La Casa di Barbi

Title Sequence/Graphic Design

La Casa di Barbi is an independent short film written and directed by Gaia Bencivenga.

The story follows Maya, a young girl spending the summer at her grandparents' countryside home. Dreaming of the glamorous Barbie Dreamhouse she has seen on television, she instead receives a knock-off version called La Casa di Barbara.

I worked across several aspects of the film's visual identity, creating the official posters, designing a prop used on screen, and developing the opening and closing titles.

The film screened at several festivals across Europe and received the Audience Award at the International Imago Film Festival.

POSTER

For the film's official poster, I wanted to keep Maya at the center of the visual identity.

I experimented with different lettering styles before deciding to create the title by hand, using rough, childlike strokes that reflected the perspective of the main character.

I also explored an alternative direction inspired by the film's recurring chicken imagery, combining illustration and photography.

After several iterations, two poster designs were selected to represent the film.

PROP DESIGN

One of the key objects in the story is a knock-off Barbie Dreamhouse that Maya receives as a gift.

I was responsible for recreating its packaging, drawing inspiration from the familiar visual language of Barbie products while adapting it to the fictional brand La Casa di Barbara.

The final design was printed and assembled as a physical prop for the shoot.

TITLE SEQUENCE

For the opening and closing titles, the director wanted to work directly with footage from the film.

I explored several typographic directions, initially experimenting with more expressive, fashion-inspired lettering and stronger red tones.

Eventually, we moved towards a simpler approach that blended more naturally with the film's warm, sepia-toned cinematography.

The final titles were designed to complement the imagery without distracting from it.

First Test

Final Direction