items are in your Design Tool Kit?" - we collected ideas and tips from fellow production designers who shared their favorite items.

Bellow are some suggestions to take on your next design adventure!

NOTEBOOK

The first item...

Photo of set for Mike Nichols' "Working Girl". Production Design: Patrizia von Brandenstein

1. Know Thyself 

         Mira Yong, WME

This is a simple thought yet incredibly difficult for some to articulate. It’s important that those you meet with trul...

This week we were saddened to receive news that celebrated Hungarian production designer and activist László Rajk Jr. passed away after a rapid serious illness endured with dignity. 

László Rajk Jr. was an architect, production designer and human rights activist. I...

When first getting a script, it is the Production Designer’s unique role to look at nothing and see everything – all the possibilities. Designers are entrusted with the important responsibility to make something from nothing. So for me, making motion pictures on locati...

Karen Steward and Rocio Gimenez have co-written this article from different countries and different phases in their careers, in order to shine a light on current attitudes and practices regarding Green film-making Internationally. Both are passionate citizens concerned...

It’s everyone’s favorite line on the daily prep schedule: “Clearances Call”. An opportunity to gather around the speakerphone in the Art Department office and make silent group gestures of disbelief and frustration as the Clearances Coordinator tells you all the things...

Photo of set for Jim Henson's "Labyrinth". Production Design: Elliot Scott  

A few years ago, I was interviewing the award-winning PD Stuart Craig on the set of the "Harry Potter" series and asked what his advice would be for students wishing to enter the fiel...

The iPad has evolved into a useful tool for production designers: easy to carry around during scouts and on location, great resolution to display photos on the go, and a convenient storage place for all production documents. Most importantly, as the iPad stylus has imp...

Anne E. McMills is the author of the book "3D Printing Basics for Entertainment Design" - www.3DPBasics.com

 Photo of 3D printed faces for the film "Anomalisa". Production Design: John Joyce

Being a production designer means being the artistic center of a film; the...

Every time I have a new movie release coming up, I start getting asked about my job, about what it means to be a production designer.  Often times, people call me a “set designer” or an “art director” and I casually explain the difference.  There have been a few times...